Trackhouse Racing’s Shane van Gisbergen. Image: Jonathan Bachman/ Getty Images
Van Gisbergen was the best of the Trackhouse Racing trio, ahead of Ross Chastain in 32nd and Connor Zilisch in 34th out of 37 cars.
SVG ran a 38.116s in practice to be 28th before improving to a 37.562s (191.683 mph) in qualifying to end up 0.661s off the fastest time.
Pole position went the way of Denny Hamlin, who was the last driver out on track.
The #11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota Camry set a 36.901s (195.117 mph) lap to beat Carson Hocevar in the #77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro by just 0.018s at the flag.
It was a big bounce-back for Hamlin, who in practice suffered a puncture and damage to the floor of his car.
“They did a great job, accounting for the damage on the bottom side,” said Hamlin.
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“They rebalance it. Felt like we did a good job.
“It was a handful. It was all I wanted, certainly. Hats off to this whole Toyota team. That was surprising.
“I just noticed I was chattering all the tyres it felt like in the corners. It was the limit, for sure.
Hocevar, who was eighth-to-last in the runner order, was devastated to come up short at his home race.
“I get it, I totally understand,” said Hamlin.
“I remember being at Richmond, way back in ‘06 or so, ‘07, and trying to get a pole at my home track. I get it. I feel like that sorry for him,” he joked.
Hocevar expressed his disappointment at coming up one hundredth short.
“It’s a testament to these guys. They did a really good job,” said the Michigan-born driver.
“They’re building really fast race cars. I would have loved to have had that there.
“I feel like it’s a really good race car. It’s one of the best I’ve had here I felt like, so I really hope it translates to tomorrow.
“I know it’s just qualifying, but damn, I didn’t know I wanted it this much here.
“It just means a lot for so many reasons.”
Qualifying was punctuated by a spin for Josh Berry in the #21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford Mustang, which delayed proceedings.
The NASCAR Cup Series FireKeepers 400 at Michigan International Speedway gets underway at 5am AEST on Monday.
Results: NASCAR Cup Series FireKeepers 400 Qualifying, Michigan International Speedway
Pos
Num
Driver
Team
Car
Lap
Diff
Gap
1
11
Denny Hamlin
Joe Gibbs Racing
Toyota Camry
36.901
2
77
Carson Hocevar
Spire Motorsports
Chevrolet Camaro
36.919
0.018
0.018
3
45
Tyler Reddick
23XI Racing
Toyota Camry
36.929
0.028
0.010
4
54
Ty Gibbs
Joe Gibbs Racing
Toyota Camry
36.953
0.052
0.024
5
19
Chase Briscoe
Joe Gibbs Racing
Toyota Camry
36.956
0.055
0.003
6
9
Chase Elliott
Hendrick Motorsports
Chevrolet Camaro
36.958
0.057
0.002
7
5
Kyle Larson
Hendrick Motorsports
Chevrolet Camaro
36.967
0.066
0.009
8
20
Christopher Bell
Joe Gibbs Racing
Toyota Camry
37.003
0.102
0.036
9
24
William Byron
Hendrick Motorsports
Chevrolet Camaro
37.038
0.137
0.035
10
43
Erik Jones
Legacy Motor Club
Toyota Camry
37.09
0.189
0.052
11
7
Daniel Suarez
Spire Motorsports
Chevrolet Camaro
37.121
0.220
0.031
12
35
Riley Herbst
23XI Racing
Toyota Camry
37.127
0.226
0.006
13
23
Bubba Wallace
23XI Racing
Toyota Camry
37.133
0.232
0.006
14
17
Chris Buescher
RFK Racing
Ford Mustang
37.186
0.285
0.053
15
41
Cole Custer
Haas Factory Team
Chevrolet Camaro
37.205
0.304
0.019
16
38
Zane Smith
Front Row Motorsports
Ford Mustang
37.213
0.312
0.008
17
42
John Hunter Nemechek
Legacy Motor Club
Ford Mustang
37.24
0.339
0.027
18
22
Joey Logano
Team Penske
Ford Mustang
37.257
0.356
0.017
19
12
Ryan Blaney
Team Penske
Ford Mustang
37.258
0.357
0.001
20
3
Austin Dillon
Richard Childress Racing
Chevrolet Camaro
37.277
0.376
0.019
21
71
Michael McDowell
Spire Motorsports
Chevrolet Camaro
37.277
0.376
0.000
22
4
Noah Gragson
Front Row Motorsports
Ford Mustang
37.341
0.440
0.064
23
47
Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
Hyak Motorsports
Chevrolet Camaro
37.342
0.441
0.001
24
10
Ty Dillon
Kaulig Racing
Chevrolet Camaro
37.408
0.507
0.066
25
16
AJ Allmendinger
Kaulig Racing
Chevrolet Camaro
37.457
0.556
0.049
26
6
Brad Keselowski
RFK Racing
Ford Mustang
37.476
0.575
0.019
27
60
Ryan Preece
RFK Racing
Ford Mustang
37.551
0.650
0.075
28
33
Austin Hill
Richard Childress Racing
Chevrolet Camaro
37.553
0.652
0.002
29
48
Alex Bowman
Hendrick Motorsports
Chevrolet Camaro
37.561
0.660
0.008
30
97
Shane Van Gisbergen
Trackhouse Racing
Chevrolet Camaro
37.562
0.661
0.001
31
2
Austin Cindric
Team Penske
Ford Mustang
37.667
0.766
0.105
32
1
Ross Chastain
Trackhouse Racing
Chevrolet Camaro
37.69
0.789
0.023
33
51
Cody Ware
Rick Ware Racing
Chevrolet Camaro
37.715
0.814
0.025
34
88
Connor Zilisch
Trackhouse Racing
Chevrolet Camaro
37.72
0.819
0.005
35
34
Todd Gilliland
Front Row Motorsports
Ford Mustang
37.73
0.829
0.010
36
44
JJ Yeley
NY Racing Team
Chevrolet Camaro
38.57
1.669
0.840
37
21
Josh Berry
Wood Brothers Racing
No time
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