Hauger keeps cool in Ohio heat for sixth Indy Nxt pole

Photo: Matt Fraver

Andretti Global’s Dennis Hauger set a new track record in hot conditions at Mid-Ohio to claim his sixth Indy Nxt pole.

The championship leader posted 1m09.7431s to top the first qualifying group, then had to wait to find out if it was good enough for pole once the second group went on track.

Despite track conditions theoretically being better for the later runners, Hauger could not be beaten and he earned pole by 0.1181 seconds.

It did not take long for Hauger to make his way to the top in group one, and once he was up there he had a comfortable gap on the timesheet to team-mate Lochie Hughes in second. He improved several times to keep his grip on first place, and eventually dipped under the 1m10.0372s track record set by HMD Motorsport’s Caio Collet in practice earlier in the day.

Hughes was also able to beat the old record, and with his final flying lap got within 0.2463s of Hauger. Salvador de Alba made it an Andretti 1-2-3 in the group, pipping Chip Ganassi Racing’s Bryce Aron by 0.0005s.

It was similarly close between HMD’s Evagoras Papasavvas and Juan Manuel Correa in fifth and sixth, with 0.0235s between them.

In group two, Abel Motorsports’ Callum Hedge was fastest early on before being surpassed by Collet. He also beat his own record, but his new personal best of 1m09.8612s was not quite good enough for pole.

HMD team-mate Josh Pierson also went quicker than Hedge, and was 0.1703s slower than Collet. Due to the group format, he will line up fourth behind Hughes.

Hedge was another two tenths of a second slower than Pierson, and by being third in his group will start sixth. It was a strong session for Abel, as his team-mates Jordan Missig and Jack William Miller were next up in the group.

Myles Rowe, in the Abel Motorsports with Force Indy entry, will line up 13th as a mistake on his final lap consigned him to seventh in group one.

Qualifying results