Salvador De Alba, Jay Howard Driver Development, Groupo Indi, Mecano, Sidral Aga, IndyPro 2000. Photo credit: Gavin Baker Photography/Road to Indy

By Tony DiZinno

The Jay Howard Driver Development pace at the 1.25-mile World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway continued in both pre-race Indy Pro 2000 sessions Saturday morning. Braden Eves led practice while Friday’s test leader, Salvador De Alba, has secured the pole for today’s race.

Practice

After two test sessions on Friday, the Indy Pro 2000 contenders rolled out early Saturday morning at 9:45 a.m. CST for a busy day of activity with official practice, qualifying and the race all within several hours at the 1.25-mile World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway. 

As it was on Friday, the Jay Howard Driver Development team was fastest in official practice. This time it was Braden Eves atop the charts at 141.439 mph in his No. 4 entry. Eves, last year’s winner here, led Nolan Siegel in the first of the DEForce entries and Friday’s pacesetter Salvador De Alba in the second of three JHDD entries. Championship leader Louis Foster (Exclusive Autosport) and Yuven Sundaramoorthy (Pabst Racing) completed the top five.

All 15 entries ran more than 20 laps during the session before qualifying at 11:45 a.m. CST and local time. 

P No Name Team FSpeed Laps
1 4 Braden Eves Jay Howard Driver Development 141.439 42
2 8 Nolan Siegel DEForce Racing 141.363 26
3 6 Salvador De Alba Jay Howard Driver Develpment 141.161 39
4 90 Louis Foster Exclusive Autosport 141.112 43
5 18 Yuven Sundaramoorthy Pabst Racing 140.278 41
6 7 Bijoy Garg DEForce Racing 140.197 39
7 19 Jordan Missig Pabst Racing 139.982 41
8 5 Marcos Flack Jay Howard Driver Development 139.936 41
9 55 Reece Gold Juncos Hollinger Racing 139.664 27
10 3 Josh Green Turn 3 Motorsport 139.547 35
11 1 Kiko Porto DEForce Racing 139.427 46
12 47 Enaam Ahmed Juncos Hollinger Racing 139.156 24
13 40 Jack William Miller Miller Vinatieri Motorsports w/Exclusive Autosport 138.301 38
14 2 Trey Burke Turn 3 Motorsport 138.131 41
15 93 Lindsay Brewer Exclusive Autosport 135.149 30

Qualifying

The first four drivers out included the three series debutantes in Marcos Flack, Bijoy Garg and Trey Burke, and Lindsay Brewer in her first oval start. They slotted in in that order out of the gate.

Fifth driver out, Jordan Missig, lost the rear through Turns 3 and 4 and suffered significant left rear damage as he backed into the wall. With a minimal time frame between qualifying and race, it left the Pabst Racing driver rather vulnerable to missing the start. 

Missig’s teammate Yuven Sundaramoorthy was next out after the track went back green. He chased the car in both corners on both laps, with significant wiggling, but was still able to slot in second. 

Jack William Miller was the second Exclusive Autosport affiliated driver out after Brewer, and the Miller Vinatieri Motorsports driver’s pace struggles continued this weekend as he was only fourth of the six completed runs so far.

Salvador De Alba was a possible pole contender for Jay Howard Driver Development, having paced both test sessions on Friday. He had a 137.3 mph warmup lap, which set him up for a great qualifying run. A speed of 138.794 mph delivered that as he moved to the top. 

After Kiko Porto took a run, Braden Eves slotted into second behind his JHDD teammate. He was close but not close enough to beat De Alba. 

Nolan Siegel (DEForce Racing) and Josh Green (Turn 3 Motorsport) also were close but no cigar to De Alba, but ahead of Eves. 

The last three drivers to take a run at De Alba were the Juncos Hollinger Racing pair of Enaam Ahmed and Reece Gold, and championship leader Louis Foster (Exclusive Autosport), but none pulled off the pole heist. 

P No Name Team QSpeed
1 6 Salvador De Alba Jay Howard Driver Develpment 138.560
2 55 Reece Gold Juncos Hollinger Racing 138.442
3 90 Louis Foster Exclusive Autosport 138.262
4 8 Nolan Siegel DEForce Racing 137.744
5 3 Josh Green Turn 3 Motorsport 137.657
6 4 Braden Eves Jay Howard Driver Development 137.569
7 47 Enaam Ahmed Juncos Hollinger Racing 137.495
8 5 Marcos Flack Jay Howard Driver Development 136.149
9 18 Yuven Sundaramoorthy Pabst Racing 135.846
10 7 Bijoy Garg DEForce Racing 135.827
11 40 Jack William Miller Miller Vinatieri Motorsports w/Exclusive Autosport 135.786
12 2 Trey Burke Turn 3 Motorsport 135.518
13 1 Kiko Porto DEForce Racing 134.772
14 93 Lindsay Brewer Exclusive Autosport 133.918
15 19 Jordan Missig Pabst Racing No Speed