Shane van Gisbergen qualified 17th at Kansas Speedway.
The Trackhouse Racing driver will start Monday’s race at the one-and-a-half-mile speedway from 17th.
He out-qualified his two teammates Ross Chastain and Connor Zilisch, who were only 31st and 36th in the 37-car field.
Tyler Reddick took pole position for top Toyota team 23XI Racing, continuing a rich vein of form for last year’s regular season champion.
It’s the third pole position this year for Reddick, who sits atop the standings with four wins to his name this season.
Van Gisbergen’s lap – a 29.537s – put him 0.758s adrift of Reddick.
Speaking midway through qualifying, van Gisbergen said he left time on the table.
“Practice was pretty decent but I’m shaking a bit. That was pretty full-on,” said van Gisbergen.
“I tried going flat in [turn] three and then just lost it. These qualifying laps are a rush, it was pretty cool.
“You pick up eight tenths (between practice and qualifying) but you only have one corner to feel what you have.
“You’ve got to turn into [turn] one flat-out, which I’ve never done before – and it stuck. It’s a cool feeling.
“Into [turn] three as well, I thought I was good and then I just had a big moment. Seat of the pants stuff, it’s pretty cool.
“It felt close,” said van Gisbergen when asked if he nearly went wide-open through the third turn.
“If I went again and we made a small adjustment, I think I could have. I don’t know, it’s a cool feeling.”
It’s van Gisbergen’s best qualifying at Kansas Speedway, with his previous efforts 34th and 24th last year.
He noted the year-on-year change with the Chevrolet Camaro, which this year has been given a facelift.
“I think our body is so different. Our balance numbers are way off where they were last year and I feel that more than the weather,” van Gisbergen explained when asked about the cool conditions.
“I didn’t feel the wind too much. I did two laps and we were terrible. We pitted, made a big adjustment, and it was fine. We’re just not quite understanding where the car is yet.”
Kansas is the scene of van Gisbergen’s career-best oval finish in the Cup Series.
He claimed 10th late last season and is optimistic that he can continue that form.
“It’s certainly one of my better ones, for sure,” he said.
“I’m finding so far, tracks we go to twice a year are really my good ones — apart from Bristol, I’m shit there.
“Tracks like Kansas, Vegas, they’re my tracks where I seem to be more competitive at higher speeds. It’s been cool.
Monday’s race gets underway at 4am AEST with coverage live on Fox Sports and Kayo Sports.
Results: NASCAR Cup Series Kansas Speedway, Qualifying
Pos
Num
Driver
Team
Car
Lap
Diff
Gap
1
45
Tyler Reddick
23XI Racing
Toyota Camry
29.142
2
11
Denny Hamlin
Joe Gibbs Racing
Toyota Camry
29.161
0.019
0.019
3
54
Ty Gibbs
Joe Gibbs Racing
Toyota Camry
29.192
0.050
0.031
4
5
Kyle Larson
Hendrick Motorsports
Chevrolet Camaro
29.192
0.050
0.000
5
19
Chase Briscoe
Joe Gibbs Racing
Toyota Camry
29.199
0.057
0.007
6
77
Carson Hocevar
Spire Motorsports
Chevrolet Camaro
29.212
0.070
0.013
7
17
Chris Buescher
RFK Racing
Ford Mustang
29.227
0.085
0.015
8
7
Daniel Suarez
Spire Motorsports
Chevrolet Camaro
29.23
0.088
0.003
9
12
Ryan Blaney
Team Penske
Ford Mustang
29.231
0.089
0.001
10
23
Bubba Wallace
23XI Racing
Toyota Camry
29.28
0.138
0.049
11
20
Christopher Bell
Joe Gibbs Racing
Toyota Camry
29.325
0.183
0.045
12
60
Ryan Preece
RFK Racing
Ford Mustang
29.367
0.225
0.042
13
9
Chase Elliott
Hendrick Motorsports
Chevrolet Camaro
29.402
0.260
0.035
14
24
William Byron
Hendrick Motorsports
Chevrolet Camaro
29.504
0.362
0.102
15
22
Joey Logano
Team Penske
Ford Mustang
29.507
0.365
0.003
16
47
Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
Hyak Motorsports
Chevrolet Camaro
29.532
0.390
0.025
17
97
Shane Van
Trackhouse Racing
Chevrolet Camaro
29.537
0.395
0.005
18
71
Michael McDowell
Spire Motorsports
Chevrolet Camaro
29.541
0.399
0.004
19
43
Erik Jones
Legacy Motor Club
Toyota Camry
29.561
0.419
0.020
20
3
Austin Dillon
Richard Childress Racing
Chevrolet Camaro
29.569
0.427
0.008
21
6
Brad Keselowski
RFK Racing
Ford Mustang
29.577
0.435
0.008
22
35
Riley Herbst
23XI Racing
Toyota Camry
29.583
0.441
0.006
23
8
Kyle Busch
Richard Childress Racing
Chevrolet Camaro
29.653
0.511
0.070
24
67
* Corey Heim(i)
23XI Racing
Toyota Camry
29.664
0.522
0.011
25
38
Zane Smith
Front Row Motorsports
Ford Mustang
29.67
0.528
0.006
26
34
Todd Gilliland
Front Row Motorsports
Ford Mustang
29.723
0.581
0.053
27
16
AJ Allmendinger
Kaulig Racing
Chevrolet Camaro
29.726
0.584
0.003
28
4
Noah Gragson
Front Row Motorsports
Ford Mustang
29.739
0.597
0.013
29
41
Cole Custer
Haas Factory Team
Chevrolet Camaro
29.739
0.597
0.000
30
21
Josh Berry
Wood Brothers Racing
Ford Mustang
29.768
0.626
0.029
31
1
Ross Chastain
Trackhouse Racing
Chevrolet Camaro
29.781
0.639
0.013
32
42
John Hunter Nemechek
Legacy Motor Club
Toyota Camry
29.831
0.689
0.050
33
48
Alex Bowman
Hendrick Motorsports
Chevrolet Camaro
29.849
0.707
0.018
34
2
Austin Cindric
Team Penske
Ford Mustang
30.014
0.872
0.165
35
51
Cody Ware
Rick Ware Racing
Chevrolet Camaro
30.199
1.057
0.185
36
88
Connor Zilisch #
Trackhouse Racing
Chevrolet Camaro
30.246
1.104
0.047
37
10
Ty Dillon
Kaulig Racing
Chevrolet Camaro
31.364
2.222
1.118
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