Indy Lights: Ringel shatters track record to take Freedom 100 pole

Mazda's debut as an engine manufacturer at the hallowed Indianapolis Motor Speedway resulted in a rewriting of the Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires record book as Schmidt Peterson Motorsports with Curb-Agajanian's Ethan Ringel snared the pole position for tomorrow's Freedom 100.

The 20-year-old from Orlando, Fla., shattered the old two-lap qualifying mark of 190.177mph (set by Wade Cunningham in 2009) with a new standard at 197.684mph. Ringel also eclipsed the old single-lap mark (established with the assistance of a draft during the 2011 race by Brandon Wagner at 192.301mph) with the first of his two laps at 197.866mph.

"I'm kind of in disbelief that I'm here," said Ringel. "My engineer has told me all year that I have to get comfortable on the oval, that Indy is a place you really have to drive the car. But since I ran that first test at Homestead, I loved it. I think that's the key with being comfortable – you have to respect it. And especially at Indianapolis, you can't go past the limits here. I've had a blast since the first lap.

"Going into the week, I thought I'd be happy with a mid-pack so this is a bit of a shocker. I knew the car was pretty quick and it felt pretty good, so I thought it could be a good qualifying time. So now, I want to focus on the race, to figure out strategy. I'll try to relax as much as I can and take things as they come."

After average speeds soared to almost 200mph in the draft during practice earlier today, headed by Sean Rayhall (8Star Motorsports) at 199.452mph, it was clear the track record would fall during qualifying. Felix Serralles, from Ponce, Puerto Rico, second fastest this morning at 199.318mph, drew first in the order. It came as no surprise to see the ex-European Formula 3 racer break the existing mark with two laps at an average of 195.427mph for Belardi Auto Racing, which has won the past two Freedom 100s with Peter Dempsey in 2013 and Gabby Chaves in 2014.

Next out was Englishman Jack Harvey, whose Schmidt Peterson Motorsports Dallara-Mazda IL-15 has been among the fastest cars all week long. Sure enough, Harvey, who currently lies just six points out of the Indy Lights championship lead, eclipsed Serralles with a pair of laps averaging 197.551mph. Harvey's effort remained good enough for a position on the outside of the front row for tomorrow afternoon's race.

"We hoped that a Schmidt Peterson car would be on the pole and of course, I hoped it would be me, but at the end of the day, it's a great team performance to have all four cars in the top five," said Harvey. "At the beginning of the year, if I could have picked one race to be on the pole, it would have been here. If there is one race I would want to win, it would be here. I know the importance of the Speedway, what it is to deliver a good result here. So we both have put ourselves in position to have a great race."

Rayhall, who scored a surprise victory two weeks ago on the Indianapolis Grand Prix course, couldn't quite match the two Schmidt Peterson cars but still did enough to annex third on the grid with a two-lap average of 197.111mph. The fastest three cars all posted speed-trap figures in excess of 202mph heading into Turn One.

Scott Anderson will start on the outside of Row Two (196.329mph) for Schmidt Peterson, with teammate RC Enerson, just a few ticks slower at 196.237mph.

Rookie Kyle Kaiser ensured there will be five American drivers in the top-six starting positions for Juncos Racing, followed by Carlin teammates Max Chilton and series leader Ed Jones.

The green flag for tomorrow's Freedom 100, part of the #MRTI FreedomFest activities during the lead up to Sunday's 99th Indianapolis 500, will fly at 12:30 p.m. ET. The race will be broadcast live on NBCSN.