Van Gisbergen qualifies sixth for NASCAR COTA race

The Trackhouse Racing driver wound up 0.4s off the pace of pole position winner Tyler Reddick, who led his 23XI Racing teammate Bubba Wallace.

Chase Elliott (Hendrick Motorsports), Carson Hocevar (Spire Motorsports) and van Gisbergen’s teammate Daniel Suarez rounded out the top five.

The other Trackhouse Racing entries, Ross Chastain and Connor Zilisch, wound up ninth and 14th respectively.

For Reddick, it marked his second NASCAR Cup Series pole position at Circuit of the Americas.

Earlier in the day, van Gisbergen topped practice. Speaking ahead of the event, the Kiwi said he knows he’s considered the favourite in the 37-car field.

“I know I’m going to be good, but there are plenty of other good drivers here,” van Gisbergen said.

“There are six to eight guys who are really good on road courses, and the rest of the top 20 are great as well. It’s a pretty deep field.”

Last year’s champion Joey Logano said van Gisbergen stands a good chance of winning his way into the playoffs and noted AJ Allmendinger as a threat too.

“Obviously, they are strong, and the decision for race teams, you’ve got to look at where can you win to get into the playoffs,” said Logano.

“You look at Shane, AJ and some of these guys, they are well-rounded race car drivers and can win at other [tracks], but their true advantage when it comes to these race tracks is they are just good.

“They have a good chance of winning and locking themselves into the playoffs, and they would be deserving of it.”

The EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix is scheduled for Monday, March 3 at 7:30am AEDT.

Results: NASCAR Cup Series Circuit of the Americas, Qualifying