Hunter McElrea continued his run of perfection this weekend after capturing pole for the Indy Lights round at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.
The 22-year-old put the No. 27 Andretti Autosport machine at the top of both practice sessions and maintained the pace with an electrifying qualifying run, putting down a flying lap of 1m12.1926s (112.599 mph) around the 13-turn, 2.258-mile road course.
It is the second pole of the season for McElrea, with the other coming at the season-opener at St. Petersburgh. With three podiums this season and sitting sixth in the championship, he has a prime spot to try and seize his first Indy Lights win on Sunday.
Championship leader Linus Lundqvist ended up second, with his No. 26 HMD Motorsports with Dale Coyne Racing entry a sizeable 0.2292s behind. Benjamin Pedersen, driving the No. 24 Global Racing Group with HMD Motorsports entry, finished the session third at 0.2533s off the top spot.
Matthew Brabham and Christian Rasmussen came away fourth and fifth, respectively. The No. 83 Andretti Autosport entry of Brabham was briefly derailed and had to serve a drive thru penalty during the session for speeding on pit road.
Sting Ray Robb, who had a significant shunt in second practice on Saturday morning, put it sixth. He was followed by Jacob Abel in seventh.
Antonio Serravalle, Daniel Frost and Christian Bogle finished out the rest of the top 10.
Up Next: The 35-lap race on Sunday at 10:30 a.m. ET, with live coverage on Peacock and the IndyCar Radio Network.