Fletcher Paces Opening Practice at The Brickyard

Photo: Wes Duenkel/Ford

Jeremy Fletcher led the way in the first of two Mustang Challenge practice sessions at Indianapolis Motor Speedway for this weekend’s pair of season-ending rounds.

The McCumbee McAleer Racing driver reeled off a best lap of 1:35.235 in his No. 22 Ford Mustang Dark Horse R to edge out Sam Paley’s Southern Paley Motorsports-entered, MMR-run car by 0.291 seconds.

Championship contender Tyler Maxson was third quickest in the No. 74 Robert Noaker Racing entry, with Max Opalski and Reid Sweeney completing the overall top-five.

Dark Horse class points leader Robert Noaker was only seventh overall on the time sheets, behind Dark Horse Legends pace-setter Zachry Lee in the No. 48 MMR machine.

Twenty-two of the 25 entries turned laps in the 30-minute session, including the No. 10 NV Autosport Mustang of Stephen Vajda, which was stolen along with its transporter earlier this week but recovered.

A second practice session is scheduled to get underway at 3:20 p.m. EDT.

RESULTS: Practice 1

John Dagys

John Dagys is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Sportscar365. Dagys spent eight years as a motorsports correspondent for FOXSports.com and SPEED Channel and has contributed to numerous other motorsports publications worldwide. Contact John