Photo: Karl Zemlin
Jacob Abel topped a stop-start second Indy Nxt practice session at Barber Motorsports Park.
The Abel Motorsports driver was top of the order for most of FP2, gradually improving his fastest lap before ending with a 1m11.1084s, 0.2995 seconds quicker than HMD Motorsports’ Nolan Siegel in second place.
Three red flag periods disrupted running, including one that brought an end to the session.
The first was caused by Louis Foster in the opening minutes. Foster’s FP1 running the previous day was limited due to electrical problems, and more electrical issues ended FP2 for him before it really began. He came to a stop on track, and his car was eventually towed in to the pits. Andretti Global attempted to get him out again at the end of the 45-minute session, but the car did not get far before stopping again.
The session started in earnest around 10 minutes in. FP1 pacesetter Abel immediately jumped to the top, with Andretti’s James Roe Jr close behind.
Abel continued to lower the benchmark pace but was briefly knocked off top spot by Siegel. Another improvement put Abel half a second clear of him, only for Siegel to close that gap again pior to another red flag period in the last 10 minutes.
This time Abel’s team-mate Josh Mason had stopped on track after a spin. Everyone managed to avoid his stranded car.
It was a brief stoppage and track action did resume, leading to a few improvements in the last five minutes of practice.
HMD’s Nolan Allaer had been attempting to improve when he found the barrier at turn 13 in the final minute, prompting the third and final session stoppage. Before that, Andretti’s Jamie Chadwick had managed to go third fastest, ahead of HMD’s Reece Gold and Roe.
Caio Collet had briefly sat in second place when Siegel was on top, but the HMD driver dropped back to sixth by the chequered flag, with Bryce Aron and Salvador de Alba close behind.
Myles Rowe had been one of the few drivers to improve on his final lap, jumping up to ninth while Michael d’Orlando completed the top 10.
Free practice 2 results
| Pos | Driver | Team | Time | Gap | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jacob Abel | Abel Motorsports | 1m11.1084s | 22 | |
| 2 | Nolan Siegel | HMD Motorsports | 1m11.4079s | +0.2995s | 23 |
| 3 | Jamie Chadwick | Andretti Global | 1m11.6052s | +0.4968s | 23 |
| 4 | Reece Gold | HMD Motorsports | 1m11.7053s | +0.5969s | 22 |
| 5 | James Roe Jr | Andretti Global | 1m11.7089s | +0.6005s | 25 |
| 6 | Caio Collet | HMD Motorsports | 1m11.7215s | +0.6131s | 25 |
| 7 | Bryce Aron | Andretti Global | 1m12.0780s | +0.9696s | 26 |
| 8 | Salvador de Alba | Andretti Cape | 1m12.2400s | +1.1316s | 24 |
| 9 | Myles Rowe | HMD Motorsports | 1m12.3848s | +1.2764s | 23 |
| 10 | Michael d’Orlando | Andretti Cape | 1m12.3978s | +1.2894s | 23 |
| 11 | Josh Pierson | HMD Motorsports | 1m12.4182s | +1.3098s | 23 |
| 12 | Yuven Sundaramoorthy | Abel Motorsports | 1m12.4248s | +1.3164s | 21 |
| 13 | Jack William Miller | Miller Vinatieri Racing | 1m12.4798s | +1.3714s | 19 |
| 14 | Callum Hedge | HMD Motorsports | 1m12.5060s | +1.3976s | 23 |
| 15 | Christian Bogle | HMD Motorsports | 1m12.5481s | +1.4397s | 25 |
| 16 | Jonathan Browne | HMD Motorsports | 1m12.6203s | +1.5119s | 22 |
| 17 | Louis Foster | Andretti Global | 1m12.9575s | +1.8491s | 3 |
| 18 | Nolan Allaer | HMD Motorsports | 1m12.9674s | +1.8590s | 23 |
| 19 | Josh Mason | Abel Motorsports | 1m12.9820s | +1.8736s | 24 |
| 20 | Niels Koolen | HMD Motorsports | 1m13.0482s | +1.9398s | 25 |
| 21 | Lindsay Brewer | Juncos Hollinger Racing | 1m15.7778s | +4.6694s | 21 |