NASHVILLE — Callum Ilott’s strong run continued on Sunday when he brought his No. 77 Dallara-Chevrolet home 12th in the Big Machine Music City Grand Prix. The Juncos Hollinger Racing driver came from 18th and gained six spots on the field for his near top 10.

The combination of a narrow and bumpy circuit and sweltering temperatures culminated in a grueling physical challenge for the JHR drivers. In an effort to increase air circulation in the drivers’ cockpit, an additional cooling duct was fitted to the cars before the 80-lap showdown began.

Both he and teammate Agustin Canapino began the 168-mile race with Firestone’s soft green sidewall tires on their Dallara-Chevrolet cars. However, they switched to the harder primary tires early when a tricky start forced the pair to rethink their strategy. Callum quickly benefited from this quick thinking, as the Briton executed five neat overtakes in the following 10 laps.

Heavy rain during practice meant the team had reduced dry weather data at its disposal in Nashville, but that didn’t stop Agustín from testing the limits of his #78 car and showing strong pace on an unfamiliar course.

Both he and Callum looked assured in the middle of the field as the race progressed. Callum manoeuvred himself as high as P4 before falling down the order at the third of his four visits to the pit road.

The 24-year-old steered clear of danger as the yellow flags flew on two separate occasions, however Agustín was unfortunate to contribute towards a red flag stoppage with six laps remaining. His car lost grip during a frantic restart and was powerless to avoid being part of a three-car pile-up at turn 11. He did return to action, claiming P20 in the final classification. For Callum, his bold strategy move to pit early paid off nicely as he completed the race distance six positions higher than where he started.

“Overall, it was a positive race as I moved forward from my starting position to P12,” said Ilott. “It was a bit of a strange race; I didn’t really know where I was within the order for half of it.

“We took a bold strategy at the beginning to box early and tried to gain some clear air. In the end it worked, despite having the timing of an early caution period go against us.

“Our pace was good and I kept it clean, which is the most important thing here in Nashville. The pit stops were also good and the strategy worked well, so I’m pretty happy to claim some good points.”

Ilott has gained in each of the last four races going from 18th (Toronto) to 15th (Iowa 1) to 14th (Iowa 2) to 12th (Nashville) as he’s having a strong run as a sophomore.

While it’s arguably not where he’d like to be right now, to be 14th in points heading into next weekend’s Gallagher Grand Prix is still a nice season for the sophomore driver.

Ilott started the season off with a fifth place finish on the streets of St. Pete only to finish ninth the next time out on an oval in Texas. Long Beach was only 19th but Barber was 13th. The Indy GP was ho-hum in 18th but after having a horribly handling race car on the IMS oval not only in the open test, but the week of Indy 500 practice too, Ilott took a car without any laps on it to qualify 28th and finish an impressive 12th.

A first lap crash in Detroit derailed any momentum, but Ilott has been gaining ever since.