PORTLAND, Oregon – Welcome to the record books, Patricio O’Ward.
The 19-year-old Mexican-American scorched the field with a lap of 1 minute, 2.807 seconds (112.573 mph) to claim pole for the first race of the Indy Lights presented by Cooper Tires doubleheader at Portland International Raceway. The lap not only broke the track record set by Townsend Bell by 2.184 seconds in 2011, it also elevated O’Ward to a series record nine poles this season.
“It’s pretty cool,” O’Ward said. “I saw that a bunch of names were at eight and I said, ‘I want nine or 10.’ So tomorrow, I’m going to be going for that pole again so I can have a 10-pole streak in a season. I think that record is pretty hard to beat, so I hope I’m in there for quite a while.”
The impressive lap awarded the driver of the No. 27 Andretti Autosport Mazda/Dallara IL-15 an all-important bonus point, moving his championship lead to 26 points over teammate Colton Herta (No. 98 Andretti-Steinbrenner Racing). Ironically, the session ended with Herta second quickest, 0.3734 of a second off the top spot.
O’Ward admitted that without testing at the track previously, he was reliant on video and was left uncertain the technical 12-turn, 1.964-mile road course would “suit” him. However, the biggest factor ultimately came down to nerves as the complexity of Turns 4, 5 and 6 heavily dictated the overall lap time.
“I’m usually better at fast and flowing race circuits,” O’Ward said. “The car felt good. In practice, I didn’t really have any complaints and then in qualifying I wanted to make sure to not make any mistakes.
“If you make a mistake in one corner, it’ll mess you up the next two or three, so you really have to hit your marks, but hitting your marks is what is going to help you get the temperature in the tires and keep you going forward in the times.”
The opening race for Indy Lights takes the green flag at 5:05 p.m. ET Saturday. The final Lights race of the season begins at 12:55 p.m. ET Sunday. Both races will stream live on RaceControl.IndyCar.com.
VeeKay Claims Pole for Race 1 in Pro Mazda
On a streak of five consecutive victories, Rinus VeeKay kept the momentum rolling during qualifying to earn the pole for the opening race for the Pro Mazda Championship presented by Cooper Tires at Portland International Raceway.
Piloting the No. 2 Juncos Racing Mazda/Tatuus PM-18, VeeKay navigated the tricky 12-turn, 1.964-mile road course to put down a lap in 1 minute, 6.332 seconds (106.592 mph) slightly edging Oliver Askew (No. 3 Cape Motorsports) by a narrow 0.0885 of a second. Parker Thompson (No. 90 Exclusive Autosport) qualified third, missing out on a front row start by 0.0008 of a second. The result also shattered the previous track record by 2.134 seconds, which was set in 2005 by Pablo Donoso.
It marks the fifth pole on the year for the 17-year-old Dutchman, who added a single point to his championship lead with the result, extending it to 48 over Thompson.
The Pro Mazda races are scheduled for 7:50 p.m. ET Saturday and 5:15 p.m. Sunday. Both stream live on RaceControl.IndyCar.com.
Kirkwood Continues USF2000 Dominance with Opening Race Pole
Kyle Kirkwood kept his stranglehold on the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship powered by Mazda after securing pole for first race on the doubleheader weekend.
Kirkwood, who captured the championship a month ago, pushed his No. 8 Cape Motorsports Mazda/Tatuus USF-17 to a time of 1 minute, 10.958 seconds (99.642 mph), bettering the previous lap record of 1:12.748 held by J.R. Hildebrand in 2006.
Kaylen Frederick (No. 24 Pabst Racing) ended the session 0.2105 of a second behind Kirkwood and will start second. Rasmus Lindh (No. 23 Pabst Racing), who currently sits second in the overall standing, will start Saturday’s race from third after missing out on the front row by 0.0210 of a second.
Braden Eaves (No. 41 Newman Wachs Racing) is making his series debut this weekend and qualified an impressive sixth.
USF2000 races take place at 4:10 p.m. ET Saturday and 6:20 p.m. Sunday, with both streaming on RaceControl.IndyCar.com.