Trackhouse Racing’s Shane van Gisbergen showcased his road course prowess on Saturday afternoon, claiming his first Busch Light Pole position of the 2025 season at Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez. The 36-year-old former Australian Supercar Series champion will lead the field to green in Sunday’s inaugural Viva Mexico 250 (3 p.m. ET, Prime Video, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
Despite the qualifying session being called off 17 minutes early due to light rain, van Gisbergen’s pole-winning lap of 93.904 mph in the No. 88 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet was a notable improvement from his speed in Saturday afternoon’s two practice sessions.
“It was a great session for us, we kind of lacked in a lot of areas yesterday [in practice] with our car getting the balance we wanted and went through a lot of challenges last night — a couple I thought were maybe too much — and started my lap and the car felt magic right from the start,” van Gisbergen said, smiling and referring to road courses as his “natural habitat.”
The pole position and positive start to the weekend could prove crucial for van Gisbergen, who is currently ranked 33rd in the championship standings and essentially needs a race victory to earn a spot in the 16-driver NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs field.
“Certainly, a win fixes our year, gets you locked in,” he said, acknowledging the importance of the pole in securing a victory on Sunday. “Win a race and it changes your year, and then we can race with less pressure, and just keep learning, keep being methodical, keep getting better every week and then we can try some stuff.”
RFK Racing’s Ryan Preece will start second on the front row alongside van Gisbergen after running only a single lap in the session. Van Gisbergen’s Trackhouse teammate Ross Chastain was third fastest in the No. 1 Chevrolet, followed by Joe Gibbs Racing’s Ty Gibbs, who earlier in the day earned a front-row start in the NASCAR Xfinity Series race.
Spire Motorsports’ Michael McDowell, one of NASCAR’s most respected road course drivers, qualified fifth and will start alongside Hendrick Motorsports’ Kyle Larson, one of the season’s three-race winners, on the third row.
Mexico native and crowd favorite Daniel Suárez qualified 10th in the No. 99 Trackhouse Chevrolet, while current NASCAR Cup Series championship leader William Byron of Hendrick Motorsports will start 27th.
Van Gisbergen, who made NASCAR history in 2023 by winning the Chicago Street Race in his very first series start, will look to capitalize on his strong qualifying performance and secure a crucial victory in Sunday’s inaugural Viva Mexico 250.
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