CONCORD, N.C. — New Zealander Shane van Gisbergen monopolized qualifying on Saturday at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval — to say the least.
After winning the top starting spot for Saturday‘s NASCAR Xfinity Series race, the three-time Australian Supercars champion won a tight battle with playoff driver Tyler Reddick for the pole position in Sunday‘s Bank of America Roval 400 (2 p.m. ET on NBC, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
The Busch Light Pole Award was van Gisbergen‘s first in the NASCAR Cup Series, but it wasn‘t secure until after Reddick made a last-ditch run to try to unseat the Kaulig Racing Chevrolet driver.
Van Gisbergen‘s lap at 99.246 mph (82.704 seconds) held up, as Reddick earned the second grid position in his No. 45 23XI Toyota with a lap at 99.135 mph (82.796 seconds).
RELATED: Starting lineup | At-track photos
“What an amazing day,” van Gisbergen proclaimed after claiming his second pole of the afternoon. “I‘m at a loss for words.”
Because the Bank of America Roval 400 is the elimination race for the Round of 12 in the series playoffs, van Gisbergen, making his 10th Cup start of the season, wants to avoid scenarios where he influences postseason outcomes.
“We‘ve got to race respectfully,” he acknowledged. “There are a lot of playoff guys, but I‘m here to win the race.”
In addition to Reddick, five other playoff drivers made the final round of time trials and will start from top-10 positions. Joey Logano was fourth and Team Penske teammate Austin Cindric fifth, in the top two Fords on the grid.
Kyle Larson claimed the sixth starting spot ahead of Hendrick Motorsports teammates Chase Elliott (seventh), a two-time winner at the Roval, and William Byron (10th), who already has clinched a berth on the Round of 8.
Non-playoff drivers AJ Allmendinger (third at 98.874 mph), Brad Keselowski (eighth) and Bubba Wallace (ninth) also will start from the top 10.
Allmendinger is the defending winner of this race. The driver of the No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet also has triumphed in each of his four NASCAR Xfinity Series starts at the 2.28-mile, 17-turn hybrid road course, which has been reconfigured in Turns 6, 7 and 16.
Other playoff drivers will start as follows: Christopher Bell 12th, Daniel Suárez 13th, defending series champion Ryan Blaney 14th, Alex Bowman 17th, Denny Hamlin 18th and Chase Briscoe 25th.
Logano, Suárez, Cindric and Briscoe start the event below the current elimination line for the Round of 8.
Van Gisbergen fastest in practice
NASCAR Cup Series drivers got their first taste of the reconfiguration at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval, with those participating in Group A and Group B getting a pair of 20-minute practice sessions.
RELATED: Roval reconfiguration reaction
After both sessions concluded, Van Gisbergen topped the leaderboard at 98.604 mph.
Austin Dillon (98.343 mph), Ryan Blaney (98.304 mph), Joey Logano (97.988 mph) and AJ Allmendinger (97.969 mph) rounded out the top five.
MORE: Practice 1 results | Practice 2 results
Carson Hocevar (97.964 mph), Bubba Wallace (97.944 mph), William Byron (97.817 mph), Kyle Larson (97.792 mph) and Chase Elliott (97.725 mph) completed the top 10.
Contributing: Staff reports.
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