Robert Megennis picked the perfect location to say an emphatic first Indy Lights Presented via Cooper Tires victory: the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
He did so in fashion, too.
Megennis, from New York, N.Y., commenced his day by securing the pole position for Indianapolis’s Indy Lights Grand Prix this morning. Although he changed into in brief headed inside the 30-lap race via Andretti Autosport teammate – and championship leader – Oliver Askew, Megennis fought returned with a decisive maneuver in Turn Four, then edged clear of Askew to comfortable a tough-earned and nicely-deserved victory.
Askew observed a few more paces within the final tiers to set the fastest race lap at 1m15.6953s, an average pace of a hundred and fifteen.997 mph, narrowly beating the antique music document set through contemporary NTT IndyCar Series motive force Felix Rosenqvist in 2016. Askew, from Jupiter, Fla., thereby cemented the 2d area beforehand of his closest championship rival, Dutchman Rinus VeeKay (Juncos Racing).
Cool, crisp situations ensured the 2.439-mile, 14-turn road route was an inaccurate form for Friday afternoon’s 5th race of the Indy Lights season, and Megennis used his pole role appropriately to get a bounce on the sphere. By evaluation, out of doors, the front row qualifier VeeKay got heavy wheelspin and instantly slipped returned into the p.C.
Askew pressured Megennis through the first couple of laps before using the more horsepower provided by the AER faster engine’s push-to-skip function down the long front immediately and slipping into the lead at Turn One. But Megennis fought lower back, pulling off a similar maneuver at Turn Four laps later to regain the lead.
Megennis then inched away from his rival, setting a string of fastest race laps to increase his margin to as much as 2.7 seconds. Askew determined a bit more velocity inside the remaining tiers, but it was too little, too late, as Megennis crossed the finishing stripe just over two seconds to the good.
As a substitute, Askew needed to settle for 2d, a new lap file, a barely expanded championship lead, and the Tilton Hard Charger Award.
VeeKay, after slipping from 2nd to fourth at the primary nook, fought his way and returned past Ryan Norman (Andretti Autosport) to reclaim 1/3 on lap 6. David Malukas (BN Racing) also snuck beyond Norman; however, they started to struggle for velocity in the past due to levels and fell again behind Norman and Zachary Claman (Belardi Auto Racing) down to 6th.
A second qualifying session will occur the next day at 8:30 a.m. EDT, with the inexperienced flag for Round 6 slated for 1:25 p.m. before the IndyCar GP headline occasion.
