Shane Van Gisbergen Bests Tyler Reddick for Maiden Cup Pole at the Charlotte ROVAL
It's not very common for time trials to get as intense as they did in the final moments of Saturday's NASCAR Cup Series session from the Charlotte Motor Speedway ROVAL.
Tyler Reddick, who captured the pole position at the ROVAL last October, went out early in the session and put down a fast lap time, and looked to be safe from competition. That was until Shane Van Gisbergen took to the racetrack.
The Auckland, New Zealand-native was patient throughout the final round, waiting to lay down his lap until most of the field had pulled into pit road. That ended up paying off, as the Kaulig Racing driver put the No. 13 WeatherTech Chevrolet Camaro at the top of the speed charts.
Upon returning to pit road, the team was celebrating, while unbeknownst to them, Tyler Reddick has brought his No. 45 Monster Energy Toyota Camry XSE back onto the purpose-built road course, and was challenging the lap by the three-time Supercars champion.
It came down to the wire, and Reddick ultimately improved his time from earlier in the second round of qualifying, but it wasn't enough for the 23XI Racing driver to dethrone Van Gisbergen, who captured the first NASCAR Cup Series pole for not only himself, but for Kaulig Racing.
With a lap of 82.704 seconds (99.246mph), Van Gisbergen maintained the top spot on the speed charts in qualifying. However, the NASCAR Xfinity Series regular also posted the fastest lap of the overall session, in the first round, with an 82.697 (99.254mph).
Starting Lineup: NASCAR Cup Series Bank of America ROVAL 400 at Charlotte ROVAL
Tyler Reddick will start Sunday's Bank of America ROVAL 400 from the outside of the front row, with Van Gisbergen's Kaulig Racing teammate AJ Allmendinger claiming third-place. Team Penske teammates Joey Logano and Austin Cindric rounded out the top-five.
Kyle Larson, Chase Elliott, Brad Keselowski, Bubba Wallace, and William Byron completed the top-10, all posting quick enough lap times in the first round to advance into the second. Kyle Busch and Christopher Bell were the first outside in their respective sessions, and will start 11th and 12th.
Only six of the drivers eligible for the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs will start from the top-10 on Sunday, with the other six forced to make some ground up once the green-flag drops on Sunday.
Christopher Bell (12th), Daniel Suarez (13th). Ryan Blaney (14th), Alex Bowman (17th), Denny Hamlin (18th), and Chase Briscoe (25th) missed out on advancing to the second round of qualifying on Saturday, meaning they'll have the biggest hole to dig out of come Sunday's Bank of America ROVAL 400.
Daniel Suarez posted a 13th-place starting spot, with Ryan Blaney just behind in 14th. Alex Bowman and Denny Hamlin will share the ninth row when the event goes green. Chase Briscoe, who virtually sits in a must-win situation on Sunday, was the only playoff-eligible driver to qualify outside the top-20, starting 25th.
Josh Bilicki, driving the No. 66 Ford Mustang Dark Horse for MBM Motorsports, will start shotgun on the field in Sunday's Bank of America ROVAL 400, in what will be his 100th start in the NASCAR Cup Series.
The Bank of America ROVAL 400 will take place on Sunday, October 13 at 2:30 PM ET on NBC, PRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (Channel 90).
