By alley - Sep 10, 2016, 1:16 PM ET

PRO MAZDA: Championship leader Telitz takes Monterey pole

Wisconsin's Aaron Telitz fired a big shot across the bow of teammate and title rival "Pato" O'Ward by claiming pole position for Race 1 by a big margin. As the only drivers left with a chance to earn the Pro Mazda championship and three races this weekend to settle the score, everything is focused on how the two fare in Monterey.

Telitz produced a lap of 1m23.2863s in his No. 82 Team Pelfrey Pro Mazda as O'Ward, who came into Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca with a 14-point deficit to his Pelfrey stablemate, took second (-0.5878) but was more than a half-second slower in identical equipment.

"I started off about as well as I could to keep my championship hopes alive," Telitz said after adding a point to his lead for earning pole. "It's pretty tough to pass here so we'll look to get out in front and pull away."

Behind the front row, Nicolas Dapero (-0.7235), TJ Fischer (-1.1383) and Nico Jamin (-1.3241) completed the top five.

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UP NEXT: Race 1, 2:15 p.m. PT