Three-time Supercars champion Shane van Gisbergen looked to have locked up his first NASCAR Cup Series pole position in his first attempt at the Chicago Street Race.
Though with under a minute remaining in the final round of Cup Series qualifying, Joe Gibbs Racing’s Denny Hamlin swooped in to steal the top spot in his No. 11 Toyota with a fastest speed of 89.624 mph.
It was Hamlin’s third pole of the season and the 39th of his career.
“It’s a lot of fun when you can have days like today,” said Hamlin. “Obviously, our Yahoo Camry is just super-strong. I like where we’re at.”
Almost simultaneously, Tyler Reddick jumped to second in his No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota, bumping van Gisbergen down to third.
Click here for qualifying results.
Van Gisbergen is wheeling Trackhouse Racing’s Project 91 entry previously driven by former Formula 1 champion Kimi Raikkonen at Circuit of The Americas (Texas) earlier this season.
Behind the front three, Christopher Bell and Daniel Suarez completed the top-five.
A trio of Ford’s complimented the top 10 with Michael McDowell (6th), 2009 Formula 1 champion Jenson Button (8th) and reigning Cup Series champion Joey Logano (9th).
“It’s been a good day. I mean it’s funny, isn’t it: You always want more than what you have,” Button said. “It’s the way of life, it seems. But no, it was a good run in terms of, I don’t think we did anything wrong. I think the balance was a little bit out.
“We’ve been fighting a tight car so for me, I’d call it understeer. I really struggled to get a lap on that one, and most people are doing the time on lap one. So, that hurts me quite a bit. It hurt me in Q1, and then in Q2, I had traffic,” Button continued.
“I can’t do the lap on the first lap, but it was starting my second lap that I had traffic. It was slightly annoying, so I had to do a cool down lap and then go again. Never works as well. P8 isn’t too bad. I’m pretty happy with that. I just wish we got a clean run in Q2. I would have had a couple more spots. It wouldn’t have been top-three, but it would have been a couple more spots.”
Kyle Larson was the lone Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet represented in the top 10 in seventh, with Kaulig Racing’s A.J. Allmendinger capping off the fastest 10 drivers.
Notable Drivers
A pair of Joe Gibbs Racing Toyotas narrowly missed out on the second round of qualifying with Martin Truex Jr. (11th) and rookie Ty Gibbs (12th). Truex showed flashes of pace during practice earlier in the day, finishing the lone session in fourth.
Kyle Busch qualified his Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 18th, while Brad Keselowski also struggled in qualifying with a 20th-place result.
The track’s seven 90-degree turns proved to be tricky in qualifying, forcing some of NASCAR’s top stars to start in the back.
Chase Elliott crashed in Round One, Group B with 3:33 left in the session. Elliott hit the wall head-on in turn eight after clipping the outside wall moments before. The crash negated Elliott to 26th on the grid.
“I just made a mistake,” Elliott said. “Turned in too soon, clipped the will on the right and then hit the wall on the left.”
At the end of Group B, Kevin Harvick clipped the inside wall of turn one, shooting Harvick up the track head-on into the outside wall. Harvick will start 35th out of 37 cars on Sunday.
Kevin Harvick crashes out of qualifying. #NASCAR
— NASCAR on NBC (@NASCARonNBC) July 1, 2023
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Practice Results
Earlier in the day, the Cup Series had a 50-minute practice session around the 12-turn road course where plenty of chaos ensued as drivers navigated the temporary circuit for the first time.
Among the handful of spins and wrecks, William Byron slapped the outside wall in turn four, damaging the left rear. His Hendrick Motorsports’ team was able to make repairs prior to qualifying. Byron qualified 22nd.
Daytona 500 winner Ricky Stenhouse Jr. slapped the wall in turn eight, heavily damaging his No. 47 Chevrolet. Stenhouse was unable to make a qualifying attempt and will start 36th.
A few moments prior, Justin Haley slid through the faster sweeping corner of turn four, tagging the tire barrier. Haley was unable to make a qualifying attempt as well. Team Penske’s Austin Cindric also spun around.
Van Gisbergen stunned in his first stint aboard the No. 91 for Trackhouse Racing, laying down the fastest speed of 88.572 mph.
Joe Gibbs Racing dominated the top-five, with Hamlin following in second, Martin Truex Jr. in fourth and Christopher Bell in fifth.
Button wheeled his No. 15 Rick Ware Racing entry to a solid third-fastest during the session.