Freedom 100 Presented by Allied Building Products starting lineup
Ethan Ringel could make a major move in the Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires championship standings by capitalizing on his pole position in the Freedom 100 Presented by Allied Building Products.
The 20-year-old from Mineola, N.Y., recorded a two-lap average speed of 197.684 mph (1 minute, 31.0545 seconds) on the 2.5-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway, setting the series track record for the marquee race of the season.
“Going out there I’ve never been so nervous in my whole life. I thought my heart was going to come out of my chest,” said Ringel, driving the No. 71 Schmidt Motorsports with Curb-Agajanian car. “Honestly, coming into this week I really wasn’t expecting much. I’d was thinking I’d be happy with a mid-pack. To qualify pole was something that I didn’t think would happen this season.”
Ringel competed in one Indy Lights race in 2014 with Team Moore. He raced in the Atlantic Championship Series in 2013 and in the GP3 Series in 2012.
“I’m absolutely stoked about it and looking forward to the race,” he added. “The car felt as it did all week. I think we’ve always gone forward instead of stay where we are or go backward, so I think there’s been really good progress and I hope to have a good car in traffic.”
All four Schmidt Peterson Motorsports with Curb-Agajanian entries qualified in the top five for the 40-lap race (12:30 p.m. ET May 22 on NBCSN).
Jack Harvey, who finished fifth in the race last year, qualified on the front row (197.551 mph two-lap average). Sean Rayhall (197.111 mph) of 8Star Motorsports and Scott Anderson (196.329) of the Schmidt Peterson team will be on Row 2.
Teammate RC Enerson (196.237) and Kyle Kaiser (195.998) of Juncos Racing qualified on Row 3.
Harvey, who enters the race six points behind championship front-runner Ed Jones of Carlin, also could make a statement in the standings at the halfway point of the season. Jones qualified eighth.
“I was happy with my run,” Harvey said. “(Ringel has) been fast all week and deserves to be on pole. The team has done a great job all around.
“Racing here is a completely different kettle of fish. Hopefully a bit of experience there will help me. We need to enjoy all the cars being up front, get through the first corner cleanly and see how the race unfolds.”
It was the first qualifying session on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval with the Dallara IL-15 chassis, incorporating state-of-the-art safety features and the 2.0-liter turbocharged Mazda MZR-R engine.
The track record of 192.301 mph (46.8017 seconds) had been set by Brandon Wagner during the race in 2011, while the qualifying one-lap mark of 190.456 mph (47.2549 seconds) was established by three-time Freedom 100 winner Wade Cunningham in 2009.
The fastest lap in Indy Lights history stands to Stefan Wilson, who achieved a lap of 196.252 mph in a multi-car draft during the race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in 2011.
