Wade Cunningham wins his first pole in two years

On Saturday, 2005 Firestone Indy Lights champion Wade Cunningham won his first pole in two years, winning the pole for the Kansas Lottery 100. Cunningham recorded a two-lap qualifying average of 187.458 mph.

Wade Cunningham signs an autograph for a fan Credit: Indy Lights

Sebastian Saavedra qualified second, Ana Beatriz was third, J.R. Hildebrand fourth and Pippa Mann fifth.

The Kansas Lottery 100 is scheduled for 1 p.m. (ET) Sunday, while the Road Runner Turbo Indy 300 is scheduled for 5 p.m.

WADE CUNNINGHAM (No. 7 Lucas Oil/Sam Schmidt Motorsports, first): "I'm really happy to be on the pole. I thought the Panther guys were going to put up a challenge, especially after their strength in preseason oval testing. I'm just really pleased with the effort that the guys put in. It was kind of a late deal getting started this season. Being a four-car team, it's pretty tough to get it all working in the same direction. We've made a lot of progress in the past two weekends, but it's good to come back to an oval. I love oval racing, and here we are on the pole."

SEBASTIAN SAAVEDRA (No. 27 Automatic Fire Sprinklers, Inc., second): "It was a great run for my team. We knew the time to beat was going to be really close. I've been very happy all weekend, knowing that the car was great. The guys did an awesome job with the setup. We have to keep concentrating. The Firestone tires were incredible during the whole two laps. Now our focus is the race. That's where the real points are. We're thinking about the championship, so we're going to try to do our best tomorrow and keep it going."

ANA BEATRIZ (No. 20 Healthy Choice/Sam Schmidt Motorsports, third): "It was a pretty good run. The Healthy Choice/Sam Schmidt car was great. I think it will be very good for the race, and we should be able to improve our position."

J.R. HILDEBRAND (No. 26 ARPRO, fourth): "It was a decent day for the No. 26 car. I was hoping to hold on to the pole, but starting on the second row is not bad. I hope to get the AFS/AGR car up front and defend my win from last year."

Print This Page	Go back to the previous page