Braden Eves had the fastest two-lap average across 18 qualifiers in the Freedom 90 when he put down a time of 39.025 at Indianapolis Raceway Park on Thursday evening.

Exclusive Autosport’s Eves finished ahead of Andretti Global and Indy NXT driver Bryce Aron, who is driving for TJ Speed Motorsports this weekend to gain oval experience, and Pabst Racing’s Jace Denmark.

Tyke Durst, who drives for Turn 3 Motorsport, did not compete in qualifying after he was involved in a crash during a practice session.

This year marks the first year that the USF2000 and USF Pro 2000 series will be running on the new Continental tire. Unlike on road courses where drivers have attested to the tires taking around eight laps on average to get to their full temperature.

Multiple drivers competing across the two Carb Night Classic races have attested to the tires coming up to temperature nearly immediately on ovals, including DEForce Racing’s Mac Clark, who said it would be a “mental game” to see how the tires last on a long run.

For full qualifying results, check out usfpro2000.com/results.