Shane van Gisbergen completes second straight NASCAR pole sweep
Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images
SONOMA, Calif.—For the second straight weekend, Shane van Gisbergen dominated NASCAR time trials—and predictably so.
On his second lap Saturday at Sonoma Raceway, the New Zealander became the only driver to top 96 mph on the 1.99-mile, 12-turn road course.
Touring the circuit in 74.594 seconds (96.040 mph), van Gisbergen secured the pole position for Sunday’s Toyota/Save Mart 350 NASCAR Cup Series race (3:30 p.m. ET on TNT, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
Van Gisbergen beat second-place qualifier Chase Briscoe (95.719 mph) by 0.25 seconds to claim his first Busch Light Pole Award at Sonoma, his third of the season and the fourth of his career.
His pole-winning run followed Friday’s top qualifying effort for the NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Sonoma. Last weekend on the Chicago Street Course, van Gisbergen swept the poles and races in both series.
Qualifying in Group B, SVG picked up speed substantially from his first lap to his second, from 74.833 seconds to 74.594.
“I thought it could be faster,” said van Gisbergen, who won last season’s Xfinity race at Sonoma but will be making his first start here in a Cup car. “And then in the first group, we saw big gains from people in their second runs. I think the 24 (third-place qualifier William Byron) made a huge jump, which is pretty abnormal, I think, on these tires, especially this new soft tire.
“My first lap was just a banker almost. The second lap was really good.”
Byron navigated the course at 95.488 mph to claim the third spot on the grid. Ross Chastain was fourth at 95.409 mph, followed by AJ Allmendinger (95.367 mph) and Ty Gibbs (95.357 mph).
Ryan Blaney, Tyler Reddick, Alex Bowman and Christopher Bell claimed the sixth through 10th starting spots, respectively.
Drivers facing off in the third round of the In-Season Challenge qualified as follows: Gibbs, sixth vs. Zane Smith, 12th; Bowman, ninth vs. Ty Dillon, 26th; John Hunter Nemechek, 18th vs. LEGACY Motor Club teammate Erik Jones, 31st; and Reddick, eighth vs. Ryan Preece, 20th.
Preece, two points below the current elimination line for a berth in the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs, may be more concerned with the position of 30th-place starter Bubba Wallace, who is two points above the cut line with seven races left in the regular season.
Katherine Legge, who finished 19th last Sunday on the Chicago Street Course, did not make a qualifying attempt and will start 37th.
NASCAR Cup Series
Starting Line Up by Row
Sonoma Raceway
Toyota/Save Mart 350
Provided by NASCAR Statistics - Saturday, 7/12/2025 @ 03:38 PM Eastern
Driver Date Time Speed
Track Race Record: Martin Truex Jr. 06/23/19 2:42:09 83.922
Pos Car Driver Team Time Speed
Row 1: 1 88 Shane Van Gisbergen # Red Bull Chevrolet 74.594 96.040
2 19 Chase Briscoe Bass Pro Shops Toyota 74.844 95.719
Row 2: 3 24 William Byron Valvoline Chevrolet 75.025 95.488
4 1 Ross Chastain Kubota Chevrolet 75.087 95.409
Row 3: 5 16 AJ Allmendinger Big Sipz Chevrolet 75.120 95.367
6 54 Ty Gibbs SAIA LTL Freight Toyota 75.128 95.357
Row 4: 7 12 Ryan Blaney Menards/Delta Ford 75.134 95.350
8 45 Tyler Reddick Chumba Casino Toyota 75.176 95.296
Row 5: 9 48 Alex Bowman Ally Chevrolet 75.233 95.224
10 20 Christopher Bell Rheem Toyota 75.243 95.212
Row 6: 11 5 Kyle Larson HendrickCars.com Chevrolet 75.254 95.198
12 38 Zane Smith Michael Roberts Construction Ford 75.278 95.167
Row 7: 13 9 Chase Elliott NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet 75.283 95.161
14 17 Chris Buescher BuildSubmarines.com Ford 75.373 95.047
Row 8: 15 71 Michael McDowell Project Zin/Gainbridge Chevrolet 75.408 95.003
16 11 Denny Hamlin ampm Toyota 75.437 94.967
Row 9: 17 8 Kyle Busch zone Chevrolet 75.475 94.919
18 42 John Hunter Nemechek Mobil 1 Toyota 75.517 94.866
Row 10: 19 99 Daniel Suarez Freeway Insurance Chevrolet 75.563 94.808
20 60 Ryan Preece Body Guard Ford 75.589 94.776
Row 11: 21 6 Brad Keselowski Castrol Ford 75.624 94.732
22 22 Joey Logano Autotrader Ford 75.629 94.726
Row 12: 23 77 Carson Hocevar Delaware Life Chevrolet 75.666 94.679
24 2 Austin Cindric America's Tire Ford 75.734 94.594
Row 13: 25 21 Josh Berry Eero Ford 75.836 94.467
26 10 Ty Dillon Sea Best Chevrolet 76.033 94.222
Row 14: 27 41 Cole Custer Autodesk/Haas Tooling Ford 76.122 94.112
28 35 Riley Herbst # Monster Energy Toyota 76.254 93.949
Row 15: 29 7 Justin Haley NationsGuard Chevrolet 76.270 93.929
30 23 Bubba Wallace Xfinity Mobile Toyota 76.275 93.923
Row 16: 31 43 Erik Jones Dollar Tree Toyota 76.297 93.896
32 4 Noah Gragson Long John Silver's Ford 76.299 93.894
Row 17: 33 3 Austin Dillon Bass Pro Shops/Winchester Chevrolet 76.461 93.695
34 47 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Real American Beer Chevrolet 76.623 93.497
Row 18: 35 34 Todd Gilliland Love's Travel Stops Ford 76.732 93.364
36 51 Cody Ware Mighty Fire Breaker Ford 77.478 92.465
Row 19: 37 78 Katherine Legge e.l.f. Cosmetics Chevrolet 0.000 0.000
Did Not Qualify: None.
Manufacturer Starting Lineup DNQs Manufacturer Starting Lineup DNQs
Chevrolet 16 0 Ford 12 0
Toyota 9 0
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series
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