Shane van Gisbergen has continued his impressive run on road courses by securing pole position for the NASCAR Cup Series event at Sonoma Raceway, his fourth pole position in a row.
Driving the #88 Chevrolet Camaro for Trackhouse Racing, van Gisbergen posted a best lap of 1:14.594s, enough to edge out Chase Briscoe, who piloted the #19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota Camry, by nearly a quarter of a second.
While SVG won an Xfinity Series race at Sonoma last season, this weekend marks his first appearance at the circuit in a Cup car.
His qualifying effort was also a full second quicker than his Trackhouse teammate Daniel Suarez, who led the earlier Group 1 session.
Van Gisbergen enters the race looking to back up his recent Cup Series victory and extend his current road course winning streak to three in a row.
This marks his third Cup Series pole of the season, and his fifth across both the Cup and Xfinity Series.
Lining up behind van Gisbergen and Briscoe will be William Byron (Hendrick Motorsports) in third, followed by Ross Chastain (Trackhouse Racing) and AJ Allmendinger (Kaulig Racing) in fourth and fifth, respectively.
“I’m shaking. That was pretty full-on,” van Gisbergen said after qualifying.
“I’m stoked to have Red Bull on the car, and thank you to Trackhouse and Chevy. Amazing car.
“We weren’t very good in practice, but new tyres fixed it. Hopefully, we can be good in the race. What a cool day!”
Reflecting on the earlier practice session, van Gisbergen noted he was still searching for improvements.
“Just a bit more rear grip and better balance,” he explained when asked what was missing at that point.
“The car has got a bit of everything. Just tune it up a little bit. Obviously, it’s not a bad spot to start.”
The race is scheduled to begin at 7:30 am NZST on Monday, with live coverage available through ThreeNow.
NASCAR Sonoma qualifying results, starting lineup
- Shane van Gisbergen, No. 88 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet
- Chase Briscoe, No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
- William Byron, No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
- Ross Chastain, No. 1 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet
- AJ Allmendinger, No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet
- Ty Gibbs, No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
- Ryan Blaney, No. 12 Team Penske Ford
- Tyler Reddick, No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota
- Alex Bowman, No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
- Christopher Bell, No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
- Kyle Larson, No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
- Zane Smith, No. 38 Front Row Motorsports Ford
- Chase Elliott, No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
- Chris Buescher, No. 17 Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing Ford
- Michael McDowell, No. 71 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet
- Denny Hamlin, No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
- Kyle Busch, No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
- John Hunter Nemechek, No. 42 Legacy Motor Club Toyota
- Daniel Suarez, No. 99 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet
- Ryan Preece, No. 60 RFK Racing Ford
- Brad Keselowski, No. 6 Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing Ford
- Joey Logano, No. 22 Team Penske Ford
- Carson Hocevar, No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet
- Austin Cindric, No. 2 Team Penske Ford
- Josh Berry, No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford
- Ty Dillon, No. 10 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet
- Cole Custer, No. 41 Haas Factory Team Ford
- Riley Herbst, No. 35 23XI Racing Toyota
- Justin Haley, No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet
- Bubba Wallace, No. 23 23XI Racing Toyota
- Erik Jones, No. 43 Legacy Motor Club Toyota
- Noah Gragson, No. 4 Front Row Motorsports Ford
- Austin Dillon, No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
- Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 HYAK Motorsports Chevrolet
- Todd Gilliland, No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford
- Cody Ware, No. 51 Rick Ware Racing Ford
- Katherine Legge, No. 78 Live Fast Motorsports Chevrolet
Header Image: NASCAR
