Green and Gold form colorful first row for Indy Pro 2000 Race #2 at Road America

Josh Green topped a six-minute sprint for the second Indy Pro 2000 Championship Presented by Cooper Tires pole of the series Road America weekend.

It’s the Turn 3 Motorsport rookie’s second pole of the season. The Peter Dempsey-led team also scored a pole at the 4.014-mile, 14-turn natural terrain road course with Danial Frost in 2020.

Reece Gold (Juncos Hollinger Racing) completes the colorful Green and Gold front row an hour south of Lambeau Field, the home of the Green Bay Packers.

Wyatt Brichacek, in his first weekend with Exclusive Autosport, will start on the inside of the second row, his best career Road To Indy start.

Enaam Ahmed (Juncos Hollinger Racing) had the fourth quickest lap when the session ended, but the No. 47 from the Juncos Hollinger Racing stable ran afoul of Rule 12.13.1, which states:

12.13.1. Inlet blanking panels may be used, provided they are securely fastened. The panels may have a rearward facing return only, up to a maximum of 35mm. The location of fasteners and associated brackets are free provided their sole function is to hold the blanking panel. Material may be added to the rear face of the radiator for the sole purpose of optimizing temperatures.

That moves Braden Eves Jay Howard Driver Development into the fourth starting spot.

The top ten drivers were within a half-second of Green, and the top 13 were only seven-tenths of a second off the pole lap.

Exclusive Autosport rookie Louis Foster, the current Indy Pro 2000 points leader, will start 13th, giving his scholarship rivals an opportunity to make inroads on his points lead.

A pack of 16 250+ HP Elite Engine built 2.0L powerplants served as an alarm clock for those still slumbering in the packed campgrounds at Road America – America’s National Park Of Speed.

The skies were cloudy, with rain threatening. The ambient temperature was 63F, and the track temperature was 65F.

Foster held the provisional pole after two laps, coming to pit road and the attention of the Exclusive Autosport crew.

His new teammate Brichacek remained on track for two more laps, grabbing the provisional pole with a lap time of 125.7264 seconds. The rest of the top ten at the halfway point of the 20-minute qualifying session were – Josh Green (Turn 3 Motorsport), Salvador de Alba (Jay Howard Driver Development), Braden Eves (Jay Howard Driver Development), Reece Gold (Juncos Hollinger Racing), Foster, Colin Kaminsky (Pabst Racing), Enaam Ahmed (Juncos Hollinger Racing), Jonathan Browne (Turn 3 Motorsport) and Jack William Miller (Miller Vinatieri Motorsports)

With six minutes remaining, the red flag came out, with race control reporting that a car was on fire driver’s right in the grass at the exit of Turn 3. The AMR INDYCAR Safety Team arrived quickly to give attention to Nolan Siegel (DEForce Racing) in the Towne Ford/Race for RP sponsored No. 8. The Texan got out of the car under his own power.

The green flag returned to restart qualifying at 8:22 am with six minutes left in qualifying.

The 4.014-mile, 14-turn natural terrain road course was quickly busy with drivers working on getting temperature back into their Cooper Tires.

Gold was the first driver to improve, grabbing the provisional pole with just under two minutes remaining.

As the rest of the field crossed the timing line, five drivers went quicker than the Race #1 pole winner. The fastest of those, with a lap of 124.6382 seconds, was Brichacek.

All drivers were able to complete one more circuit. Gold again was the first driver to grab the provisional pole as the rest of the field streaked towards the Turn 14 timing line.

Unlike the previous lap, only one driver could go quicker than Gold, with Green’s lap of 124.4308 seconds a tenth-of-a-second ahead of the Juncos Hollinger Racing sophomore.

The middle rung of the Road To Indy Presented by Cooper Tires, will contest their first race of the weekend at 2:15 pm (central).