By Steve Wittich

If practice means anything, a Carlin hot streak that includes three-straight wins shows no sign of cooling down. Neil Agberico’s lap of 162.325mph led his teammates Matheus Leist, and Zachary Claman DeMelo, and Garth Rickards to spots two, three, and five, respectively, at the top of the time sheet.

The first of Saturday’s two half-hour practice session in preparation for tomorrow’s Mazda Iowa 100 Presented by Cooper Tires Indy Lights race rolled off at 1:15pm.

Chad Boat, a second generation driver from Phoenix, Ariz, was scheduled to take part in this weekend’s event, but after a terrible tumble in a midget at Lincoln Speedway in Lincoln, Ill. has not been cleared to drive. You can read the Belardi Auto Racing release here —> Chad Boat medically sidelined for Indy Lights race at Iowa Speedway http://www.tsoladder.com/2017/07/08/chad-boat-medically-sidelined-for-indy-lights-race-at-iowa-speedway/

Alberico was the fastest circuit at the halfway point of the 30 minute session. His teammates Leist, Claman DeMelo, and Rickards slotted into spots two-three-four, with championship leader Kyle Kaiser rounding out the top five.

Championship contender Colton Herta missed the first two-thirds of practice with a waste gate issue, but recovered to end up with the fourth fastest lap.

The majority of the 14 entered teams and drivers tested at the ⅞ths of a mile progressively banked oval immediately following the Road America double header. Sources within the Indy Lights paddock told us that the Carlin trio of Zachary Claman DeMelo, Neil Alberico, and Matheus Leist, were the three quickest, and all within two-tenths of a second of each other.

The teams and drivers are back on track at 5:30pm for their second practice session of day.

Mazda Iowa 100 Presented by Cooper Tires Indy Lights Practice #1 results

RANK CAR NO. DRIVER TEAM FAST LAP (MPH)
1 22 Neil Alberico Carlin 162.325
2 26 Matheus Leist Carlin 161.548
3 13 Zachary Claman De Melo Carlin 160.820
4 98 Colton Herta Andretti Steinbrenner Racing 160.245
5 11 Garth Rickards Carlin 160.101
6 18 Kyle Kaiser Juncos Racing 159.531
7 27 Nico Jamin Andretti Autosport 159.314
8 28 Dalton Kellett Andretti Autosport 159.087
9 2 Juan Piedrahita Team Pelfrey 158.854
10 9 Aaron Telitz Belardi Auto Racing 158.711
11 48 Ryan Norman Andretti Autosport 158.708
12 51 Shelby Blackstock Belardi Auto Racing 158.157
13 5 Santi Urrutia Belardi Auto Racing 157.405
14 31 Nicolas Dapero Juncos Racing 156.456

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