Braden Eves claims fifth USFP2000 pole in Freedom 90 qualifying

Photo: Gavin Baker Photography

Exclusive Autosport’s Braden Eves picked up his fifth USF Pro 2000 pole, and his first on an oval, in qualifying for the Freedom 90.

The 19-car field was sent out one a time in reverse championship order onto Indianapolis Raceway Park to complete a two-lap qualifying run, although missing from the action was Turn 3 Motorsport’s Tyke Durst who had a wiring issue with his car.

TJ Speed’s debutant Bryce Aron was therefore in the disadvantageous position of being first out, and he set a 125.641mph average. That proved to be a competitive pace, with team-mate Francesco Pizzi and FatBoy Racing!’s Charles Finelli unable to beat him.

Turn 3’s Ethan Ho knocked Aron off top spot with a 125.673mph run, then DEForce Racing’s Nicholas Monteiro and Jorge Garciarce went fourth and fifth fastest.

Next up was Eves, and his first lap was completed at a 126.232mph average speed. He went even faster on lap two, setting a new qualifying record with a 126.565mph average for his two-lap run.

Turn 3’s Danny Dyszelski followed and he went second, running at 125.702mph, then DEForce’s Mac Clark who could do no better than sixth. The next bunch of drivers could not contend with the provisional pole pace, and Pabst Racing’s Simon Sikes had a big wobble coming out of the final corner. His team-mate Jace Denmark did a more impressive job, going second fastest but trailing Eves by 0.854mph.

It looked like Lochie Hughes could potentially beat Denmark, but the Turn 3 driver had a 0.028mph pace deficit to him and qualified fourth, then last out on the track was Velocity Racing Development’s points leader Nikita Johnson. He put himself seventh on the grid, having taken pole for the previous four USFP2000 races.

Qualifying results