Robert Megennis wins first Indy Lights race in Indianapolis

Photo: Indianapolis Motor Speedway

Robert Megennis took his first Indy Lights win in the opening Indianapolis road course race, with Andretti Autosport team-mate Oliver Askew finishing second and extending his championship lead.

Megennis led the race from pole while second place starter Rinus VeeKay made a poor getaway, dropping back to fourth place behind the Andretti cars of Oliver Askew and Ryan Norman.

Askew made several attempts for the lead before making the pass stick on the second lap, with the leading pair initially pulling away from Norman in third.

Megennis regained the lead two laps later, diving down the inside of Askew at turn one, and quickly built a gap of over 1.5 seconds to prevent a push-to-pass move from Askew, who then faced pressure from Norman behind.

VeeKay muscled his way past Norman on the fifth lap to recover to third, compromising Norman through turns 8 and 9, with David Malukas taking advantage to follow through up to fourth shortly after.

Norman was able to take back fourth place from Malukas on lap 15, leaving him with just one remaining use of push-to-pass. He then closed in on VeeKay, setting several fastest laps in the process. However, he was unable to get past, with VeeKay responding with quick lap times.

Megennis looked comfortable in the lead and continued to control the pace at the front of the field until the end of the race, taking the chequered flag 1.95s ahead of Askew.

Malukas finished sixth, after dropping back from Norman and losing fifth place to Zachary Claman on lap 24.

Race results (30 laps)