Shane van Gisbergen in the #9 JR Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro at Circuit of the Americas during the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series round.
Van Gisbergen came up two tenths short of pole position for the 65-lapper at the Austin, Texas track.
Richard Childress Racing driver Austin Hill will start third in the #21 Chevrolet Camaro alongside Brandon Jones for Joe Gibbs Racing in the #20 Toyota Supra.
“It’s fun to be back in these cars. Thanks to JR Motorsports for having me and Safety Culture. It’s really fun,” said van Gisbergen after his qualifying run.
“They just move around so much. It’s really cool. My lap was good, but that little bugger is pretty quick. Hopefully we race him tomorrow.
“My long run speed was good in the race runs we did in practice. Who knows? Up the front is a good place to start.”
SVG offers rare insight into personal life in documentary
Zilisch set a 1:37.740s around a shortened Circuit of the Americas, which cuts through the eastern hairpin.
CLICK HERE to purchase tickets to the 2026 Repco Adelaide Motorsport Festival.
Earlier, Zilisch set the ninth fastest time in practice and suffered a puncture.
“We had a bit of an issue in practice and cut a tyre down,” he explained.
“We made some adjustments on the front end to not do that again.
“The entire #1 crew, it’s great being with Rodney [Childers], having his experience, and everyone here in this JR Motorsports team.
“It’s been a lot of fun getting back with these guys in the O’Reilly car. I love coming back and racing these cars, they’re a ton of fun.
“We’ve got a fast Chevrolet for tomorrow. Looking forward to it. Busy weekend for me, but great way to start it.”
Sunday’s race, which is live and exclusively on Fox and Kayo, is scheduled for 7:00am AEDT.
Results: NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series Circuit of the Americas, Qualifying
Pos
Num
Driver
Team
Lap
Diff
Gap
Speed (mph)
1
1
Connor Zilisch(i)
Roto-Rooter Chevrolet
97.740
88.398
2
9
Shane Van Gisbergen(i)
Safety Culture Chevrolet
97.949
0.209
0.209
88.209
3
21
Austin Hill
Bennett Transportation Chevrolet
98.359
0.619
0.410
87.841
4
20
Brandon Jones
Menards/Fisher Toyota
98.448
0.708
0.089
87.762
5
7
Justin Allgaier
BRANDT Chevrolet
98.562
0.822
0.114
87.661
6
91
Carson Kvapil
Clarience Technologies Chevrolet
98.572
0.832
0.010
87.652
7
19
Brent Crews
Young Life Toyota
98.670
0.930
0.098
87.565
8
41
Sam Mayer
Charbroil Chevrolet
98.717
0.977
0.047
87.523
9
0
Sheldon Creed
Road Ranger Chevrolet
98.786
1.046
0.069
87.462
10
8
Sammy Smith
Pilot Chevrolet
98.863
1.123
0.077
87.394
11
2
Jesse Love
Whelen Chevrolet
98.887
1.147
0.024
87.372
12
17
Corey Day
HendrickCars.com Chevrolet
98.900
1.160
0.013
87.361
13
87
Austin Green
Peterson Racing Chevrolet
98.903
1.163
0.003
87.358
14
54
Taylor Gray
Operation 300 Toyota
99.021
1.281
0.118
87.254
15
18
William Sawalich
Soundgear Toyota
99.393
1.653
0.372
86.928
16
96
Anthony Alfredo
Protein Rice Treats Chevrolet
99.429
1.689
0.036
86.896
17
50
Preston Pardus
Chincor Electric Inc. Chevrolet
99.483
1.743
0.054
86.849
18
39
Ryan Sieg
SciAps/SIMS METAL Chevrolet
99.542
1.802
0.059
86.798
19
88
Rajah Caruth
HendrickCars.com Chevrolet
99.544
1.804
0.002
86.796
20
25
Nick Sanchez
Paynuity Ford
99.546
1.806
0.002
86.794
21
32
Ross Chastain(i)
GLF Environmental Chevrolet
99.586
1.846
0.040
86.759
22
55
Sage Karam
Point Blank Tequila Toyota
99.947
2.207
0.361
86.446
23
24
Harrison Burton
DEX/Sharp Toyota
100.024
2.284
0.077
86.379
24
31
Blaine Perkins
WERNER Chevrolet
100.140
2.400
0.116
86.279
25
7
Josh Bilicki
Circle B Diecast Chevrolet
100.145
2.405
0.005
86.275
26
44
Brennan Poole
Frontline Fire Protection Chevrolet
100.190
2.450
0.045
86.236
27
26
Dean Thompson
Thompson Pipe Group Toyota
100.241
2.501
0.051
86.192
28
0
Alex Labbe
Trophy Tractor Chevrolet
100.243
2.503
0.002
86.191
29
99
Parker Retzlaff
Viking Motorsports Chevrolet
100.431
2.691
0.188
86.029
30
51
Jeremy Clements
Alliance Driveway Solutions Chevrolet
100.462
2.722
0.031
86.003
31
45
Lavar Scott #
Urban Affairs Coalition Chevrolet
100.484
2.744
0.022
85.984
32
48
Patrick Staropoli
Syfovre Chevrolet
100.702
2.962
0.218
85.798
Get the latest NASCAR news, stats, and US racing coverage at Speedcafe US
