INDY LIGHTS: Stoneman closes Friday with fastest lap in Monterey

Andretti Autosport's Dean Stoneman shot to the top of the speed chart in the waning moments of Friday afternoon's final Mazda Road to Indy practice session.

The Briton is one of six drivers with a chance of earning the championship, and made solid progress toward his goal as he pushed his Dallara IL15-Mazda to a 1m16.098s lap to displace Team Pelfrey's Sean Rayhall from P1.

Rayhall, who dropped into this weekend's championship finale with nothing to lose, was second (-0.2309) as some drivers bolted on new tires to evaluate grip ahead of tomorrow morning's qualifying session.

Stoneman's Andretti teammate Shelby Blackstock was third (-0.7065), Carlin Racing's Ed Jones, who led the first session of the day, was fourth (-0.7116), and Rayhall's teammate Garrett Grist completed the top five (-0.7996).

"We just have to keep it up," Stoneman told RACER. "It's great being at Laguna Seca; it's my first time here. It was one of those days where we struggled in the morning, we changed the car over the lunch break, and it was better, but it still wasn't quite where we wanted it to be. It was on the edge and ragged, and it was quick, but I didn't expect it to be that quick."

Stoneman's Andretti team will work to find more speed ahead of the early morning run for pole position. Presently third (-23 points) in the standings, he'll need a strong Saturday and Sunday to overtake championship leader Santiago Urrutia and Jones (-1). Urrutia was seventh in his Schmidt Peterson Motorsports entry (-1.011).

"We've got a good direction on where we want to go with the car," he said. "All we can do it go put it on pole and win both races this weekend and see where we end up."

Jones, who did not register a new-tire run at the end of the 30-minute session, was confident in the car he and the Carlin team have developed heading into qualifying.

"Overall it was a pretty good day; the track is so slippery compared to last year, it made for a lot of learning," Jones said. "We're five or six seconds slower than last year, but we were quickest of the drivers on old ties. I think the biggest challenge tomorrow morning will be how the track changes in the cooler session, but we're in a good place."

UP NEXT: Qualifying, 9:20 a.m. PT