Dennis Hauger Edges Andretti Teammate Lochie Hughes for Detroit Pole
INDYCAR
The INDY NXT by Firestone duel between Andretti Global teammates Dennis Hauger and Lochie Hughes continued to heat up Saturday as Hauger edged fellow series rookie Hughes for the pole at the Detroit Grand Prix.
Hauger earned his third pole in five races this season – Hughes grabbed the other two – with a series-record lap of 1 minute, 4.9896 seconds in the No. 28 Rental Group car. That broke the series track record of 1:05.1079 set last June by eventual series champion Louis Foster, also of Andretti Global.
SEE: Qualifying Results
'It was so messy, but I pushed to the limit and got the pole,' Hauger said. 'That was intense.'
Hughes was second at 1:05.0516 in the No. 26 McGinley Clinic/USF Pro Championship machine, also under Foster's track record.
There was a gap of nearly one second to third on the starting grid for the 45-lap race Sunday (10:30 a.m. ET, FS1, FOX Sports app, INDYCAR Radio Network), as 17-year-old rookie Max Taylor qualified third at 1:05.9554 in the No. 18 HMD Motorsports car in just his second start in the INDYCAR development series.
2024 Rookie of the Year Caio Collet qualified fourth at 1:05.6249 in the No. 76 HMD Motorsports machine. Salvador de Alba was the third Andretti Global driver in the top five with his top lap of 1:05.9772 in the No. 27 Grupo Indi car.
Callum Hedge rounded out the first three rows by qualifying sixth at 1:06.1315 in the No. 17 Abel Motorsports car.
There was plenty of suspense throughout qualifying. The session was split into two groups of drivers, with Hughes in the first group and Hauger in the second to build the drama. Hauger leads his teammate by 15 points atop the series standings after four races, and they are the only drivers to win races this season – Hauger has three victories, Hughes one.
Hughes laid down his huge lap on his final trip around the treacherous, nine-turn, 1.645-mile street circuit in downtown Detroit, finally getting clear track on the tight, bumpy circuit for his last qualifying run.
Hauger was working up his response when James Roe suffered his second crash of the weekend with about seven minutes left in the session, with his No. 29 Topcon car receiving heavy right front damage after wall impact. Roe was unhurt.
There were only three minutes, 56 seconds left in the session when the track reopened, and Hauger and his group hustled back on the circuit to complete as many laps as possible.
Hauger dropped to 1:05.287 on his second-to-last lap, just behind Hughes, but grabbed the pole with his track-record lap on his final trip around the circuit.
'That was just so nerve-wracking with the red flag because tire temperatures weren't there on the first two laps, and they came on the last one,' Hauger said. 'I hit the wall on the second-to-last lap, I almost crashed in Turn 1 on the last lap.'
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