ANDERSON – Tyler Roahrig used a strategy of beating the rain to apparently capture his second pole position for the 77th Annual Unified Group Services Little 500 presented by UAW.
Seven drivers made qualifying attempts before a rain shower delayed action.
Roahrig was the only driver Thursday to turn laps in the 10-second range and posted a four-lap time of 43.865-seconds.
He is seeking a third Little 500 after winning in 2021 and 2022.
“We wanted to get out before the rain,” Roahrig said of being one of the first cars to qualify before the session was interrupted by a rain shower.
“I felt like we had a lot of grip,” he said of the quarter-mile oval after rain canceled Wednesday practice. “On the new softer tires, the track was good. I was shocked how much grip there was.”
Roahrig said he felt like the CB Fabricating sponsored car was like it was in the past.
“We’ve struggled the past few years,” he said.
Davey Hamilton Jr. posted the second fastest time in qualifying and said the goal was to beat the rain.
“It’s the luck of the draw,” he said. “We looked at the weather and didn’t want to qualify on a green track.
“We’ve tested here so we were good right from the start,” Hamilton said. “We’re ahead of the game.”
Rookie of the year contender Colton Bettis, driving for AP Driver Development, will start on the outside of the front row.
Bettis was the fast qualifier during the 500 Sprint Car Tour race at Anderson Speedway and drove to a third-place finish in April.
Dakoda Armstrong who finished second a year ago posted the fourth fastest time followed by Kyle O’Gara, Emerson Axsom and three-time Little 500 race winner Kody Swanson.
Taylor Ferns became the fifth woman to make a Little 500 locking into the starting field and will start 15th.
Rain washed out practice on Wednesday for the Little 500 and speedway officials changed the schedule to allow four hours of practice Thursday before qualifying started in the late afternoon.
Despite the wet weather the quarter-mile oval quickly was coated with a layer of Hoosier tire rubber allowing the teams to find lots of speed during practice.
