Dennis Hauger Gets Early Jump for Road America Pole
Dennis Hauger wasted no time Saturday seizing the pole position for the Grand Prix of Road America, turning a quick lap early in the session that tempted the rest of the field but was never toppled.
INDY NXT by Firestone championship leader Hauger earned the fifth pole of his rookie season with a best lap of 1 minute, 52.3301 seconds in the No. 28 Nammo car of Andretti Global.
SEE: Qualifying Results
Hauger, who has won four of the six races this season, turned his quickest lap with more than eight minutes remaining in the first of two qualifying groups. No driver in his group came within a half-second, and none of the 10 drivers in the second qualifying group could touch his time. Not bad for a driver who never has turned a lap at the 14-turn, 4.014-mile circuit before this weekend.
'I think we maximized the first run,' Hauger said. 'We knew it (best lap) was going to be on the first run. The second run was more of a small test session for tomorrow. We've been running a bit out of the window balance-wise. Got a bit surprised in practice one, but we've built up from there. Super happy that we managed to get pole.'
The qualifying format for the INDYCAR development series features two groups, with the first group determining the odd-numbered starting spots on the starting grid and the second group filling the even-numbered spots.
Caio Collet, who led both practice sessions leading into qualifying, was second at 1:52.5479 in the No. 76 HMD Motorsports car. 2024 series Rookie of the Year Collet led the second qualifying group, which was slowed by a red flag with around five minutes to go when Salvador de Alba made contact with the tire barrier in Turn 12 in the No. 27 Grupo Indi car of Andretti Global.
Veteran Josh Pierson will start third, tying his career best set last year at this track, after his lap of 1:53.0195 in the No. 14 HMD Motorsports machine. Rookie Lochie Hughes will join Pierson in the second row of the starting grid after his lap of 1:52.9548 in the No. 26 McGinley Clinic/USF Pro Championship entry of Andretti Global.
Jack William Miller produced a top lap of 1:53.1576 in the No. 40 Abel/Miller/Vinatieri Motorsports car to earn a career-best starting spot of fifth. Teammate Myles Rowe will join Miller in Row 3 after his quickest lap of 1:53.2014 in the No. 99 Abel/Force Indy car.
The 20-lap race starts at 11 a.m. ET Sunday (FS1, the FOX Sports app and the INDYCAR Radio Network).
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