In the case of NASCAR’s avenue course in downtown Chicago, there’s Shane van Gisbergen, after which there’s everybody else.
Van Gisbergen has received the pole for Sunday’s Grant Park 165. The 36-year-old New Zealander turned a lap at 88.338 mph on a difficult 2.2-mile course that was made extra treacherous by temperatures within the 90s Fahrenheit on Saturday.
“Follow wasn’t that nice for us, however after we went out for qualifying, the automobile felt actually good,” van Gisbergen mentioned. “We turned in two fairly good laps.”
The Trackhouse Racing driver shall be joined on the entrance row by Michael McDowell, who grabbed the second slot at 87.879 mph. Carson Hocevar (87.824 mph), Tyler Reddick (87.779 mph) and Chase Briscoe (87.734 mph) rounded out the highest 5.
McDowell is one among three drivers who completed within the high 10 within the first two races in downtown Chicago.
“Our automobile’s within the sport,” he mentioned. “Tomorrow shall be a blended bag with potential climate out and in. So plenty of variables to go on the market and navigate.”
Van Gisbergen, a three-time champion in Australia’s Supercars, additionally was on the pole for Saturday’s Xfinity Collection race.
“I discovered quite a bit within the Xfinity Collection automobile this morning, and that simply provides you an awesome leg up for the Cup automobile,” he mentioned. “I believe it’s nice working each vehicles, it definitely helps.”
Simply two years in the past, van Gisbergen raced to a historic victory in a wet first version of NASCAR’s downtown Chicago experiment. Profiting from his in depth avenue racing expertise, he grew to become the primary driver to win his Cup Collection debut since Johnny Rutherford within the second qualifying race at Daytona in 1963.
He received Chicago’s Xfinity Collection cease final 12 months and the primary stage within the Cup race earlier than he was knocked out by a crash.
Katherine Legge grew to become the primary lady to qualify for the Cup race in downtown Chicago when she turned a lap of 85.744 mph, knocking Corey Heim out of the sphere.
“We’d have been quite a bit quicker, I believe, had I not saved nicking the wall,” Legge mentioned. “I’ve given my crew plenty of work to do from that, however we needed to hold pushing to place it within the present. I’m actually pleased with this crew, and I’m very a lot trying ahead to tomorrow.”
