Shane van Gisbergen speeds to first Xfinity career pole at Sonoma

Rookie Shane van Gisbergen checked off another accomplishment to his racing resume by notching his first NASCAR Xfinity Series career pole for the second annual running of the Zip Buy Now, Pay Later 250 at Sonoma Raceway on Saturday, June 8.

The three-time Supercars champion from Auckland, New Zealand, commenced his first NASCAR weekend at Sonoma on a strong note by being the fastest during Friday’s lone practice session. After being one of 10 competitors to transfer into the final round of qualifying through two qualifying groups, van Gisbergen, who was the fastest in his qualifying group, posted his best qualifying lap at 95.933 mph in 74.677 seconds, which was enough to claim the pole position over a hard-charging Ty Gibbs.

The first Xfinity pole for van Gisbergen comes on the heels of his first Xfinity career victory at Portland International Raceway a week ago, a victory that places him in contention to make the 2024 Xfinity Series Playoffs. He has also recorded two top-five and three top-10 results through his previous 13 starts in this year’s Xfinity campaign and is ranked in 14th place in the current Xfinity regular-season standings with 303 points.

In addition to his road-course expertise and the speed of his No. 97 WeatherTech/Kaulig Racing Chevrolet Camaro entry, van Gisbergen credited his wheel force test he performed in a Cup Series’ Next Gen Chevrolet stock car entry at Sonoma in early May that enabled him to navigate his way around Sonoma Raceway for the first time.

“The WeatherTech Chevrolet, it’s rapid, man,” van Gisbergen said on FS2. “I didn’t do the best laps I could. Still, to have that gap on the field, these [No. 97] guys have done an awesome job. We changed quite a lot from last week. It’s good. I understand what I need from the car to be faster…These NASCAR races are an adventure, so I’m sure this afternoon won’t be plain sailing. We’ll try and get through it.”

Ty Gibbs, a Cup Series regular who is making his third Xfinity start of the 2024 season for Joe Gibbs Racing, posted the second-fastest qualifying lap at 95.458 mph in 75.049 seconds and will share the front row with van Gisbergen. Gibbs finished in fourth place while competing in the inaugural Xfinity event at Sonoma a year ago.

Austin Hill will line up in third place and start in the second row alongside AJ Allmendinger while Justin Allgaier will start in fifth place as he will share the third row with rookie Jesse Love. John Hunter Nemechek, Sam Mayer, Sheldon Creed and Sammy Smith, all transferred into the final round of qualifying, completing the top 10 in the starting lineup.

Chandler Smith, the first competitor who fell short of transferring into the final round of qualifying, will start in 11th place and will share the fifth row with series’ points leader Cole Custer.

Notably, Parker Kligerman, who was second fastest behind van Gisbergen during Friday’s practice session, will start in 14th place. Kyle Sieg, piloting the No. 28 RSS Racing Ford Mustang entry that won the inaugural Xfinity event at Sonoma with veteran Aric Almirola a year ago, will start in 32nd place. With Almirola not entered in this weekend’s event, we will see a new race winner in the series’ annual visit to Sonoma.

In addition, Boris Said, who wrecked the No. 17 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro during Friday’s practice session and switched to a backup car from JR Motorsports, will line up in 35th place as he relied on owner points to make the event. Other competitors who relied on owner points to make the event included Ryan Ellis, Matt DiBenedetto, Hailie Deegan and Garrett Smithley.

With 39 competitors vying for 38 starting spots, Sage Karam, piloting the No. 35 Toyota entry for Joey Gase Motorsports, was the only competitor who did not qualify for the main event.

Qualifying position, best speed, best time