QUALIFYING REPORT: INDY NXT by Firestone at The Milwaukee Mile

No. 26 McGinley Clinic /

USF Championship Dallara

• Following the morning’s practice session that saw Lochie Hughes running inside the top-10, the 2025 World Wide Technology Raceway winner set out to lock in his starting spot on the grid for tomorrow’s race.
• Despite being in the limiter during Lap 1 of his qualifying attempt, slowing him down slightly, Hughes was able to make up some of that lost speed in Lap 2, landing him a top-five starting position for his racing debut on The Milwaukee Mile.

“That was a good qualifying session, and we’re going to be starting P4 for the race. I just missed it on Lap 1 when we were in the limiter going into Turn 1, so that cost us a few spots and a shot at pole. On to tomorrow.”

Salvador de Alba

No. 27 Grupo Indi Dallara

• 2024 Milwaukee Mile podium finisher Salvador de Alba made his qualifying attempt this afternoon after finishing eighth in the morning practice session. recording the eighth fastest lap 
• The Mexican driver came out of the gate with impressive speed in qualifying, breaking the record for INDY NXT by Firestone’s one-lap track record at The Milwaukee Mile on his first lap. This record has been held for almost 30 years until de Alba broke it this afternoon (Mark Hotchkis – 1996, 23.692 seconds, 151.952 mph).

“I’m pretty happy with the result. A bit frustrated with the second lap, but it was a one-two for Andretti, so I can’t complain about that. Thankful to the whole crew who put the car together, and my sponsor Grupo Indi for making this possible. Let’s have a good race tomorrow.”

No. 28 Nammo Dallara

• Current Championship leader Dennis Hauger was able to transfer the speed he had this morning in practice into qualifying this afternoon, recording the quickest two-lap average of the field and earning his seventh INDY NXT career pole position.
• Not only did Hauger earn the pole this afternoon, but he also set a new INDY NXT by Firestone two-lap average track record at The Milwaukee Mile, breaking former Andretti INDY NXT driver and reigning INDY NXT Champion Louis Foster’s record set last year by over four-tenths of a second.

“I got good feedback from the team, and it helped me in my run. I tried not to push it too far on that first lap, but I probably could have done a bit more. Thankfully, the second lap was good enough to put us on pole, so I’m super happy. This is a great step for tomorrow’s Championship win. That’s the goal. So we’ll keep pushing. I’m still not used to ovals just yet, and there’s a bit of stuff to work on. It’s just the nerves of oval qualifying and waiting in line to do a two-minute run. It’s something that I need to get more used to. But every point counts, and we know what we have to do tomorrow, so it’s all about executing and having a clean race.”

No. 29 Topcon Dallara

• James Roe made his qualifying attempt this afternoon after a strong performance in practice this morning, which saw him record the third quickest lap time of the session.
• Roe’s qualifying attempt saw him put together a quick first lap, but he lost two-tenths of a second on the second lap, putting his two-lap average in the middle of the field, where he will start the race tomorrow.

“I expected a little bit more in quali. We lost a lot in the second lap. It would have been super tight had that lap been better. We would have been starting on the second row. We are just going to go racing tomorrow from the outside of row five with a good race car.”

No. 2 Dream Racing Dubai Dallara

• Seb Murray made his Milwaukee Mile qualifying debut this afternoon, after struggling to find pace in Practice earlier this morning, spending extended time in the pit lane for adjustments.
• Making his qualifying attempt directly after teammate Roe, Murray was not able to make up the speed he needed and will start tomorrow’s race near the back of the field.

“Disappointing quali session to say the least. It’s been a bit of a rough weekend so far as we were really fast in the test when we came here earlier in the year. We’re just a bit lost. We came into this weekend with confidence after being quick in the test, and expected to be at the front. We’re quite the opposite, and we’re not really sure why. So, the team and I will work hard overnight and see what we can do to make the race car good for tomorrow.”

No. 3 Rising Star Racing / Priority Dallara

• Rounding out the Andretti Cape lineup, Michael d’Orlando also qualified for the first time on The Milwaukee Mile this afternoon, following his on-track debut on the West Allis Oval this morning in Practice.
• The first of the Andretti fleet to take the track, d’Orlando was the first driver out of the field to break 150 MPH, setting him up to make his race debut on the Midwestern oval tomorrow from the fourth row.

“I don’t think that was a bad session for us, especially being the third person to go out and putting the lap time that we did out there. It was better than a lot of the field. When it comes down to it, a lot of the guys ended up clipping us at the end there. But either way, it’s my first time here, second time ever on this track, so I’m pretty happy with that. Starting eighth is doable; we can work from there. Especially at a race like this, where tire deg is really high and some confidence is needed. I think it will be good when it comes to the race tomorrow. Huge thank you to the Andretti Cape crew. They put together an amazing car. Let’s see what we can do with that No. 3 RSR/Priority car and go get some tomorrow.”

“Excellent qualifying for Andretti Global today. Dennis, Salvador and Lochie all did such a great job out there, and now we have three drivers starting in the top four tomorrow. They’ll just have to protect each other during the race so that we can get some points and go to Nashville to celebrate.”