Reece Gold emerged from mixed weather conditions to lead pre-qualifying practice Saturday morning for the INDY NXT by Firestone Grand Prix at Road America.
Gold turned the quickest lap of the weekend, 1 minute, 50.5846 seconds, in the No. 10 HMD Motorsports car as rain fell intermittently over the 14-turn, 4.014-mile natural road course. He improved from a best time of 1:53.5265 during practice Friday, good for 13th in the 21-driver field.
SEE: Practice Results
“I’m super happy with that,” Gold said. “We struggled yesterday a lot, but they gave me a great car today. Practice ran great, so hopefully we can get a good qualifying. I think we have a good race car. It should be good.”
Qualifying starts at 2:30 p.m. ET today, live on INDYCAR LIVE and the INDYCAR Radio Network. Live coverage of the 20-lap race starts at 1:05 p.m. ET Sunday on Peacock and the INDYCAR Radio Network.
Louis Foster, quickest Friday at 1:51.9070, was second today at 1:50.6704 in the No. 26 Copart/Novara Technologies car fielded by Andretti Global. Foster is trying this weekend to become the first INDY NXT driver since Linus Lundqvist in 2022 to win three consecutive races.
James Roe was third at 1:50.8303 in the No. 29 Topcon car of Andretti Global, followed by championship leader Jacob Abel at 1:50.9059 in the No. 51 Abel Construction machine fielded by Abel Motorsports.
Michael d’Orlando was the quickest rookie, fifth overall at 1:51.1468 in the No. 3 Flat Rock Motorsports Park/Rising Stars car fielded by Andretti Cape INDY NXT.
Rookie Kiko Porto, summoned this morning to replace championship contender Nolan Siegel in the No. 39 HMD Motorsports car, ended up 18th at 1:53.1453. Siegel is focusing on his drive with Juncos Hollinger Racing in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES this weekend, a ride he received Friday morning. HMD Motorsports offered its full support of Siegel’s singular focus at this event.
Callum Hedge was unhurt after making contact with the tire barrier in Turn 14 in the No. 17 HMD Motorsports car. The incident, which triggered a red flag, occurred eight minutes into the 45-minute session.