Rookie Shane van Gisbergen will start on the pole position for the 2024 Drive for the Cure 250 at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course (Roval) on Saturday, October 12.
The three-time SuperCars champion from Auckland, New Zealand, was one of 10 from a list of 38-entered competitors to transfer into the final round of qualifying, where the first phase of qualifying consisted of two 19-car groups (Group A and Group B) and the top-five fastest competitors from each group transferring into the final qualifying round.
After being the fastest qualifier from the Group A qualifying round, van Gisbergen would proceed to post his best qualifying lap at 97.110 mph in 84.523 seconds during the final qualifying round, which was enough for him to claim the pole position for Saturday’s main event.
With the result, van Gisbergen, who is pulling double-duty roles between the Xfinity and Cup Series divisions, notched the third NASCAR Xfinity Series pole of the 2024 season and of his career. His previous poles of this season occurred at Sonoma Raceway in June and at the Chicago Street Course in July, both of which he proceeded to win the main events.
With Saturday’s main event at Charlotte serving as the Round of 12 finale in the 2024 Xfinity Series Playoffs, van Gisbergen’s pole position comes at a critical time. The New Zealander is currently ranked in 10th place in the Playoff standings and trails the top-eight cutline to the Round of 8 by 10 points. Having finished eighth and 35th, respectively, during the first two events of the Round of 12, van Gisbergen aims to race up front and contend for the victory that would enable him to the Round of 8 and remain in title contention.
“The WeatherTech Camaro was really good,” van Gisbergen said on USA Network. “Obviously, AJ’s [Allmendinger] fast as well, so that’s a credit to our Kaulig Racing guys. We struggled at Watkins [Glen] for pace, had to rethink and now, our cars are really, really good. Hopefully, we can both take [the competition] to’em. Hopefully, both of us get through to the second round of the Playoffs. We’re in a good spot. See how the race goes.”
Joining van Gisbergen on the front row will be Sam Mayer, a 2024 Xfinity Playoff contender who clocked in his best qualifying lap at 96.871 mph in 84.731 seconds. Like van Gisbergen, Mayer enters the Charlotte Roval below the cutline following a disqualification last weekend at Talladega Superspeedway due to his car failing to meet the height requirements during the post-race inspection process. Having won the Charlotte Roval in a “must-win” situation a year ago, Mayer, who trails the cutline by 13 points, strives to repeat his success at the Roval that would enable him to maintain his Playoff hopes for another round.
AJ Allmendinger, van Gisbergen’s teammate at Kaulig Racing and a five-time NASCAR national touring series race winner at the Charlotte Roval, will line up in third place with his best qualifying lap occurring at 96.776 mph in 84.814 seconds. Allmendinger, who currently occupies the eighth and final transfer spot into the Round of 8 by seven points, will be followed by Josh Bilicki and Playoff contender Sheldon Creed on the starting grid.
Playoff contenders Austin Hill, Chandler Smith, rookie Jesse Love and Justin Allgaier will start sixth to ninth, respectively, while Connor Mosack will occupy the 10th starting spot.
With eight of 12 Playoff contenders starting in the top 10, the remaining Playoff contenders that include Riley Herbst, Cole Custer, Sammy Smith and Parker Kligerman will start 12th, 14th, 16th, and 22nd, respectively.
*All 38 competitors entered for Saturday’s event at Charlotte earned a starting spot.
Qualifying position, best speed, best time:
- Shane van Gisbergen, 97.110 mph, 84.523 seconds
- Sam Mayer, 96.871 mph, 84.731 seconds
- AJ Allmendinger, 96.776 mph, 84.814 seconds
- Josh Bilicki, 96.256 mph, 85.273 seconds
- Sheldon Creed, 96.248 mph, 85.280 seconds
- Austin Hill, 96.183 mph, 85.337 seconds
- Chandler Smith, 96.115 mph, 85.398 seconds
- Jesse Love, 96.079 mph, 85.430 seconds
- Justin Allgaier, 95.751 mph, 85.722 seconds
- Connor Mosack, 95.636 mph, 85.825 seconds
- Anthony Alfredo, 96.137 mph, 85.378 seconds
- Riley Herbst, 95.775 mph, 85.701 seconds
- Aric Almirola, 95.767 mph, 85.708 seconds
- Cole Custer, 95.688 mph, 85.779 seconds
- Brandon Jones, 95.675 mph, 85.790 seconds
- Sammy Smith, 95.669 mph, 85.796 seconds
- Austin Green, 95.562 mph, 85.892 seconds
- Ed Jones, 95.543 mph, 85.909 seconds
- Alex Labbe, 95.446 mph, 85.996 seconds
- Parker Retzlaff, 95.385 mph, 86.051 seconds
- Jeremy Clements, 95.335 mph, 86.096 seconds
- Parker Kligerman, 95.319 mph, 86.111 seconds
- Josh Williams, 95.215 mph, 86.205 seconds
- Brennan Poole, 95.119 mph, 86.292 seconds
- Ryan Sieg, 94.898 mph, 86.493 seconds
- Matt DiBenedetto, 94.833 mph, 86.552 seconds
- Jeb Burton, 94.777 mph, 86.603 seconds
- Sage Karam, 94.549 mph, 86.812 seconds
- Preston Pardus, 94.397 mph, 86.952 seconds
- Ryan Ellis, 94.350 mph, 86.995 seconds
- Brad Perez, 94.257 mph, 87.081 seconds
- Thomas Annunziata, 94.160 mph, 87.171 seconds
- Leland Honeyman, 93.877 mph, 87.434 seconds
- Blaine Perkins, Owner Points
- Kyle Sieg, Owner Points
- Dylan Lupton, Owner Points
- Dawson Cram, Owner Points
- Nathan Byrd, Owner Points
The 2024 Drive for the Cure 250 at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course is scheduled to occur Saturday afternoon, October 12, at 3:30 p.m. ET on the CW Network.
