Shane van Gisbergen will start from 12th on the grid in Monday’s NASCAR EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix at Circuit of the Americas in Texas.
Driving the #16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet for the round, van Gisbergen was sixth fastest in Group A, setting a best lap of 2:09.944.
With just five drivers from each group progressing, that time fell just 0.007 seconds short of the best lap of fifth-fastest Corey Lajoie, with Denny Hamlin a further 0.003 seconds ahead in fourth.
Kaulig Racing teammate AJ Allmendinger was seventh in the group, two-tenths behind the Kiwi.
Joining van Gisbergen on the sixth row is Austin Cindric, who was sixth-quickest in Group B.
Tyler Reddick was the fastest of the group, ahead of Ty Gibbs, Bubba Wallace, Hamlin and Lajoie.
William Byron went on to top Group B, heading home Christopher Bell, Ross Chastain, Chase Elliott and Martin Truex Jr. Kyle Larson, who starts on pole in Sunday’s Xfinity Series race, could only manage eighth.
Byron was the man to beat in Round 2 and would claim his second consecutive pole at Circuit of the Americas, overcoming a strong challenge from Gibbs to finish with a 0.015-second advantage.
Reddick and Bell complete the second row, with Lajoie, Chastain, Truex Jr., Hamlin, Elliott, and Wallace completing the top ten.
Van Gisbergen returns to the track at 10.00 am on Sunday (NZ Time) for the Xfinity Series outing, where he starts on the front row.
The NASCAR Cup Series race at CoTA begins at 8.30 am on Monday. Both races will be shown live and free-to-air on the ThreeNow app.
