CHICAGO — When it comes to NASCAR on the streets of Chicago, there is Shane van Gisbergen, and then there is everyone else.
Van Gisbergen will start Sunday’s Cup Series race on the downtown course in pole position after the 36-year-old New Zealander turned a lap at 88.338 mph in the Trackhouse Racing No. 88 Chevrolet on a tricky 2.2-mile route made more treacherous by temperatures in the 90s during Saturday’s qualifying session.
“Practice wasn’t that great for us, but when we went out for qualifying, the car felt really good,” van Gisbergen said. “We turned in two pretty good laps.”
He will be joined on the front row by Michael McDowell, who grabbed the second slot at 87.879 mph in the Spire Motorsports No. 71 Chevy. Carson Hocevar (87.824 mph) in another Spire Chevy, 23XI Racing’s Tyler Reddick (87.779 mph) and fellow Toyota driver Chase Briscoe (87.734 mph) of Joe Gibbs Racing rounded out the top five.
Kyle Busch was sixth in his Richard Childress Racing Chevy, and RFK Racing’s Ryan Preece has the best starting spot for a Ford driver at seventh.