Jeffrey Hrunka - Staff Writer
Saturday in St. Petersburg was a day of speed, as Dennis Hauger and Scott McLaughlin took their series poles.
McLaughlin began the weekend by wrecking his car on Friday afternoon in practice one. After his crew worked through the night to repair the No.3 Dex Imaging Chevrolet, he ran the fastest lap of Saturday's qualifying session, clocking in at 59.462.
“I don't want to keep doing that [wrecking], but ultimately, if I do that and then get pole the next day, that makes up for it a lot,” McLaughlin said. “It was an improvement on yesterday, for sure, but we still have to keep working at it.”
As for his two Penske teammates, Josef Newgarden timed in tenth (1:00.142) and Will Power (59.875) was the first driver to miss the Top 12 Shootout.
Colton Herta, a former Grand Prix of St. Petersburg winner, qualified runner-up to McLaughlin with a 59.639. Andretti Global was one of two teams to place all its entries in the Top 12 Shootout with Marcus Ericsson (1:00.003) and Kyle Kirkwood (1:00.049) in seventh and ninth respectively.
“Solid start for us, especially when you look at where we were in practice, Herta said. “It's tough when you have these Firestones that last one lap. It makes qualifying really interesting. It's going to make the race interesting tomorrow, but it makes our job very hard inside the car to get everything right for that one lap.”
Meanwhile Meyer Shank Racing interestingly showed up Chip Ganassi Racing, its technical support team, being the only organization with all its entries in the Fast 6. Teammates Felix Rosenqvist and Marcus Armstrong locked out the second row, finishing third (59.699) and fourth (59.828).
Defending race winner Pato O’Ward had a disappointing qualifying effort, as he ended the session 23rd with a lap time of 1:00.367. In comparison, teammates Nolan Siegel and Christian Lundgaard advanced to the Top 12 Shootout, qualifying 11th (1:00.309) and fifth (59.866).
Louis Foster was the fastest rookie in 16th, with a 1:00.237 lap time. Robert Shawtsman qualified a row behind in 18th, in Prema Racing’s first qualifying session. Jacob Abel rounded out the trio, four tenths off of Shwartsman in 25th (1:00.808).
NTT INDYCAR Series Qualifying Results (Top 12):
Scott McLaughlin #3 - 59.462*
Colton Herta #26 - 59.6393*
Felix Rosenqvist #60 - 59.6989*
Marcus Armstrong #66 - 59.8278*
Christian Lundgaard #7 - 59.8663*
Scott Dixon #9 - 59.9216*
- - - - - - - - -
Marus Ericcson #28 - 1:00.0034
Alex Palou #10 - 1:00.0363
Kyle Kirkwood #27 - 1:00.0491
Josef Newgarden #2 - 1:00.1424
Noal Siegel #6 - 1:00.2257
Rinus Veekay #18 - 1:00.3086
* - Fast Six drivers
Andretti Global’s Dennis Hauger and Lochie Hughes sweep front row for INDY NXT
Hauger ended Friday as the fastest INDY NXT driver on the streets of St. Petersburg. He continued his dominance at the top of the timing sheet with the pole time of 1:03.8801.
He is the only INDY NXT driver to break 1:04 so far this weekend.
The only session Hauger did not lead on Saturday was practice two, in which he placed second to Myles Rowe, with a lap time of 1:04.3543. Rowe was quickest that session, setting the time to beat before qualifying with a 1:04.2496. He finished second in Group 2 with a time of 1:04.2053, which placed him fourth overall.
Andretti Global’s Lochie Hughes was Hauger’s biggest adversary, as it came down to the two teammates for the top qualifying spot. The best time the 22-year-old Australian clocked in was 1:04.0209 to kick off his rookie campaign.
The Chip Ganassi Racing drivers Johnathan Browe and Niels Koolen finished the qualifying session 10th and 11th in the program's return to the series, setting times of 1:04.697 and 1:04.7738. CGR is back in the secondary division after downsizing their primary series effort from five cars to three in the offseason.
Hailie Deegan has been getting headlines all weekend for her first INDY NXT series debut this weekend at St. Petersburg. She continued to lap quicker as the weekend advanced, setting a 1:06.957 in practice two and a 1:07.362 for 21st in each session.
HMD Motorsports driver Josh Pierson was the only driver who faced issues during qualifying. Technical troubles forced him to put up no time. He will start the St. Petersburg Grand Prix from the back in 19th.
INDY NXT Qualifying Results (Top 10):
Dennis Hauger #28 (R) - 1:03.8801
Lochie Hughes #29 (R) - 1:04.0209*
Caio Collet #76 - 1:04.3851
Myles Rowe #99 - 1:04.2053*
Liam Sceats #30 (R) - 1:04.5451
Jack William Miller #40 - 1”04.3300*
Salvador de Alba #27 - 1:04.6264
Ricardo Escotto #3 - 1:04.3349*
Jordan Missig #48 - 1:04.6972
Jonathan Browne #9 - 1:04.3514*
* - Group two drivers
IndyCar and Indy NXT action will conclude on Sunday, with the running of the St. Petersburg Grand Prix and the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg presented by RP Funding on FS1 and FOX.
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