Shane van Gisbergen earned his sixth career pole and second of the 2026 season on Saturday, rocketing to pole position around NASCAR’s all-new 3.4-mile street course at Naval Base Coronado. He even touched the wall twice on his fast lap, pushing to the absolute limit.
“A little bit (surprised),” said Van Gisbergen, who went out with the first group of qualifiers. “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. The Red Bull Chevy is really good. Thank you to Trackhouse for doing a great job from yesterday, and we just need to get the driver a bit better,” he concluded with a smile.”
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Watch: SVG surprised to win Busch Light Pole at San Diego
Van Gisbergen bested Carson Hocevar by 0.0156s with a fast lap of 2:14.788s. Ryan Blaney will start third, Zane Smith fourth, and Todd Gilliland fifth. Blaney was a little bit quicker than SVG for most of his lap, but lost it through the final set of corners.
Daniel Suarez, Ryan Preece, Connor Zilisch, Michael McDowell, and Austin Hill will out the remainder of the top ten on the starting grid.
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Project 91 driver Kevin Magnussen qualified 21st for his NASCAR Cup debut. Notably, championship leader Tyler Reddick spun out, but still reached 17th on the grid. Denny Hamlin is just 19 points behind him, and will start 26th.
Despite out-qualifying Hamlin, Reddick will have to go to the rear of the field after 23XI Racing repaired splitter damage.
Watch: Reddick loops it in Turn 2 during qualifying
Some other notable drivers very deep in the field include William Byron in 27th, Chase Elliott 30th, and an injured Christopher Bell 37th. He will have Brent Crews on standby, and may finish the race for Bell on Sunday.
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Jimmie Johnson was the first driver to set a time, and showed just how tricky things were as he had to use the runoff area in Turn 2 to avoid an incident. Erik Jones also smacked the wall at the exit of Turn 16, but there were no red flags during the session.
NASCAR Cup San Diego ‘Anduril 250’ Full Starting Lineup
|
1 |
97 |
|
Chevrolet |
134.788 |
90.809 |
|
|
2 |
77 |
|
Chevrolet |
+0.156 134.944 |
90.704 |
|
|
3 |
12 |
|
Ford |
+0.260 135.048 |
90.634 |
|
|
4 |
38 |
|
Ford |
+0.603 135.391 |
90.405 |
|
|
5 |
34 |
|
Ford |
+0.607 135.395 |
90.402 |
|
|
6 |
7 |
|
Chevrolet |
+0.645 135.433 |
90.377 |
|
|
7 |
60 |
|
Ford |
+0.695 135.483 |
90.343 |
|
|
8 |
TrackHouse Racing |
88 |
|
Chevrolet |
+1.095 135.883 |
90.077 |
|
9 |
71 |
|
Chevrolet |
+1.140 135.928 |
90.048 |
|
|
10 |
33 |
|
Chevrolet |
+1.171 135.959 |
90.027 |
|
|
11 |
54 |
|
Toyota |
+1.362 136.150 |
89.901 |
|
|
12 |
23 |
|
Toyota |
+1.531 136.319 |
89.789 |
|
|
13 |
23XI Racing |
67 |
|
Toyota |
+1.537 136.325 |
89.785 |
|
14 |
5 |
|
Chevrolet |
+1.567 136.355 |
89.766 |
|
|
15 |
16 |
|
Chevrolet |
+1.749 136.537 |
89.646 |
|
|
16 |
17 |
|
Ford |
+1.843 136.631 |
89.584 |
|
|
17 |
45 |
|
Toyota |
+1.877 136.665 |
89.562 |
|
|
18 |
3 |
|
Chevrolet |
+2.148 136.936 |
89.385 |
|
|
19 |
22 |
|
Ford |
+2.257 137.045 |
89.314 |
|
|
20 |
48 |
|
Chevrolet |
+2.281 137.069 |
89.298 |
|
|
21 |
91 |
|
Chevrolet |
+2.483 137.271 |
89.167 |
|
|
22 |
19 |
|
Toyota |
+2.497 137.285 |
89.158 |
|
|
23 |
1 |
|
Chevrolet |
+2.586 137.374 |
89.100 |
|
|
24 |
35 |
|
Toyota |
+3.019 137.807 |
88.820 |
|
|
25 |
41 |
|
Chevrolet |
+3.049 137.837 |
88.801 |
|
|
26 |
11 |
|
Toyota |
+3.086 137.874 |
88.777 |
|
|
27 |
24 |
|
Chevrolet |
+3.185 137.973 |
88.713 |
|
|
28 |
42 |
|
Toyota |
+3.316 138.104 |
88.629 |
|
|
29 |
6 |
|
Ford |
+3.328 138.116 |
88.621 |
|
|
30 |
9 |
|
Chevrolet |
+3.336 138.124 |
88.616 |
|
|
31 |
2 |
|
Ford |
+4.107 138.895 |
88.124 |
|
|
32 |
4 |
|
Ford |
+4.338 139.126 |
