Shane van Gisbergen during the NASCAR Cup Series at Martinvsille.
Teammates Ross Chastain and Connor Zilisch were only 18th and 25th at half-mile oval.
It’s the first time van Gisbergen has qualified fifth on an oval for a points-paying race. His previous best was at New Hampshire Motor Speedway last year.
Ahead of qualifying, van Gisbergen explained how he had made a change from right foot braking to left foot braking – a move that has seemingly paid dividends.
“On the ovals you have to left-foot. Everyone left-foots,” he said.
“Most tracks it’s easy, but on a track like this where you downchange, I’m not really used to that downchanging.
“In the Xfinity Car, the first time I was here I right-foot braked and went back and fourth.
“Now I’ve committed to left-foot braking, I’ve put big spacing between my pedals so I can’t right-foot brake.
“It’s just the timing of then to blip, because you don’t have to clutch like I do on the road course to help with the downchange. It’s just a rhythm and technique thing.
“It’s very easy to overlap quite a lot with the throttle and brake like a go kart. Just trying to keep my inputs separate. It’s a lot of timing and repetition that i’m not used to.”
Joe Gibbs Racing driver Denny Hamlin continued his purple patch to take pole position in the #11 Toyota Camry.
Hendrick Motorsports’ William Byron will start second as the best Chevrolet Camaro in the #24 ahead of leading Ford Mustang driver Josh Berry for Wood Brothers Racing in the #21 car.
Hamlin’s teammate Ty Gibbs will line up fourth in the #54 Camry.
“I knew it was possible simply from where my car was in practice,’’ said Hamlin, who racked up his fifth pole position at Martinsville.
“Any time you’ve got fast lap speed in practice here that’s in the top 12, you’re close enough there that qualifying trim doesn’t change your car that much.”
“You’ve got enough speed to where you nail it and do a good enough job as a driver you’ve got a chance at the pole.
“I knew it was very possible but truthfully, I approached the lap to get in the top eight.
“I think I’d go faster if I went and did it again right now, but I think I’ll go on and stand on my time.”
Monday’s race is scheduled for 7:30am AEDT with coverage live on Fox Sports and streaming on Kayo Sports.
Results: NASCAR Cup Series Cook Out 400 Martinsville Speedway, Qualifying
Pos
Num
Driver
Team
Car
Lap
Diff
Gap
1
11
Denny Hamlin
Joe Gibbs Racing
Toyota Camry
19.275
2
24
William Byron
Hendrick Motorsports
Chevrolet Camaro
19.331
0.056
0.056
3
21
Josh Berry
Wood Brothers Racing
Ford Mustang
19.334
0.059
0.003
4
54
Ty Gibbs
Joe Gibbs Racing
Toyota Camry
19.338
0.063
0.004
5
97
Shane Van
Trackhouse Racing
Chevrolet Camaro
19.339
0.064
0.001
6
2
Austin Cindric
Team Penske
Ford Mustang
19.351
0.076
0.012
7
77
Carson Hocevar
Spire Motorsports
Chevrolet Camaro
19.363
0.088
0.012
8
45
Tyler Reddick
23XI Racing
Toyota Camry
19.376
0.101
0.013
9
22
Joey Logano
Team Penske
Ford Mustang
19.389
0.114
0.013
10
9
Chase Elliott
Hendrick Motorsports
Chevrolet Camaro
19.392
0.117
0.003
11
20
Christopher Bell
Joe Gibbs Racing
Toyota Camry
19.398
0.123
0.006
12
12
Ryan Blaney
Team Penske
Ford Mustang
19.429
0.154
0.031
13
5
Kyle Larson
Hendrick Motorsports
Chevrolet Camaro
19.432
0.157
0.003
14
38
Zane Smith
Front Row Motorsports
Ford Mustang
19.444
0.169
0.012
15
23
Bubba Wallace
23XI Racing
Toyota Camry
19.445
0.17
0.001
16
17
Chris Buescher
RFK Racing
Ford Mustang
19.446
0.171
0.001
17
60
Ryan Preece
RFK Racing
Ford Mustang
19.453
0.178
0.007
18
1
Ross Chastain
Trackhouse Racing
Chevrolet Camaro
19.457
0.182
0.004
19
43
Erik Jones
Legacy Motor Club
Toyota Camry
19.486
0.211
0.029
20
71
Michael McDowell
Spire Motorsports
Chevrolet Camaro
19.495
0.22
0.009
21
48
Justin Allgaier(i)
Hendrick Motorsports
Chevrolet Camaro
19.503
0.228
0.008
22
7
Daniel Suarez
Spire Motorsports
Chevrolet Camaro
19.508
0.233
0.005
23
6
Brad Keselowski
RFK Racing
Ford Mustang
19.518
0.243
0.01
24
41
Cole Custer
Haas Factory Team
Chevrolet Camaro
19.53
0.255
0.012
25
88
Connor Zilisch #
Trackhouse Racing
Chevrolet Camaro
19.536
0.261
0.006
26
35
Riley Herbst
23XI Racing
Toyota Camry
19.561
0.286
0.025
27
19
Chase Briscoe
Joe Gibbs Racing
Toyota Camry
19.562
0.287
0.001
28
16
AJ Allmendinger
Kaulig Racing
Chevrolet Camaro
19.578
0.303
0.016
29
34
Todd Gilliland
Front Row Motorsports
Ford Mustang
19.588
0.313
0.01
30
3
Austin Dillon
Richard Childress Racing
Chevrolet Camaro
19.625
0.35
0.037
31
4
Noah Gragson
Front Row Motorsports
Ford Mustang
19.65
0.375
0.025
32
42
John Hunter Nemechek
Legacy Motor Club
Toyota Camry
19.664
0.389
0.014
33
47
Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
Hyak Motorsports
Chevrolet Camaro
19.676
0.401
0.012
34
8
Kyle Busch
Richard Childress Racing
Chevrolet Camaro
19.705
0.43
0.029
35
51
Cody Ware
Rick Ware Racing
Chevrolet Camaro
19.719
0.444
0.014
36
10
Ty Dillon
Kaulig Racing
Chevrolet Camaro
19.76
0.485
0.041
37
33
* Austin Hill(i)
Richard Childress Racing
Chevrolet Camaro
19.921
0.646
0.161
For more of the latest NASCAR news and analysis, visit Speedcafe US
