BIRMINGHAM, Alabama – Robert Megennis may be a rookie in the 2018 Pro Mazda Championship presented by Cooper Tires, but he’s quickly coming into his own as a driver.
The 18-year-old New Yorker joined defending series champion Juncos Racing this season, finding immediate results with a third-place run in the season-opening race on the streets of St. Petersburg, Florida.
Heading into this weekend’s doubleheader at Barber Motorsports Park, Megennis brought the optimism that stems from three top-six results in four races at Barber, including a 2016 podium finish in first rung of the Mazda Road to Indy ladder – the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship powered by Mazda.
“There are a lot of high-speed corners and that’s something that I excel at,” said Megennis, who today qualified fifth for Saturday’s first race of the Pro Mazda doubleheader on the 2.3-mile permanent road course.
“I’m good at committing and finding every last little bit of the car there. I think that’s where I’m gaining here is because it comes more naturally for me, but it’s great. I love this track, it’s super fun to drive. Also, I’ve done well here. That all puts me in a good mindset and helps me perform better.”
The driver of the No. 9 Palo Alto Networks Mazda/Tatuus PM-18 examined his own game to find ways to improve over the offseason, which included competing in the MRF Formula 2000 championship.
“I feel like last year I grew a lot as a driver,” he said. “The main thing that I feel like I improved in myself is that I’ve become a lot better at making the right choices in the right moments.
“My USF2000 years, I was way too aggressive and I’d get into too many incidents. I’d lose front wings, I’d break parts. There was way too much of that. I feel that by the end of last year in USF2000 and then doing the MRF Challenge, I’ve done a very good job of being patient, being calm and collected in the race car and not going for stupid moves.”
Megennis said he also feeds off the high energy shown by team owner Ricardo Juncos.
“I love Ricardo,” Megennis said. “He pushes everyone really hard and I really enjoy working with him. It’s almost like a father, it’s like he pushes you really really hard but at the same time I can tell he cares for me.
“We’re all competitive, we’re all out there to win and he is, too. What I’ve seen with Ricardo is he does a really good job of getting the most out of people and I’m excited to see how it is … I think it’s going to be intense, but a good intense.
“I think I’m going to be pushed to my limit and I’m excited to see how far I can go.”
Thomspon’s track record wins Pro Mazda pole
Parker Thompson put together a record-shattering lap to score the pole for Race 1 of the Pro Mazda doubleheader run in conjunction with the Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama.
The 20-year-old Canadian piloted his No. 90 Exclusive Autosport/Badlands Motorsport Resort Mazda/Tatuus PM-18 to a quick lap of 1 minute, 16.8946 seconds (107.680 mph), smashing the previous track record set by Spencer Pigot in 2014 by a remarkable 3.3544 seconds.
Harrison Scott will start alongside Thompson on the front row in the No. 10 RP Motorsport Racing entry after posting the second-best time, 0.2639 of a second off the pole.
“It was a monster lap, but it was under pressure and that was really exciting for me,” Thompson said. “I’ve never experienced that where you have a red flag come out and then you have a two-lap shootout when everyone that had new tires, because everyone changed over before the red.
“So that was really cool, it was kind of like shootout elimination.”
Race 1 starts at 1:50 p.m. ET Saturday and streams live on RaceControl.IndyCar.com. Qualifying for Race 2 takes place at 9:30 a.m. Saturday.
Urrutia paces tight Indy Lights practice
Santi Urrutia snagged the top spot in a tightly contested opening practice for Indy Lights presented by Cooper Tires.
The 21-year-old Uruguayan’s mark of 1 minute, 14.5255 seconds (111.103 mph) in the No. 5 Belardi Auto Racing Mazda/Dallara IL-15 was enough to edge the No. 98 Andretti Steinbrenner Racing entry of Colton Herta by a slim 0.0835 of a second.
Aaron Telitz timed in third, 0.1953 of a second behind his Belardi Auto Racing teammate.
Qualifying for Race 1 of the Indy Lights doubleheader takes place at 10:05 a.m. ET Saturday, with the 60-minute race set to begin at 2:50 p.m. CT. Both will stream live on RaceControl.IndyCar.com.