Christian Rasmussen, the newest Indy Pro 2000 pole-sitter on the track showing off the No. 1 livery of an Road To Indy champion. Photo credit: Gavin Baker Photography/Road to Indy

By Steve Wittich

A reg flag with four minutes remaining in the 20-minute session brought an early end to the second USF2000 qualifying session at Barber Motorsports Park.

The beneficiary of the red flag was Christian Rasmussen and Jay Howard Driver Development, who both scored their first Indy Pro 2000 poles. It’s the tenth career Road To Indy pole for the Danish driver.

Rasmussen’sRasmussen’s pole-winning lap in the JHDD, CSU | One Cure/Lucas Oil sponsored No. 1 was timed at 76.5270 seconds, leaving Braden Eves’ lap in the morning as the track record holding effort.

Joining Rasmussen on the front row is Pabst Racing sophomore Hunter McElrea, who improved one position from his third starting spot for Race #1.

The second row is Juncos Racing rookie Reece Gold and Eves (Juncos Racing), the pole sitter for Race #1.

Jacob Abel (Abel Motorsports) will start fifth, making it five teams in the top five.

When the second Indy Pro 2000 qualifying session of the day began, the ambient temperature at the circuit was 66F, and the track temperature of the 2.3-mile, 17-turn natural terrain road course was 102.4F

The early leader with five of twenty minutes expired was Juncos Racing rookie Reece Gold.

Gold’sGold’s teammate Manuel Sulaiman spun in Turn 1 after catching the aggressive kerbing. He could get the Telcel/Infinitum/WBC/Inteligentus/Anahuac sponsored No. 22 rolling, and the track remained green.

In the next five minutes, the last two USF2000 champions Eves and Rasmussen, spent time on the provisional pole.

Rasmussen held the provisional pole at the halfway point of qualifying with a lap timed at 76.5720 seconds. Eves, McElrea, Gold, and Simpson rounded out the top five.

In the next five minutes, Wyatt Brichacek moved into the top five.

Times started to drop as the drivers who put on fresh Cooper Tire slicks got them into the proper operating temperature. The first driver to improve

With four minutes remaining in the session, the red flag came out when the No. 11 of reigning F4 United States Championship champion contacted the barriers after a spin in Turn 13.

Indy Pro 2000 Grand Prix of Alabama presented by Cooper Tires Qualifying #2 Results (unofficial)

RANK CAR NO. DRIVER TEAM QUICK LAP DIFFERENCE
1 1 Christian Rasmussen Jay Howard Driver Development 1:16.5270 0.000
2 18 Hunter McElrea Pabst Racing 1:16.6996 0.1726
3 55 Reece Gold Juncos Racing 1:16.7478 0.2208
4 91 Braden Eves Exclusive Autosport 1:16.8631 0.3361
5 51 Jacob Abel Abel Motorsports 1:16.9705 0.4435
6 5 Wyatt Brichacek Jay Howard Driver Development 1:17.0194 0.4924
7 42 Artem Petrov Exclusive Autosport 1:17.0575 0.5305
8 40 Jack William Miller Miller Vinatieri Motorsports 1:17.1834 0.6564
9 21 Kyffin Simpson Juncos Racing 1:17.2616 0.7346
10 22 Manuel Sulaiman Juncos Racing 1:17.2652 0.7382
11 27 Colin Kaminsky Pabst Racing 1:17.2949 0.7679
12 74 Enzo Fittipaldi RP Motorsport USA 1:17.2965 0.7695
13 77 Enaam Ahmed RP Motorsport USA 1:17.3412 0.8142
14 7 Cameron Shields DEForce Racing 1:17.5067 0.9797
15 3 James Roe Turn 3 Motorsport 1:17.5592 1.0322
16 11 Hunter Yeany Velocity Racing Development 1:17.8901 1.3631
17 20 Flinn Lazier Legacy Autosport 1:18.4744 1.9474

Indy Pro 2000 Grand Prix Of Alabama Presented By Cooper Tires Race #1 rolls off at 11:10 am on Saturday.