Shane van Gisbergen rockets to NASCAR Xfinity pole at Sonoma

JR Motorsports has locked out the front row for the NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Sonoma Raceway. Once again, Shane van Gisbergen earned pole position, lapping the track in 1:15.259s, over two tenths clear of teammate Connor Zilisch.

These same two drivers finished 1-2 one week ago at the Chicago Street Course in a race where SVG also started from pole position.

Car is really, really good,” said van Gisbergen. “I was having fun out there … Looking forward to the race tomorrow.”

Van Gisbergen is also the defending winner of the Sonoma Xfinity race. On how the track has evolved since then, SVG said: “It’s hotter than last year, so it’s a bit slippery. The car is quite different from last year. Just trying to get used to that and how the car reacts. At Chicago, they weren’t too different but compared to what I had here last year, they are quite a bit different. Just trying to get it a bit centered but I feel good.”

Watch: Shane van Gisbergen snags back-to back Xfinity Series pole awards

As for Zilisch, he lamented some mistakes he made during his qualifying run, but added that there are no trophies for pole position as he shifted focus to the race on Saturday.

Behind SVG and Zilisch, Sam Mayer qualified third, Jesse Love fourth, and William Sawalich fifth. Sawalich was also the fastest driver in Group A, but that time was not quite good enough to get him onto the first two rows.

Sammy Smith, Carson Kvapil, Brandon Jones, Sheldon Creed, and Justin Allgaier filled out the remainder of the top ten.

Austin J. Hill was the lone driver who failed to qualify, driving the No. 35 for Joey Gase Motorsports.

In qualifying, there were no major incidents, but several off-track moments. Will Rodgers spun while both Josh Bilicki and Kvapil ended up in the dirt at some point. Nick Sanchez really struggled, going off-track twice during his qualifying runs.

Taylor Gray suffered an engine failure, which means he will start from the rear of the field.

SVG now has five career pole positions in the NASCAR Xfinity Series with all of them coming at road/street courses.

Photos from Sonoma – Practice & Qualifying