87.978 |
|
|
33 |
47 |
|
Chevrolet |
+4.465 139.253 |
87.898 |
|
|
34 |
10 |
|
Chevrolet |
+4.929 139.717 |
87.606 |
|
|
35 |
Wood Brothers Racing |
21 |
|
Ford |
+5.124 139.912 |
87.484 |
|
36 |
84 |
|
Toyota |
+7.570 142.358 |
85.980 |
|
|
37 |
20 |
|
Toyota |
+8.851 143.639 |
85.214 |
|
|
38 |
43 |
|
Toyota |
+36.541 171.329 |
71.441 |
|
|
39 |
51 |
|
Chevrolet |
+1’10.955 205.743 |
59.492 |
Photos from San Diego – Saturday
Shane van Gisbergen, Trackhouse Racing
Shane van Gisbergen, Trackhouse Racing
James Gilbert / Getty Images
Full field of Nascar Cup drivers
Full field of Nascar Cup drivers
Chris Graythen / Getty Images
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Jimmie Johnson, Legacy Motor Club
Jimmie Johnson, Legacy Motor Club
Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
Todd Gilliland, Front Row Motorsports
Todd Gilliland, Front Row Motorsports
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Daniel Suárez, Spire Motorsports
Daniel Suárez, Spire Motorsports
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Shane van Gisbergen, Trackhouse Racing
Shane van Gisbergen, Trackhouse Racing
David Jensen / Getty Images
Shane van Gisbergen, Trackhouse Racing
Shane van Gisbergen, Trackhouse Racing
Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
Kevin Magnussen, Trackhouse Racing
Kevin Magnussen, Trackhouse Racing
James Gilbert / Getty Images
Michael McDowell, Spire Motorsports
Michael McDowell, Spire Motorsports
David Jensen / Getty Images
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Kevin Magnussen, Trackhouse Racing
Kevin Magnussen, Trackhouse Racing
Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
Ryan Preece, RFK Racing
Ryan Preece, RFK Racing
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Cole Custer, Haas Factory Team
Cole Custer, Haas Factory Team
James Gilbert / Getty Images
Shane van Gisbergen, Trackhouse Racing
Shane van Gisbergen, Trackhouse Racing
Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
Jimmie Johnson, Legacy Motor Club
Jimmie Johnson, Legacy Motor Club
James Gilbert / Getty Images
Joey Logano, Team Penske
Joey Logano, Team Penske
David Jensen / Getty Images
Austin Hill, Richard Childress Racing
Austin Hill, Richard Childress Racing
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Jimmie Johnson, Legacy Motor Club
Jimmie Johnson, Legacy Motor Club
David Jensen / Getty Images
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Connor Zilisch, Trackhouse Racing
Connor Zilisch, Trackhouse Racing
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Denny Hamlin, Joe Gibbs Racing
Denny Hamlin, Joe Gibbs Racing
James Gilbert / Getty Images
Chase Elliott, Hendrick Motorsports
Chase Elliott, Hendrick Motorsports
David Jensen / Getty Images
AJ Allmendinger, Kaulig Racing
AJ Allmendinger, Kaulig Racing
David Jensen / Getty Images
AJ Allmendinger, Kaulig Racing
AJ Allmendinger, Kaulig Racing
James Gilbert / Getty Images
Bubba Wallace, 23XI Racing
Bubba Wallace, 23XI Racing
David Jensen / Getty Images
Alex Bowman, Hendrick Motorsports
Alex Bowman, Hendrick Motorsports
David Jensen / Getty Images
Austin Cindric, Team Penske
Austin Cindric, Team Penske
David Jensen / Getty Images
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Austin Dillon, Richard Childress Racing
Austin Dillon, Richard Childress Racing
James Gilbert / Getty Images
AJ Allmendinger, Kaulig Racing
AJ Allmendinger, Kaulig Racing
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Tyler Reddick, 23XI Racing
Tyler Reddick, 23XI Racing
David Jensen / Getty Images
Austin Hill, Richard Childress Racing
Austin Hill, Richard Childress Racing
James Gilbert / Getty Images
Ty Gibbs, Joe Gibbs Racing
Ty Gibbs, Joe Gibbs Racing
James Gilbert / Getty Images
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