De Tullio Earns First Career Pole as Rookies Rule Arlington Qualifying

Alessandro de Tullio put the famous No. 14 for AJ Foyt Racing back atop the leaderboard by capturing his first career INDY NXT by Firestone pole Saturday for the Grand Prix of Arlington.

De Tullio (photo, top) was the leader among the rookies who dominated qualifying, as five of the top six drivers are series newcomers. His best lap was 1 minute, 38.8841 seconds in the No. 14 car owned by legendary four-time Indianapolis 500 winner A.J. Foyt, a Houston native. The Foyt team returned to the INDYCAR development series this season after a long hiatus.

SEE: Qualifying Results

“It’s an incredible feeling to be here on pole in Arlington,” de Tullio said. “We struggled at the start of the session with a switch issue and didn’t have full power, but we got it sorted. And from there, I was able to put in a few good laps. We executed. The car was great. I want to thank the whole 14 crew.”

The pole by de Tullio, 19, was a bit of a surprise. The Miami resident was eighth in the second practice Saturday morning after stopping the clocks ninth in the opening practice Friday, with Max Taylor of Andretti Global leading both sessions.

Rookie Enzo Fittipaldi (photo, above), grandson of two-time Indianapolis 500 winner Emerson Fittipaldi, will start second after his best lap of 1:38.9825 in the No. 67 HMD Motorsports car.

Fittipaldi’s rookie teammate Tymek Kucharczyk will start third after his lap of 1:39.2294 in the No. 71 HMD Motorsports machine. Taylor qualified fourth at 1:39.2906 in the No. 28 Susan G. Komen car fielded by Andretti Global. Taylor is in his first full season in the series but isn’t classified as a rookie because he made six starts last year.

Two rookies will start from Row 3. Jack Beeton qualified fifth at 1:39.3742 in the No. 45 HMD Motorsports entry, with St. Petersburg race winner and series points leader Nikita Johnson qualifying sixth at 1:39.4044 in the No. 21 Cape Motorsports Powered by ECR car.

The arrival of high winds in North Texas later Sunday afternoon has shifted the race day schedule at this inaugural event. Live coverage of the 30-minute race starts at 10:30 a.m. ET on FS1, FOX One, the FOX Sports App and INDYCAR Radio powered by OnlyBulls, with the green flag set for 10:45 a.m.

This exciting new event is a joint venture between Penske Entertainment, the Dallas Cowboys and REV Entertainment, the official events partner of the Texas Rangers. The 14-turn, 2.73-mile temporary street circuit winds around AT&T Stadium, the Cowboys’ home field, and Globe Life Field, the Rangers’ home.