Juncos Racing and Rinus VeeKay picked right up where they left off the last time Indy Lights was on a road course. The Dutchman started on pole in that race and drove to a 6.8849-second victory.

The rookie ended up almost three-tenths ahead Ryan Norman, who is going to start on the outside of the front row.

It’s the second time that VeeKay will start on the pole this year, and his ninth career Road To Indy Presented by Cooper Tires pole.

The top rung of the Road To Indy Presented by Cooper Tires ladder was the last of three qualifying sessions in a one hour and 20-minute span.

The first two sessions were 20-minutes, but the Indy Lights drivers were afforded 30-minutes to set a quick lap.

The early leader was Rinus VeeKay, who was also leading at the half-way point of the half-hour session, with a lap of 115.0242 seconds. He was followed by Robert Megennis, Oliver Askew, Ryan Norman, and Dalton Kellett in the top five. Those five drivers were all within a half-second of VeeKay.

The Belardi Auto Racing duo of Aaron Telitz and Lucas Kohl were the first drivers to head back out on fresh Cooper Tire slicks.

The Andretti Autosport crew of Askew was able to get his Index Invest sponsored No. 28 repaired after his contact with the tire barriers on drivers right at the exit of Turn 14. And, the Jupiter, Fla. native was the first driver to knock VeeKay from the provisional pole.

The current points leader’s time at the top of the timing screens was short. His chief rival VeeKay grabbed the provisional pole a few moments later and went even quicker on his next lap, a full six-tenths ahead of the rest of the field.

The only driver to even make a dent in the reigning Indy Pro 2000’s provisional pole lap was Norman, whose lap at 114.054 seconds.

Cooper Tires Grand Prix of Road America Powered by AER Indy Lights Qualifying #1 Results

RANK CAR NO DRIVER TEAM QUICK LAP DIFFERENCE
1 21 Rinus VeeKay Juncos Racing 1:54.054 –.—-
2 48 Ryan Norman Andretti Autosport 1:54.309 0.2553
3 28 Oliver Askew Andretti Autosport 1:54.698 0.6444
4 27 Robert Megennis Andretti Autosport 1:54.711 0.6573
5 67 Dalton Kellett Juncos Racing 1:54.873 0.8193
6 4 Aaron Telitz Belardi Auto Racing 1:55.070 1.0163
7 5 Lucas Kohl Belardi Auto Racing 1:55.799 1.7451
8 2 Toby Sowery BN Racing/Team Pelfrey 1:55.848 1.7939
9 79 David Malukas BN Racing 1:55.858 1.8043

The first Indy Lights race is at 1:50 pm on Saturday, and they are back on track tomorrow morning for qualifying at 10:15 am.