SHANE van Gisbergen has qualified 33rd for the latest NASCAR Cup Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway.
The Kiwi was the 26th of 37 cars to take to the high-banked concrete half-mile oval in the qualifying session, after earlier logging the 34th fastest time in the lone practice session for the weekend.
One car that he can work with tomorrow will be William Byron, who struggled in qualifying with the 34th fastest time from 37 starters.
SVG can also lean on his Trackhouse Racing teammates – Ross Chastain qualified in sixth, while Connor Zilisch was seventh in practice.
Ryan Blaney scored pole position for Team Penske.
Of the storylines this weekend, Alex Bowman returns to the track for Hendrick Motorsports after four races on the sidelines due to a bout of vertigo.
He qualified 27th.
Earlier, five cars failed technical inspections twice, with Kyle Larson, Michael McDowell, Ross Chastain, Cole Custer and Chad Finchum all losing a crew member and pit bay selection.
Coming into the weekend, van Gisbergen sits 14th in the standings following the Easter break, having finished 11th last time out at Martinsville after qualifying in fifth.
Importantly, he registered points in both stages in what was perhaps his most rounded oval performance to date.
Like Martinsville, he will be looking for an improved run at Bristol to maintain his place in the standings, having suffered spins in his two Cup Series starts to date at the venue, resulting in finishes of 36th and 26th.
In his lone O’Reilly Series Bristol start in 2024, the three-time Bathurst 1000 champion claimed 18th.
The green flag for the 500-lap race is set to drop at 5:00am AEST tomorrow.
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