Van Gisbergen Rolls To San Diego Street Course Cup Series Pole

Shane van Gisbergen was already the heavy favorite to win Sunday's NASCAR Cup Series Anduril 250 at Naval Base Coronado. Saturday's qualifying session did nothing to change that opinion, as van Gisbergen charged to his sixth career pole position.

But even van Gisbergen wasn't perfect on his qualifying run around the 3.4-mile street course on the San Diego Naval Base, as he slightly caught a concrete barrier with the right side of his car during the session.

SVG says he was shocked that his run was pole-worthy.

“A little bit, yeah. I thought the track would be better, and I thought people would execute a bit better,” van Gisbergen explained. “But, as I said, it’s just so difficult, there are three or four corners you’re seeing for the first time of the day, and it’s on your heater. Amazing.”

Van Gisbergen felt he was the weak link for the No. 97 Trackhouse Racing team on Saturday.

“Yeah, I guess the Red Bull Chevrolet is really good,” van Gisbergen said. “Thank you to Trackhouse for doing a great job from yesterday, and just need to get the driver better.”

If van Gisbergen thinks his driving skills at the street course are the weak link for his team this weekend, that allows us to conclude there are no true weak links with the No. 97 team. It will likely take a really special performance from another competitor, or perhaps a dislodged manhole cover to stop van Gisbergen on Sunday afternoon.

Joining van Gisbergen on the front row for Sunday's race is Carson Hocevar, the driver of the No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet.

Ryan Blaney, Zane Smith, and Todd Gilliland rounded out the top-10 qualifiers.

Tyler Reddick is usually near the top of the speed charts anytime the NASCAR Cup Series heads to a road course or street course, but on Saturday, he was only able to clock in 17th-fastest. Reddick looked a little out of his element, and even went for a spin into a tire barrier late in the session.

Anduril 250 Starting Lineup

1. 97 - Shane van Gisbergen
2. 77 - Carson Hocevar
3. 12 - Ryan Blaney
4. 38 - Zane Smith
5. 34 - Todd Gilliland
6. 7 - Daniel Suarez
7. 60 - Ryan Preece
8. 88 - Connor Zilisch
9. 71 - Michael McDowell
10. 33 - Austin Hill
11. 54 - Ty Gibbs
12. 23 - Bubba Wallace
13. 67 - Corey Heim
14. 5 - Kyle Larson
15. 16 - A.J. Allmendinger
16. 17 - Chris Buescher
17. 45 - Tyler Reddick
18. 3 - Austin Dillon
19. 22 - Joey Logano
20. 48 - Alex Bowman
21. 91 - Kevin Magnussen
22. 19 - Chase Briscoe
23. 1 - Ross Chastain
24. 35 - Riley Herbst
25. 41 - Cole Custer
26. 11 - Denny Hamlin
27. 24 - William Byron
28. 42 - John Hunter Nemechek
29. 6 - Brad Keselowski
30. 9 - Chase Elliott
31. 2 - Austin Cindric
32. 4 - Noah Gragson
33. 47 - Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
34. 10 - Ty Dillon
35. 21 - Josh Berry
36. 84 - Jimmie Johnson
37. 20 - Christopher Bell
38. 43 - Erik Jones
39. 51 - Cody Ware

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