Nicholson earns maiden Mazda MX-5 Cup pole at IMS

He grew up coming to Indianapolis Motor Speedway, dreaming of being a race car driver, and today, Nathan Nicholson (No. 56 Advanced Autosports) earned his first ever pole position at his home track. Now in his third season of Whelen Mazda MX-5 Cup presented by Michelin, Nicholson outqualified the rest of the field by three-tenths of a second, with the top 14 cars qualifying within a second of his time.

Surprisingly, Nicholson has never raced at IMS. Testing here in April was his first time driving the track. He was not the quickest driver in either practice session, but he was saving it for when it mattered, turning a 1:39.738 in qualifying.

“This track has meant so much to me in my life,” Nicholson said. “I started coming here when I was five. I grew up coming to the races with my dad, and this is actually the first weekend I've raced on the track, so to get my first pole position at a place that has basically kickstarted my love and passion for racing means so much to me and my family.”

Nicholson’s time was the only one to break the 1:40 mark and set a new Mazda MX-5 Cup qualifying lap record for IMS. He was three tenths faster than his teammate Matt Novak (No. 11 Advanced Autosports), who will start second.

Saturday’s Round 11 race goes green at 9:40 a.m. ET and will be livestreamed on the IMSA and RACER YouTube channels.