Indy NXT: McElrea tops Thursday test times on IMS road course
Hunter McElrea led an INDY NXT by Firestone Open Test on April 6 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course during which the top 11 drivers posted quicker times than the track record.
McElrea paced the five-hour test with a top lap of 1 minute, 14.0499 seconds in the No. 27 Smart Motors car fielded by Andretti Autosport.
“It was a super-positive day,” McElrea said. “I just wanted to understand the tire on a track we’ve raced at. We blew, unofficially, the track record away by a lot.
“Hat’s off to the Firestone guys. The (tire) degradation was way less than I was expecting, as well. Whenever you have more grip, it’s always more fun. I had a really good time. The whole Andretti team left here very positive.”
McElrea’s rookie Andretti teammate Louis Foster was second at 1:14.2921 in the No. 26 Copart/USF Pro Championship car, followed by Christian Rasmussen at 1:14.3765 in the No. 6 HMD Motorsports with DCR machine.
Rookie Nolan Siegel was fourth at 1:14.4578 in the No. 39 HMD Motorsports with DCR after turning a test-high 82 laps. Fellow rookie Matteo Nannini rounded out the top five at 1:14.4722 in the No. 75 Juncos Hollinger Racing machine.
Danial Frost, winner of the season opener at St. Petersburg, ended up eighth at 1:14.6120 in the No. 68 HMD Motorsports with DCR machine. The final driver quicker than the track record was rookie Jagger Jones, 11th at 1:14.6562 in the No. 98 Lead Sled car fielded by Cape Motorsports. Jones is the grandson of 1963 Indianapolis 500 winner Parnelli Jones.
Thursday Test Times
|
Rank |
Car |
Driver Name |
Time |
Speed |
Diff |
Gap |
Best Lap |
Total Laps |
|
1 |
27 |
McElrea, Hunter |
01:14.0499 |
118.574 |
–.—- |
–.—- |
43 |
59 |
|
2 |
26 |
Foster, Louis (R) |
01:14.2921 |
118.188 |
0.2422 |
0.2422 |
43 |
71 |
|
3 |
6 |
Rasmussen, Christian |
01:14.3765 |
118.053 |
0.3266 |
0.0844 |
49 |
62 |
|
4 |
39 |
Siegel, Nolan (R) |
01:14.4578 |
117.925 |
0.4079 |
0.0813 |
54 |
82 |
|
5 |
75 |
Nannini, Matteo (R) |
01:14.4722 |
117.902 |
0.4223 |
0.0144 |
39 |
54 |
|
6 |
3 |
Green, Josh (R) |
01:14.5813 |
117.729 |
0.5314 |
0.1091 |
55 |
67 |
|
7 |
21 |
Simpson, Kyffin |
01:14.5875 |
117.719 |
0.5376 |
0.0062 |
34 |
65 |
|
8 |
68 |
Frost, Danial |
01:14.6120 |
117.681 |
0.5621 |
0.0245 |
48 |
52 |
|
9 |
10 |
Lindh, Rasmus |
01:14.6323 |
117.649 |
0.5824 |
0.0203 |
48 |
59 |
|
10 |
47 |
Ahmed, Enaam (R) |
01:14.6422 |
117.633 |
0.5923 |
0.0099 |
38 |
46 |
|
11 |
98 |
Jones, Jagger (R) |
01:14.6562 |
117.611 |
0.6063 |
0.0140 |
45 |
58 |
|
12 |
51 |
Abel, Jacob |
01:14.7425 |
117.475 |
0.6926 |
0.0863 |
41 |
51 |
|
13 |
28 |
Chadwick, Jamie (R) |
01:14.8047 |
117.378 |
0.7548 |
0.0622 |
50 |
55 |
|
14 |
14 |
Pierson, Josh (R) |
01:14.8335 |
117.332 |
0.7836 |
0.0288 |
41 |
42 |
|
15 |
76 |
Gold, Reece (R) |
01:14.8367 |
117.327 |
0.7868 |
0.0032 |
47 |
53 |
|
16 |
29 |
Roe, James |
01:14.8646 |
117.284 |
0.8147 |
0.0279 |
40 |
52 |
|
17 |
99 |
Francis Jr., Ernie |
01:14.9295 |
117.182 |
0.8796 |
0.0649 |
66 |
67 |
|
18 |
57 |
Kaminsky, Colin (R) |
01:14.9938 |
117.082 |
0.9439 |
0.0643 |
56 |
68 |
|
19 |
40 |
Miller, Jack William (R) |
01:15.1142 |
116.894 |
1.0643 |
0.1204 |
33 |
46 |
|
20 |
7 |
Bogle, Christian |
01:15.3712 |
116.495 |
1.3213 |
0.2570 |
23 |
48 |
(R) Rookie