Van Gisbergen on pole again after blazing lap at Sonoma

NASCAR Cup Series: Van Gisbergen Secures Pole for Toyota/Save Mart 350

Sonoma Raceway, CA—In a thrilling qualifying session for the Toyota/Save Mart 350, Shane van Gisbergen topped the charts, claiming pole position with a lap time of 74.833 seconds at an average speed of 96.040 mph. This marks van Gisbergen’s third pole of the 2025 season and the fourth of his career, further solidifying his momentum after previous wins in Mexico City and Chicago.

"I’m shaking. That was pretty full-on. I’m stoked to have Red Bull on the car. Thank you to Trackhouse and Chevy," van Gisbergen commented, attributing his success to improved performance with new tires. He added, "We weren’t very good in practice, but new tires fixed it. Hopefully we can be good in the race."

Chase Briscoe qualified second, clocking in at 95.719 mph, leading the charge for Joe Gibbs Racing. The second group during the session demonstrated notable speed, with both Briscoe and van Gisbergen outperforming the first group.

William Byron emerged as the fastest in the initial group, running a 75.025-second lap at 95.488 mph, but ultimately secured third overall. His teammate, Michael McDowell, finished 15th, with only Daniel Suarez (19th) joining him in the top 20 from that group.

The top five was rounded out by Ross Chastain in fourth (95.409 mph) and AJ Allmendinger in fifth (95.367 mph). Notably, Alex Bowman and Christopher Bell completed the top ten, although Bowman’s performance was somewhat overshadowed by a potential power steering issue that required an unscheduled pit stop.

Qualifying proceeded without caution flags, though Ryan Blaney experienced a spin late in the session, and Ty Dillon narrowly avoided a similar fate.

Katherine Legge of Live Fast Motorsports was the only driver not to set a time, choosing not to participate due to brake concerns.

The Toyota/Save Mart 350 is set to commence at 3:30 p.m. ET on Sunday, with coverage provided by TNT and PRN, alongside in-car camera access on HBO Max.