Shane van Gisbergen wins inaugural Cup pole at San Diego

Shane van Gisbergen will lead the field to the start of the NASCAR Cup Series’ inaugural running of the Anduril 250 at San Diego’s Naval Base Coronado from pole position, the latter of which he achieved on Saturday, June 20.

The event’s starting lineup was determined through a group qualifying session, where the field of 39 competitors was split into two qualifying groups. Each group was given 20 minutes to post the fastest lap. The competitor who posted the fastest lap between the groups would be awarded the pole position.

Van Gisbergen, who was the eighth-fastest competitor during Friday’s practice session, qualified in the first group. During the group session, he clocked in his fastest lap at 90.809 mph in 134.788 seconds. The lap was enough for the three-time Supercars champion from Auckland, New Zealand, to notch his second Busch Light Pole Award of the 2026 season and to become the first pole winner for the Cup Series’ first-ever street course event around San Diego’s Naval Air Station North Island.

With the pole, van Gisbergen notched his sixth Cup Series career pole, all of which have occurred across six distinct street/road course venues. He also achieved the third pole of the 2026 season for the Chevrolet nameplate and the second for Trackhouse Racing. After winning in his five previous starts from pole position, van Gisbergen will strive to extend his streak to six events and flex his street/road course dominance with a San Diego Naval Base Coronado victory added to his rich victorious list.

“[I’m] A little bit [surprised that I won the pole],” van Gisbergen said. “I thought the track would be better and I thought people would execute a bit better. As I said, it’s just so difficult. There’s three or four corners you’re seeing for the first time of the day and it’s on your heater. Amazing. I guess, Red Bull Chevy’s really good. Thank you to Trackhouse [Racing] for doing a great job from yesterday. Just need to get the driver better. The tire wear yesterday was insane for everyone. You can see all the marbles still in the pits from everyone. That’s what it’s gonna be about tomorrow. There’s gonna be a lot of carnage, a lot of tire gambling. Hopefully, we can make the calls right.”

Van Gisbergen will share the front row with Carson Hocevar, the latter of whom qualified on the front row for a third time in 2026. Hocevar posted the second-fastest lap in qualifying at 90.704 mph in 134.944 seconds.

Ryan Blaney, Zane Smith and Todd Gilliland will start in the top five, respectively. Daniel Suarez, Ryan Preece, rookie Connor Zilisch, Michael McDowell and Austin Hill completed the top-10 starting grid, respectively. In contrast, Kyle Larson, who was the fastest competitor during Friday’s practice session, will start 14th.

Notably, Kevin Magnussen, who is making his Cup Series debut in Trackhouse Racing’s Project 91 entry, will start 21st. In addition, points leader Tyler Reddick and Denny Hamlin, the latter of whom is striving to win for a fourth consecutive event, will start 17th and 26th, respectively. Jimmie Johnson, who is making his second and final Cup start of the 2026 season, will start 36th ahead of Christopher Bell. Bell will have Brent Crews as a standby competitor while the former continues to recover from a fractured left wrist injury.

With 39 competitors vying for 39 starting spots, all made the main event.

San Diego – Qualifying Position, Best Speed, Best Time:

1. Shane van Gisbergen, 90.809 mph, 134.788 seconds
2. Carson Hocevar, 90.704 mph, 134.944 seconds
3. Ryan Blaney, 90.634 mph, 135.048 seconds
4. Zane Smith, 90.405 mph, 135.391 seconds
5. Todd Gilliland, 90.402 mph, 135.395 seconds
6. Daniel Suarez, 90.377 mph, 135.433 seconds
7. Ryan Preece, 90.343 mph, 135.483 seconds
8. Connor Zilisch, 90.077 ph, 135.883 seconds
9. Michael McDowell, 90.048 mph, 135.928 seconds
10. Austin Hill, 90.027 mph, 135.959 seconds
11. Ty Gibbs, 89.901 mph, 136.150 seconds
12. Bubba Wallace, 89.789 mph, 136.319 seconds
13. Corey Heim, 89.785 mph, 136.325 seconds
14. Kyle Larson, 89.766 mph, 136.355 seconds
15. AJ Allmendinger, 89.646 mph, 136.537 seconds
16. Chris Buescher, 89.584 mph, 136.631 seconds
17. Tyler Reddick, 89.562 mph, 136.665 seconds
18. Austin Dillon, 89.385 mph, 136.936 seconds
19. Joey Logano, 89.314 mph, 137.045 seconds
20. Alex Bowman, 89.298 mph, 137.069 seconds
21. Kevin Magnussen, 89.167 mph, 137.271 seconds
22. Chase Briscoe, 89.158 mph, 137.285 seconds
23. Ross Chastain, 89.100 mph, 137.374 seconds
24. Riley Herbst, 88.820 mph, 137.807 seconds
25. Cole Custer, 88.801 mph, 137.837 seconds
26. Denny Hamlin, 88.777 mph, 137.874 seconds
27. William Byron, 88.713 mph, 137.973 seconds
28. John Hunter Nemechek, 88.629 mph, 138.104 seconds
29. Brad Keselowski, 88.621 mph, 138.116 seconds
30. Chase Elliott, 88.616 mph, 138.124 seconds
31. Austin Cindric, 88.124 mph, 138.895 seconds
32. Noah Gragson, 87.978 mph, 139.126 seconds
33. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., 87.898 mph, 139.253 seconds
34. Ty Dillon, 87.606 mph, 139.717 seconds
35. Josh Berry, 87.484 mph, 139.912 seconds
36. Jimmie Johnson, 85.980 mph, 142.358 seconds
37. Christopher Bell, 85.214 mph, 143.639 seconds
38. Erik Jones, 71.441 mph, 171.329 seconds
39. Cody Ware, 59.492 mph, 205.743 seconds

The inaugural Anduril 250 at San Diego’s Naval Base Coronado is scheduled to occur on Sunday, June 21, at 4 p.m. ET on Prime Video, MRN Radio, SiriusXM, and HBO MAX.