There were four big stories in Indy Pro 2000 qualifying.
Championship leader Rasmus Lindh was the final driver on track, and his two-lap average of 142.857 mph was quick enough to grab the pole for the Cooper Tires Indy Pro 2000 Oval Challenge Of St. Louis. The pole is the fourth of the season for the Juncos Racing rookie and the seventh in two Road To Indy seasons.
Kyle Kirkwood, who has won the last Indy Pro 2000 races, was set to start on the outside of the front row, but after running afoul of Rule 8.4.4 was disqualified and will start from the tail of the 12 car field.
Rule 8.4.4 states that:
While the Car is in the Qualifications line, an Entrant’s representatives may make Tire pressure and front wing flap adjustments only. Mainplane, wicker or complete wing assembly changes are not permitted.
The RP Motorsport crew made changes to the rear-wing after the Soul Red No. 28 was in the qualifying line.
Kory Enders, who was the fourth car on track for qualifying, held the provisional pole through six drivers before giving up the spot to Kirkwood first and Lindh second.
It was fun to watch the 22-year-old pace pit-road nervously while driver after driver failed to match his speed.
Antoine Comeau is making his first-ever oval start while driving for Peter Dempsey’s Turn 3 Motorsport and will start an impressive fourth.
Cooper Tires Indy Pro 2000 Oval Challenge of St. Louis qualifying results
| RANK | CAR NO. | DRIVER | TEAM | 2-LAP AVERGE (mph) | 1st LAP | 2nd LAP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 10 | Rasmus Lindh | Juncos Racing | 142.857 | 143.102 | 142.612 |
| 2 | 7 | Kory Enders | DEForce Racing | 142.197 | 142.271 | 142.123 |
| 3 | 2 | Sting Ray Robb | Juncos Racing | 141.444 | 140.992 | 141.899 |
| 4 | 3 | Antoine Comeau | Turn 3 Motorsport | 141.039 | 140.850 | 141.229 |
| 5 | 5 | Artem Petrov | RP Motorsport Racing | 140.930 | 141.009 | 140.851 |
| 6 | 6 | Moises de la Vara | DEForce Racing | 140.856 | 141.549 | 140.170 |
| 7 | 68 | Danial Frost | Exclusive Autosport | 140.642 | 140.492 | 140.792 |
| 8 | 90 | Nikita Lastochkin | Exclusive Autosport | 137.578 | 137.279 | 137.878 |
| 9 | 8 | Parker Thompson | Abel Motorsports | 136.860 | 136.138 | 137.589 |
| 10 | 83 | Charles Finelli | FatBoy Racing | 136.406 | 136.201 | 136.612 |
| 11 | 51 | Jacob Abel | Abel Motorsports | 136.190 | 140.440 | 132.190 |
| 12 | 28 | Kyle Kirkwood | RP Motorsport Racing | DSQ | DSQ | DSQ |
The 55 lap Cooper Tires Indy Pro 2000 Oval Challenge of St. Louis is scheduled to get the green flag on Saturday at 1:45 pm (Central).