SHANE van Gisbergen will line up from 24th for the Hollywood Casino 400 NASCAR Cup Series race from Kansas Speedway.
He was the tenth driver to hit the track, as dictated by his recent results and championship positions, with early places in the qualifying order typically slower than the last cars on track.
In the sole practice session for the weekend, which lasted 25 minutes, van Gisbergen set the 22nd fastest time.
The pole position for the race went to Chase Bricoe, followed by Denny Hamlin and Kyle Larson.
Practice proved dramatic for Team Penske’s Joey Logano and Ryan Blaney, who both suffered flat tyres, with the latter swiping the wall, forcing him into a backup car.
Blaney had already locked into the next round by virtue of winning last weekend in New Hampshire, while Logano went on to qualify in 35th.
Elsewhere, Michael McDowell’s crew will face significant penalties after making unapproved adjustments to his Chevrolet during the inspection process.
After a tough round of 16, van Gisbergen pieced together his best oval race to date in the Cup Series last start, even if the final result didn’t show it.
Qualifying set the tone, with the Kiwi ninth fastest, a personal best in stockcar racing’s top tier.
Then in the race, he battled strongly at the front of the field throughout, regularly challenging playoff-eligible drivers in the top ten.
However, that particular race went sideways when mired in the pack on a restart when he was caught in a five-wide moment, with contact from Brad Keselowski sending the #88 Chevrolet spinning in front of the field.
Subsequent repairs set him back 50 laps on the leaders.
Kansas Speedway this weekend presents another opportunity for the rookie to impress.
Back in May, he finished 20th on his Cup Series debut at the venue, while last year in the Xfinity Series, he claimed an eighth-place finish.
The race is scheduled to start at 5am tomorrow, with 267 laps planned, featuring stage breaks on laps 80 and 165.
The Undercut – Unpacking The Bend & Bringing on The Mountain
V8 Sleuth’s take on the world of Supercars from The Bend & Bathurst, with thanks to Shell OTR!