Photography By Brian J. Nelson
INDIANAPOLIS, IN, AUG. 8 – It was the battle between veterans Jeremy McWilliams and Steve Rapp for the AMA Pro Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson series pole position at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. And coming out on top was wild-card entry McWilliams on the Harley-Davidson of Bloomington XR1200, edging out Suburban Harley-Davidson’s Rapp by .063 of a second. Joining the pair on the front row was Rapp’s teammate Ben Carlson.
As is typical with the Harley class, the times are pretty close with the top six within a second of McWilliams. And with tight competition normally getting on the front row is a big deal, but tire wear issues on the new track had all three up front feeling that the starting position wasn’t much of an edge.
“Over about five laps we got a big severe drop off,” McWilliams said about the tires. “Pole Position doesn’t really mean much. It really depends on how well you sort of manage the tire over the race distance at the moment. It is only a 10-lap race, but as far as I can remember it’s a pretty hectic 10-lap race.
McWilliams felt that maybe the tire wear issues had to do with not enough rubber laid down on the green track and was hoping that maybe it would improve over the course of the weekend. As far as McWilliams expectations for the race, it was too tough to call.
“It’s going to be tight,” McWilliams said. “You couldn’t really call it. I think you could flip a coin and that could be the outcome like it was last year.”
In fourth was Ruthless Racing’s Danny Eslick followed by Folsom H-D’s Gage McAllister and Josh Chisum Racing’s Tyler O’Hara.
KWR’s Kyle Wyman finished seventh ahead of his younger brother Travis Wyman on the Harv’s Harley-Davidson.
FIM CEV Repsol Moto3 rider Ramden Rosli qualified ninth on the Petronas KWR XR1200 and rounding out the top 10 was Chili Pepper Racing’s Hayden Schultz.
2014 Indianapolis Motor Speedway
AMA Pro Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson Series
Qualifying Result
1. Jeremy McWilliams 1:49.370
2. Steve Rapp 1:49.433
3. Ben Carlson 1:49.490
4. Danny Eslick 1:49.764
5. Gage McAllister 1:50.262
6. Tyler O’Hara 1:50.298
7. Kyle Wyman 1:50.538
8. Travis Wyman 1:51.188
9. Ramden Rosli 1:51.675
10. Hayden Schultz 1:51.748
