QUALIFYING REPORT: INDY NXT by Firestone at World Wide Technology Raceway

No. 26 McGinley Clinic /

USF Championship Dallara

• Following a strong qualifying session that saw Lochie Hughes wrap up the session in the top three, the Australian driver made his INDY NXT qualifying debut at WWTR this evening.
• Going out second to last, Hughes struggled to find pace in his first lap, taking him out of pole contention. Although his performance was strong enough to put him inside Row 3 to start tomorrow’s race.

“I just didn’t push hard enough on my first lap, and then by the second lap, I made a bigger jump, but by that point, I had already lost too much. Tomorrow will definitely be interesting. The car seemed alright in practice, I just didn’t get the most out of it there, so that’s just frustrating.”

Salvador de Alba

No. 27 Grupo Indi Dallara

• Salvador de Alba started the day on a positive note, leading today’s practice session at one point and running in the top three, ultimately wrapping up practice inside the top 10.
• De Alba’s strong practice and oval expertise came into play during qualifying, where he secured his INDY NXT career-best qualifying result of P3. This is a significant improvement from last year’s qualifying result at this track of P9.

“That was definitely a good quali for us to finish up in the top three. We came out with a big first lap, and it was a little bit slower on the second, but I’m really happy with the result. The team is starting on the first and second row, so that’s pretty good, and it shows that we have a good race car. We’ll get it done tomorrow.”

No. 28 Nammo Dallara

• Making his oval debut this weekend, Dennis Hauger took on WWTR for the first time in practice this afternoon, where he rounded out the top five.
• Using the valuable on-track practice time to prepare for his first career oval qualifying session, Hauger took his qualifying attempt last, topping the charts with the quickest lap of the session and earning his fourth INDY NXT career pole position.
• Hauger’s pole-winning speed was quicker than last year’s P1 qualifying speed (164.242 MPH) by almost two MPH, set by previous Andretti INDY NXT driver and reigning Series Champion, Louis Foster.

“I was a bit nervous going out to be honest, with it being my first time qualifying on an oval, but we nailed it. It was a great car, big thanks to Andretti for that. I feel like we maximized everything out there. Just going into that first lap and getting that confidence to push through helped us get where we needed to. I’m happy we could get the pole. Oval qualifying is so intense out there. The buildup of just waiting, and then you have two minutes in qualifying, and everything else has to be perfect. So it’s super intense, but also really fun. Now, we’re in race mode and it’s a different game, so we’ll see how we get on.”

No. 29 Topcon Dallara

• James Roe received two penalties after the INDY NXT by Firestone Grand Prix of Detroit, for blocking and failing to follow the direction of INDY NXT officials. Therefore, the No. 29 was not permitted to qualify today and will start Sunday’s race at the rear of the field using tires scuffed from today’s practice.
• This afternoon saw James Roe take on his fourth practice session at WWTR, running consistently in the top 10 for the majority of the session. Unfortunately, with about 10 minutes remaining, Roe’s car stalled on the backstretch, and he was towed into pit lane by the AMR Safety Team at the end of the session.

No. 2 Dream Racing Dubai Dallara

• Also making his oval debut this weekend, Seb Murray was the eighth driver to take on qualifying this evening after finishing practice this afternoon just outside of the top five.
• In qualifying, Murray struggled to find the pace he needed to maintain a spot at the top of the charts, falling as the session continued, and will start tomorrow’s race inside Row 7.

“That’s my first oval quali done. We had really good pace in practice, considering it’s my first time here. So, we hoped to show that in quali, but I made a mistake on the first lap, and that kind of stuffed our session. But massive thanks to the team, they’ve delivered great all week, so hopefully we can make our way up in the race.”

No. 3 Frank’s RedHot Dallara

• After finishing practice this afternoon just outside of the top-10 fastest lap times, Ricardo Escotto took on his first oval qualifying session, where he faced a bit of understeer during his run. Although, he was able to put together an average speed quick enough to start on the inside of the fifth row in tomorrow’s race.
• Escotto was the first Andretti driver this evening to take on qualifying at WWTR and fifth overall.

“It was a super tough session after the issues we had in practice, but overall, we locked in a decent starting position, and tomorrow we’ll try to make up spots where we can.”

“What an effort by the entire team. To come away with P1, P3 and P5 is really impressive. It was a great couple of laps with Dennis and I thought Salvador had a great run going too. Overall, it’s just a strong oval start for everyone, especially considering we didn’t get any testing here this season. Now it’s all about getting ready to go racing and staying up front tomorrow.”