Photo: Andersen Promotions
Pabst Racing’s Jake Eidson took pole position in the first qualifying session of USF2000’s regular season at St. Petersburg.
Eidson, who enters the championship as one of the pre-season favorites, led at the halfway point of the session and posted an improvement in the final minutes to go comfortably clear of the field.
Aaron Telitz then moved up to second, ending up the only other driver to venture into the 1:13s, while his teammate and Winterfest champion Nico Jamin took third.
The session was called two minutes early due to a red flag stoppage.
Rookie Jordan Lloyd qualified an impressive fourth, a tenth ahead of 2014 St. Pete race winner Victor Franzoni and fellow Aussie newcomer Anthony Martin.
F1600 runner-up Garth Rickards took seventh, while Yufeng Luo, Parker Thompson and Keyvan Andres Soori completed the top ten.
UPDATE: Victor Franzoni’s Afterburner Autosport car has failed technical inspection. He will start the race in last.
Qualifying results
| Pos. | Driver | Team | Time | Gap | Laps |
| 1 | Jake Eidson | Pabst Racing | 1:13.585 | 15 | |
| 2 | Aaron Telitz | Cape Motorsports w/WTR | 1:13.936 | 0.351 | 21 |
| 3 | Nico Jamin | Cape Motorsports w/WTR | 1:14.127 | 0.542 | 21 |
| 4 | Jordan Lloyd | John Cummiskey Racing | 1:14.297 | 0.712 | 19 |
| 5 | Anthony Martin | John Cummiskey Racing | 1:14.393 | 0.808 | 21 |
| 6 | Garth Rickards | Team Pelfrey | 1:14.656 | 1.071 | 20 |
| 7 | Yufeng Luo | Pabst Racing | 1:14.791 | 1.206 | 20 |
| 8 | Parker Thompson | JDC MotorSports | 1:14.867 | 1.281 | 20 |
| 9 | Keyvan Andres Soori | ArmsUp Motorsports | 1:15.078 | 1.493 | 21 |
| 10 | Nikita Lastochkin | Team Pelfrey | 1:15.146 | 1.561 | 21 |
| 11 | Luke Gabin | Team Pelfrey | 1:15.373 | 1.788 | 19 |
| 12 | Max Hanratty | ArmsUp Motorsports | 1:15.537 | 1.952 | 20 |
| 13 | Ayla Agren | Team Pelfrey | 1:15.653 | 2.067 | 20 |
| 14 | Augie Lerch | JAY Motorsports | 1:16.221 | 2.636 | 21 |
| 15 | James Dayson | ArmsUp Motorsports | 1:17.222 | 3.637 | 20 |
| 16 | Andrew List | D2D Motorsports | 1:17.247 | 3.662 | 16 |
| EX | Victor Franzoni | Afterburner Autosport | 1:14.388 | 0.803 | 19 |