INDY NXT QUALIFYING REPORT: Grand Prix of Portland

No. 26 Andretti Global Dallara

• After placing fifth on the charts in this morning’s practice session, Lochie Hughes took to the track in Group 2 for qualifying at Portland International Raceway.
• Hughes delivered a strong qualifying performance, topping the Group 2 charts with the second-quickest overall lap of the day, falling just short of pole position
• The result marks a career-best INDY NXT qualifying effort at Portland for Hughes.

“It was a good session. I was up probably about a tenth and a half on my dash, but I got held up by a car that didn’t see me coming, and that cost us some time. It was probably right at the peak of the tire too. After that, with how hot it was, we weren’t really going as quick. We’ll see what we can do for tomorrow’s race.”

Seb Murray

No. 27 Megatron Dallara

• Carrying momentum from two strong practice runs, including a P2 effort in Practice 1 and P6 this morning, Seb Murray took to the track in Group 1 for qualifying at Portland.
• Murray spent most of the session battling near the top of the leaderboard, but fading tire performance and traffic late in the run dropped him to sixth in Group 1, securing the 11th starting spot on tomorrow’s grid.

“Qualifying done here in Portland. We didn’t have the pace that we really hoped. After being one of the fastest cars all through practice, we were definitely looking for a pole. We didn’t really put it together there, and the traffic really did mess up our run. So there’s definitely a lot more in it, but it’s a long race tomorrow. Portland is always exciting, so we’ll see what we can do in the race.”

No. 28 Susan G. Komen Dallara

• After placing eighth on the charts in Saturday morning’s practice session, Max Taylor took to the track in Group 1 alongside teammate Murray for his debut INDY NXT qualifying appearance at Portland.
• Taylor delivered a strong qualifying run, setting the pace for the majority of the session in Group 1.
• In the closing laps, the American driver was unable to find the pace he needed to continue improving his time further, ultimately finishing second in Group 1 to secure third overall for his first Grand Prix of Portland.

“I’m pretty happy with the qualifying session. It was super tight, as it usually is around here, but I was able to get around the traffic and get some clean air. We’re just missing a little bit. I think we can improve even more for tomorrow. We have a really good race car and just need to make it through Turn 1 and see what we have.”

No. 29 Starchive Dallara

• After pacing the Andretti fleet in Practice 2 with the third-fastest time overall, Josh Pierson took to Portland International Raceway for his fourth INDY NXT qualifying attempt on his hometown track.
• Pierson opened qualifying with strong early pace, running inside the top two on the charts for the first half of the session.
• As the session progressed, the Portland native began to lose pace and fall back slightly on the leaderboard, ending the session fourth in Group 2, and eighth overall.
• Today’s performance marks Pierson’s career-best INDY NXT qualifying result at his home track.

“Tough session. All year, qualifying is just our Achilles’ heel. I don’t understand. We can be so fast in every other session, and as soon as I get to qualifying, it just doesn’t matter. I drive so hard, and I just feel like it never lights up. It never comes. I can be consistently okay, but I never get the time. So I feel bad for these guys on the No. 29 crew. Our season’s just been really rough, and we deserve to be starting up front and to be showing what we can do. We just can never get there.”

“It was a pretty decent qualifying. We did not pole, but we got all four cars up there. I think Group 1 and Group 2 were very competitive. We have good places to start for this race, and we’ll see how we come out. We just have to execute. I’m happy with the performance today, and we’ll see what we have tomorrow.”