Mario Romancini wins his first Indy Lights pole

Mario Romancini won his first career Firestone Indy Lights pole for the Husar's House of Fine Diamonds 100 presented by Charter. Romancini recorded a two-lap qualifying average of 49.4453 seconds, 147.800 mph. Series points leader J.R. Hildebrand qualified second (146.927).

Mario Romancini Credit: Dan Helrigel/Indy Lights

MARIO ROMANCINI (No. 5 Revita/Win Brazil/Allied/RLR Andersen, qualified first): "This is my first time at this track and since I got here this morning, I've been comfortable. The car has been really good, and I was able to make two good laps. I felt really good grip on the car, and more importantly, I feel like we have a pretty good car for tomorrow's race. Like J.R. (Hildebrand) said, it will be a long race and we'll have to manage our tires for the first 50 laps because I think the last 25 laps will be tough. I'm happy to be starting on pole, but we have a long race tomorrow."

J.R. HILDEBRAND (No. 26 ARPRO, second): "It was pretty good. Going into it, we thought the wind was going to be a little bit more of a factor, and so we sort of picked our gears based on that, and we ended up getting geared a bit too short for what the conditions were like. I think we have a little more speed left in it. I'm happy with starting on the front row. It's a bummer for the guys that we couldn't stick it on the pole, but I think we have a good race car. We worked on race setup all morning while these guys were working on their qualifying stuff, so I think maybe there was a little bit left in qualifying, but I feel like we're pretty well set for the race."

JONATHAN SUMMERTON (No. 9 Andersen/Allied Interior Products/Lafarge, third): "On my out lap, I had a little too much understeer, and I was hesitant because of the understeer on the first lap. I could have done more with it and been on the pole if I hadn't been hesitant because of the understeer. My line was normal, and the car was good. I just didn't make the full edge on that first lap. It was probably the easiest qualifying I've ever done even though I've never driven here before this morning, because the car was good. We have a strong car for tomorrow, and all-and-all it was good."

SEBASTIAN SAAVEDRA (No. 27 Automatic Fire Sprinklers, Inc., fourth): "We didn't start off today where we expected. We had a small crash this morning in practice. The AFS/Andretti Green guys did a really good job putting the car back together in time for qualifying. I'm really happy with the run we had today, and I think we have a good race car for tomorrow."

WADE CUNNINGHAM (No. 11 Lucas Oil/Sam Schmidt Motorsports, fifth): "It was a good run for what we had. This morning, in the nine laps we had, we were third-quickest when Charlie Kimball had spun out at the exit of Turn 2 right in front of us. I was setting up to pass him, and I really didn't have anywhere to go and clipped him with the right front and tore that corner off, and, unfortunately, we damaged the undertray. We were lucky for the split sessions. We actually got back out for the second one since we were in the second group because of the qualifying order. So I did get some practice in. But, unfortunately, because we missed 50 or 60 crucial laps from that first session we were just behind the eight-ball. So really, considering, it could have been a lot worse. I'm not overly disappointed. The guy that's on pole did a massive lap. I think, even with the first session, we wouldn't have had anything for him. He obviously did a fantastic job and deserves the pole. So, I'm happy for the Lucas Oil guys. We're the strongest Schmidt car in the lineup. Fifth isn't really good enough, but it's the 100 laps tomorrow that counts."

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