The very short INDY NXT by Firetone qualifying session got started with the ambient at 80F and the track at 106.3F.

Driver’s get just 8 minutes of green flag running to post their best time, and after Lap #3, it was Jacob Abel leading at 1:15.8840.

Already under 4 minutes and we get the slot machine portion of the session as Rasmussen leads, then Josh Green, then Matteo Nannini is P1 at 1:15.3194.

Kyffin Simpson goes P2 with 2 minutes to run, but McElrea knocks him down a spot. It’s Nannino, McElrea, Simpson, Green, Rasmussen, Foster, Pierson, Roe, Abel and Lindh is 10th as we go under 1 minute to go, so 1 or 2 laps left depending on where a car is relative to the time line.

Time expires and Nannini’s 1:15.3194 is the pole time. Louis Foster had improved to 3rd, but his final lap isn’t any faster.

Only Rasmus Lindh did his fastest lap on his final lap, so even as short as the session was, tires did appear to peak before the clock ran out. The big question then to me from a qualifying strategy standpoint is can someone wait a couple minutes – a big risk – and hope to match peak tire to peak track surface. Nannini’s fastest lap was actually his 3rd of 6, so perhaps it’s possible, but trying to run just 3 laps late – that’s putting on the pressure for sure.

This Nannini’s first career INDY NXT Pole. He had started 9th and 12th at St. Petersburg and Barber Motorsports Park respectively.

We will have more on this interesting session at the end of the day.

UNOFFICIAL INDY NXT by Firestone Grand Prix Qualifying Results:

Pos	Car #	Driver	Best Time	Diff	Gap	Laps	Best Lap	Gap	Team
1	75	Matteo Nannini	1:15.3194	1:15.3194	–.—-	6	3	–.—-	Juncos Hollinger Racing
2	27	Hunter McElrea	1:15.4467	0.1273	0.1273	6	5	0.1273	Andretti Autosport
3	26	Louis Foster	1:15.5070	0.1876	0.0603	6	5	0.0603	Andretti Autosport
4	21	Kyffin Simpson	1:15.5334	0.214	0.0264	6	4	0.0264	HMD Motorsports
5	3	Josh Green	1:15.6517	0.3323	0.1183	6	3	0.1183	HMD Motorsports
6	6	Christian Rasmussen	1:15.6814	0.362	0.0297	7	3	0.0297	HMD Motorsports
7	14	Josh Pierson	1:15.7763	0.4569	0.0949	6	4	0.0949	HMD Motorsports
8	29	James Roe	1:15.7949	0.4755	0.0186	6	3	0.0186	Andretti Autosport
9	51	Jacob Abel	1:15.8840	0.5646	0.0891	7	2	0.0891	Abel Motorsports
10	76	Rasmus Lindh	1:15.9196	0.6002	0.0356	6	6	0.0356	Juncos Hollinger Racing
11	47	Enaam Ahmed	1:15.9371	0.6177	0.0175	7	5	0.0175	Cape Motorsports
12	68	Danial Frost	1:15.9399	0.6205	0.0028	7	4	0.0028	HMD Motorsports
13	57	Colin Kaminsky	1:16.0357	0.7163	0.0958	7	5	0.0958	Abel Motorsports
14	28	Jamie Chadwick	1:16.0817	0.7623	0.046	6	4	0.046	Andretti Autosport
15	10	Reese Gold	1:16.0982	0.7788	0.0165	6	4	0.0165	HMD Motorsports
16	39	Nolan Siegel	1:16.2173	0.8979	0.1191	7	5	0.1191	HMD Motorsports
17	98	Jagger Jones	1:16.2753	0.9559	0.058	6	4	0.058	Cape Motorsports
18	7	Christian Bogle	1:16.4292	1.1098	0.1539	6	4	0.1539	HMD Motorsports