Shane van Gisbergen was the clear frontrunner for Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series Anduril 250 at Naval Base Coronado. His pole position during Saturday’s qualifying reaffirmed this sentiment, marking his sixth career pole.
However, van Gisbergen had a minor hiccup during his qualifying lap on the 3.4-mile street course, grazing a concrete barrier on the right side of his vehicle.
SVG expressed his surprise that his qualifying run was enough for pole position.
“A bit, yes. I anticipated the track would be in better shape and that others would perform better,” van Gisbergen shared. “But it’s just so challenging; there are three or four corners you encounter for the first time during your hot lap. Incredible.”
Van Gisbergen felt he was the weakest link for the No. 97 Trackhouse Racing team on Saturday.
“Yeah, I think the Red Bull Chevrolet is really strong,” van Gisbergen commented. “Thanks to Trackhouse for their excellent work from yesterday; I just need to improve as a driver.”
If van Gisbergen views his driving as the weak area for his team this weekend, it suggests there are no genuine weak spots with the No. 97 team. It might take an extraordinary performance from another racer, or perhaps an unexpected mishap, to derail van Gisbergen on Sunday.
Alongside van Gisbergen on the front row for Sunday’s race is Carson Hocevar, who drives the No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet.
Ryan Blaney, Zane Smith, and Todd Gilliland completed the top-10 qualifiers.
Tyler Reddick typically ranks high on the speed charts whenever the NASCAR Cup Series visits a road or street course, but this time, he finished 17th-fastest. Reddick seemed somewhat out of sync and even spun 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
