AJ Foyt Racing’s Kyle Kirkwood in the No.14 ROKiT Chevrolet declared himself ecstatic as he will make his IndyCar race debut in St Pete today from 12th place on the grid after a setting a time of 01:00.2616s and speaking following the action he said:
Just finished up my first ever qualifying in INDYCAR and made it into the top 12. I’m super ecstatic with that. We had a car that could have been potentially in the Fast Six, but unfortunately, on the one lap that you get with red tires, I just didn’t pull it off. I was trying to get more out of it than I’ve ever done before and pushed my brakes points a little bit further, and unfortunately, it kind of caught me out and I brushed the wall coming out of Turn 9. No real damage to the car but after that point, I just played it safe. We ended up 12th overall. Super happy with that, it’s right in the middle and we can make up some ground from there
Dalton Kellett in the No.4 K Line Insulator Chevrolet had his best qualifying to date as he starts the race from 14th place with a time of 59.9521s and taking to social media following the action he said:
First qualifying of the year with the No 4 K-Line crew. We had a great run with our Team Chevy. Great day to be out racing here in St. Pete at the Firestone Grand Prix. I think we really hit the nail on the head from a setup standpoint. “On the Firestone blacks, the car was a little free and then when we went to reds, it really came to us, he continued. “You just have that one lap to get it done and we got a quick lap in so starting 14th tomorrow. It’s my best ever INDYCAR qualifying, so I’m really excited for that. One of the goals this year was to improve our qualifying performance. With the importance of track position during the race, it’s really key to get a good starting spot so I think we’re in a good spot for tomorrow.”
Tatiana Calderon in the No.11 ROKiT Chevrolet makes her series race debut from 25th place and speaking following the action she said:
Pretty happy with Day 2, “We keep making steps forward. I’m quite happy with my qualifying balance. I think we found a little bit more where I’m comfortable with the red tires as well. They came in really quick and I was happy to explore the extra grip that they gave me so I’m looking forward to the first race tomorrow
Team President Larry Foyt commented saying:
It was a great start for AJ Foyt Racing. We faced some huge challenges growing from two to three cars, and everyone pulled together to make it happen. Having Kyle be the top qualifying rookie and making round 2 was a nice result. Dalton almost advanced and has done a great job with the limited off-season testing time. Tatiana closed the gap every session and made huge gains in qualifying. All of the rookies face a challenge with their first time qualifying on red tires and she learned a lot. Tomorrow should be a fun race and it’s amazing to see how competitive and exciting INDYCAR is in 2022
Ben's News Round-Up 