Photo: Gavin Baker/Road to Indy
Exclusive Autosport’s Christian Brooks is to start on pole position for the first USF2000 race of the weekend on the Indianapolis road course.
With three races this weekend, the grid for the first race is decided by the fastest times from the qualifying session. The grid for the second and third races are determined provisionally by the second-fastest times.
However, if the fastest lap set in the first or second race eclipses that second time, that is the time brought forward for the grid for the second and third races respectively.
Pabst Racing led the way for much of the 20-minute session, with Josh Pierson ahead of Yuven Sundaramoorthy.
Brooks put on a second set of tyres towards the end of the time and went to the top with his penultimate lap. Earlier in the session, he was towards the middle of the order.
Pierson and Sundaramoorthy held onto their top three spots, ahead of Ignite Autosports with Cape Motorsports’ Spike Kohlbecker, who spent much of the session in the pits.
Curiously, all of the Cape drivers opted to use just one set of tyres and waited before taking to the circuit, meaning they will have more fresh rubber to use in the races on a circuit that is easy to pass on with its long straights.
Its other drivers finished seventh (Thomas Nepveu) and 12th (Michael d’Orlando).
Turn 3 Motorsport’s Josh Green rounded out the top five in the session, ahead of DEForce Racing’s Kiko Porto, who had a turn at the top of the order earlier on.
Team-mate Nolan Siegel was eighth, ahead of Legacy Autosport’s Simon Sikes and Turn 3’s Dylan Christie. Force Indy’s Myles Rowe was just ahead of d’Orlando in 11th.
Qualifying results
| Pos | Name | Team | Time | Gap | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Christian Brooks | Exclusive Autosport | 1m24.6284s | 11 | |
| 2 | Josh Pierson | Pabst Racing | 1m24.6560s | +0.0276s | 13 |
| 3 | Yuven Sundaramoorthy | Pabst Racing | 1m24.7071s | +0.0787s | 12 |
| 4 | Spike Kohlbecker | Ignite Autosports w/Cape Motorsports | 1m24.8480s | +0.2196s | 7 |
| 5 | Josh Green | Turn 3 Motorsport | 1m24.9509s | +0.3225s | 10 |
| 6 | Kiko Porto | DEForce Racing | 1m24.9612s | +0.3328s | 11 |
| 7 | Thomas Nepveu | Cape Motorsports | 1m25.0060s | +0.3776s | 7 |
| 8 | Nolan Siegel | DEForce Racing | 1m25.0148s | +0.3864s | 11 |
| 9 | Simon Sikes | Legacy Autosport | 1m25.0599s | +0.4315s | 12 |
| 10 | Dylan Christie | Turn 3 Motorsport | 1m25.1326s | +0.5042s | 12 |
| 11 | Myles Rowe | Force Indy | 1m25.1370s | +0.5086s | 11 |
| 12 | Michael d’Orlando | Cape Motorsports | 1m25.2118s | +0.5834s | 7 |
| 13 | Prescott Campbell | DEForce Racing | 1m25.2183s | +0.5899s | 10 |
| 14 | Erik Evans | Velocity Racing Development | 1m25.2416s | +0.6132s | 12 |
| 15 | Matt Round-Garrido | Exclusive Autosport | 1m25.3184s | +0.6900s | 11 |
| 16 | Ely Navarro | DEForce Racing | 1m25.3866s | +0.7582s | 11 |
| 17 | Billy Frazer | Exclusive Autosport | 1m25.4051s | +0.7767s | 12 |
| 18 | Jace Denmark | Pabst Racing | 1m25.5339s | +0.9055s | 13 |
| 19 | Michael Myers | Michael Myers Racing | 1m25.5668s | +0.9384s | 11 |
| 20 | Evan Stamer | Ignite Autosports w/Cape Motorsports | 1m25.5729s | +0.9445s | 11 |
| 21 | Bijoy Garg | Jay Howard Driver Development | 1m25.6144s | +0.9860s | 8 |
| 22 | Jackson Lee | Jay Howard Driver Development | 1m25.6395s | +1.0111s | 10 |
| 23 | Peter Vodanovich | Jay Howard Driver Development | 1m25.8060s | +1.1776s | 11 |
| 24 | Kent Vaccaro | Miller Vinatieri Motorsports | 1m25.8380s | +1.2096s | 12 |
| 25 | Grant Palmer | Exclusive Autosport | 1m26.1087s | +1.4803s | 13 |
| 26 | Trey Burke | Joe Dooling Autosports | 1m26.6533s | +2.0249s | 9 |