James Roe knew what he accomplished Friday at Iowa Speedway, but he didn’t immediately know the spoils that came with it.
Not only did he grab his first career Indy NXT by Firestone pole, the Irishman also set a track record with a two-lap qualifying average of 170.625mph.
If that wasn’t enough, Roe led a 1-2-3 sweep of qualifying for Andretti Global.
“I didn’t know [all] that. There you go,” Roe said.
The series’ track-record speed stood since 2017 when Colton Herta ran 163.835mph. Friday, 17 drivers eclipsed that with the help of repaved corners.
Driving the No. 29 Topcon machine, Roe will lead the Andretti Global contingent ahead of Louis Foster, whose second lap in the No. 26 Copart/Novara Technologies entry fell off just enough for him to settle for the No. 2 starting position. Jamie Chadwick qualified third in the No. 28 VEXT car.
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Michael Andretti’s three drivers will lead the 18-car pack to the green flag in Saturday’s Indy NXT by Firestone at Iowa Speedway (2 p.m. ET, Peacock, IndyCar Radio Network). They had the only cars to complete the two-lap qualifying runs with average speeds in excess of 170mph. Foster’s average was 170.601mph while Chadwick posted 170.387mph.
The only other pole of Roe’s professional career came in 2021 in the Indy Pro 2000 race at World Wide Technology Raceway driving for Turn 3 Motorsport.
“I can’t thank these guys enough,” Roe said of Andretti Global. “It’s been a hell of a few weeks. Yeah, here we are — we’ve got a rocket ship, so let’s get the job done tomorrow.”
Roe qualified fourth for last year’s Indy NXT by Firestone race at Iowa. He finished ninth. He’s also ninth in the current season standings, still searching for his first win.
“We were strong here last year,” Roe said. “We knew that our [qualifying] car was mega, so it was a matter of just putting it together. Honestly, we guessed a little bit on setup. I left the pits and said I’m holding it flat…to the checkers.”