Hauger roars again in Mid-Ohio Indy NXT qualifying

Dennis Hauger picked up two more accomplishments during his stellar rookie season, topping the track record and winning the pole Saturday for the Indy NXT by Firestone Grand Prix at Mid-Ohio.

Hauger, from Norway, earned his sixth pole in eight starts this season in the IndyCar development series with a top lap of 1m09.7431s in the No. 28 Nammo car fielded by Andretti Global. That smashed the Indy NXT track record of 1m10.2879s set by Caio Collet last season during qualifying.

“Super happy about the pole,” Hauger said. “Didn’t really expect it being in Group 1. It felt like the track evolution was quite big in our session. I hoped for (pole), and it came through. Time to get ready for tomorrow.”

The 35-lap race starts at 10:30am Sunday (FS1, FOX Sports app). Hauger leads fellow Andretti Global rookie Lochie Hughes by 28 points in the championship standings after winning four of the first seven races this season.

Collet, who led practice this morning, didn’t repeat as pole winner but will join Hauger in the front row Sunday after qualifying second at 1m09.8612s in the No. 76 HMD Motorsports car.

Hughes will start directly behind his pole-winning teammate Hauger, qualifying third at 1m09.9894s in the No. 26 McGinley Clinic/USF Pro Championship car. Josh Pierson continued his recent improvement in form by qualifying fourth at 1m10.0315s in the No. 14 HMD Motorsports machine.

Salvador de Alba was the third Andretti Global driver in the top five with his best lap of 1m10.3916s in the No. 27 Grupo Indi entry. Callum Hedge will join de Alba in the third row of the starting grid after qualifying sixth at 1m10.2488s in the No. 17 Abel Motorsports car.

Hauger was the first driver in the opening group to break the 1m10s mark, dropping to 1m09.945s with six minutes remaining. He then laid down his best lap with two minutes left, and Hughes couldn’t top it.

“The track was getting better and better, so in the beginning, it was a bit weird,” Hauger said. “It felt like the tires and track really didn’t come together. The track was definitely better at the end. It was a good run. I maximized what I had with that lap.”

Collet wasted little time finding speed in the second group, dropping to 1m10.1s with nearly seven minutes remaining. He produced his best lap with six minutes left but couldn’t top it as the 13-turn, 2.258-mile track continued to bake under bright sunshine, which lifted track temperatures from 85 degrees F this morning to over 120 degrees during qualifying.

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