Van Gisbergen Secures Pole Position for NASCAR’s Inaugural Race in Mexico City
Shane van Gisbergen will lead the NASCAR Cup Series field at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez as he secured the pole position in a rain-affected qualifying session. With a fastest lap of 93.904 mph (1m32.776s), van Gisbergen expressed excitement about his performance, stating, "What a really cool achievement for us and a great starting spot for tomorrow."
This marks the second career pole for the New Zealander, who is currently 33rd in the point standings. His sole Cup Series victory came at the Chicago street course earlier this year. Reflecting on his qualifying laps, he noted, "We made some big swings last night… but a really good starting point."
Ryan Preece follows in second with a lap of 93.839 mph, closely pursued by Ross Chastain in third at 93.830 mph. The top five qualifiers include Ty Gibbs (fourth, 93.757 mph) and Michael McDowell (fifth, 93.704 mph). Notably, local driver Daniel Suarez qualified tenth at 93.616 mph, while point leader William Byron and Christopher Bell, the recent winner at Circuit of the Americas, qualified 27th and 31st respectively.
In summary, here are the top ten qualifiers:
- Shane van Gisbergen – 93.904 mph
- Ryan Preece – 93.839 mph
- Ross Chastain – 93.830 mph
- Ty Gibbs – 93.757 mph
- Michael McDowell – 93.704 mph
- Kyle Larson – 93.694 mph
- Todd Gilliland – 93.657 mph
- AJ Allmendinger – 93.655 mph
- Joey Logano – 93.628 mph
- Daniel Suarez – 93.616 mph
Ryan Truex qualified 36th while Katherine Legge rounded out the field in 37th. The NASCAR Cup Series race in Mexico City is set to commence at 3 PM ET on Sunday.
