05.24.18

The sun was shining across Indianapolis Motor Speedway today as the Andretti Autosport Indy Lights stable took to the oval for two morning practice sessions and qualifying leading into tomorrow’s Freedom 100 race.

The green flag for tomorrow’s Freedom 100 will wave at 12:30 p.m. ET. Fans can catch all 40-laps live at racecontrol.indycar.com or by downloading the Road to Indy app.

No. 28 K-LINE INSULATORS USA MAZDA
  • STARTING POSITION:1st
  • QUALIFYING SPEED: 194.673 mph
  • OF NOTE: Will make his third Freedom 100 start from the front of the grid after earning his first Indy Lights pole
“I can’t say enough of the car prep from the No. 28 K-Line guys this week. We have been consistently competitive when we come here to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The entire field is really strong, but we’re feeling good about starting from the pole position. We still have some competition rolling through, so we will see how it shakes out, but I’m really happy with how qualifying went.”

No. 27 RIVERINA CDMX MEXICO CITY MAZDA
  • STARTING POSITION: 2nd
  • QUALIFYING SPEED: 194.743 mph
  • OF NOTE: Will make his Freedom 100 debut from inside the front row
“You can start from last in the field and still win this race. We’ve been doing a lot of testing and the No. 27 car is running well. We struggled with the car at the Indianapolis Grand Prix – the car wasn’t terrible but it just wasn’t fast. Since the Grand Prix we have been making adjustments on the car and feel pretty good about where we’re at going into tomorrow. It’s a long race and it’s going to be hot.”

No. 48 JOURNEY MAZDA
  • STARTING POSITION: 3rd
  • QUALIFYING SPEED: 193.838 mph
  • OF NOTE: Starting from the second row, Norman looks to capture his first Indy Lights win on the iconic oval
“The race car is really good and I am able to place the car really anywhere I want which will be really important in the race. We did a longer stint this morning and the tires didn’t seem to fall off. I think we will still be there at the end of the race and at the end of this race is all about timing. I don’t think you will want to be leading on the last lap here. I think you will want to make the pass coming off of Turn 3 or on the straightaway to the finish line. I’m really excited for tomorrowand to see what we can do.”

No. 98 ANDRETTI-STEINBRENNER RACAING / CURB MAZDA
  • STARTING POSITION: 6th
  • QUALIFYING SPEED: 193.476 mph
  • OF NOTE: Hoping to keep the momentum going from a strong showing on the road course at IMS, Herta will make his second appearance on the oval at IMS
“The No. 98 car felt good but it almost felt like we had too much grip during the run. I’m happy – it’s great any time you get to drive around Indianapolis Motor Speedway. So starting from sixth, I’m happy with that. It doesn’t really matter where you qualify here, you can win from anywhere. For the race, the car is a little bit of an unknown. We had some problems in the practice sessions so we didn’t get to do any race running. I can work with my teammates which is helpful since they all seemed really good in race situations.”