Shane van Gisbergen claimed his first Busch Light Pole position of the season Saturday afternoon at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez and will lead the field to green in the inaugural Viva Mexico 250 Sunday in Mexico City (3 p.m. ET, Amazon Prime, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
The scheduled 45-minute qualifying session was called off 17 minutes early due to light rain, but the 36-year-old former Australian Supercar Series champion was easily the class of the field – his pole-winning lap of 93.904 mph improving notably from his speed in Saturday afternoon's two practice sessions.
Smiling and referring to road courses as his "natural habitat," van Gisbergen was quite satisfied with his work in the No 88 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet – especially considering the unknown of a first-time race at the venue.
Inaugural races have been a plus on his resume. He made NASCAR history in 2023, famously winning the Chicago Street Race in his very first series start.
"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.
The pole position and positive start of the weekend could prove especially important as Van Gisbergen is ranked 33rd in the championship standings, essentially needing a race victory to earn a position in the 16-driver NASCAR Cup Series playoffs field.
"Certainly, a win fixes our year, gets you locked in," he said with a smile about the pole helping produce a victory 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," he continued. "We're very sort of welded in a box in the moment, just not wanting to get out of our comfort zone."
Another notable qualifying effort came from RFK Racing's Ryan Preece who will start second, on the front row alongside Van Gisbergen. Preece was second fastest – and ran 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 earned a front row start in the NASCAR Xfinity Series race earlier in the day.
One of NASCAR's most respected road course drivers, Spire Motorsports' Michael McDowell was fifth fastest in qualifying and will start alongside the season's three-race winner, Hendrick Motorsports' Kyle Larson on the third row.
Mexico native – and huge crowd favourite – Daniel Suarez was 10th fastest in the No 99 Trackhouse Chevrolet.
NASCAR Cup Series championship leader, Hendrick's William Byron will start 27th.
PODIUM CELEBRATION
Hendrick Motorsports driver Kyle Larson is among the most versatile – and well-travelled – competitors in the NASCAR garage. And he had nothing but compliments for the organisers of the Mexico City race, noting it was kind of "fun" staying at the same hotel and sharing bus rides to the circuit with his competitors.
One of the unique features of the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez course is that the top three drivers in the race will stand on a podium to receive trophies – similar to the traditional Formula One victory celebration.
Larson likes the idea and thinks maybe it's something the sport would consider elsewhere as well.
"Maybe just your crown jewels events would be a good start, but I'm not sure," Larson said, adding, "Although it stinks sometimes when you're frustrated and you've got to force a smile, I think the fans appreciate seeing the top three drivers on the frontstretch, the photos and whatnot.
"You look at other forms of motorsports, and the post-race podium celebration – like I look at Formula 1, you kind of celebrate the country that you're from, too, playing the national anthem. But I just think that's a nice added touch. So, yeah, I think there's ways to look at it and make it kind of feel like our own."
RESPECTING SUAREZ
Many of the drivers this weekend remarked about the huge local support shown to Trackhouse Racing's Daniel Suarez, a Mexico native and the number leader of promoting NASCAR's race in Mexico City.
Asked what he would do if it came down to him and Suarez for the victory, veteran and road racing talent, Spire Motorsports driver Michael McDowell smiled and conceded he'd already thought about that scenario.
"I was reminiscing about that. I was like, you do not want to spin out (Daniel) Suarez here, I can tell you that," McDowell said. "You do not want to do that. That is not a part of your strategy for the weekend.
"But my crew chief and I were talking about it and he said, what do you mean? You're telling me last lap, last corner, you're not going to move him out of the way? I'm like, no, I'm not. I think that when it comes to that, in the moment, things happen. If you're side-by-side and you're racing hard and you're doing all those things, our sports like that, I'm not going to give up a win. You guys know how much wins mean in this sport and getting into the playoffs and everything that comes with it.
"You're never going to lay over for anybody. At the same time, I'm not going to go out of my way to rough him up, that's for sure. I think that goes the same for everybody. I think that's part of the weird etiquette at road course racing."
23XI Racing's Bubba Wallace conceded the grid was definitely going to be aware of the huge crowd favourite Suarez.
"I've seen (Team Penske driver) Ryan's (Blaney) video this morning, and if there is one rule this week – is to not wreck Suarez, and I'm like I didn't think about that, but definitely adopting that rule too," Wallace said smiling.
CHANGES IN ALTITUDES
Mexico City sits at 7 349 feet above sea level and is surrounded by mountains on three sides – it's a vastly different setting than what the NASCAR national series regularly experience.
Some drivers even used a hypoxic tent to help them acclimate easier, others arrived early to get used to the climate and altitude.
"When it comes to the driver and the altitude training, there's a lot of different strategies and a lot of different philosophies," McDowell said. "I, by no means, feel like the scientist that has got it right, but I've been here a few times and I've experienced it a few times, so I know what works for me.
"It is a challenge. Honestly, it's part of the reason why I decided not to run the Xfinity race was because I felt like this is a really physically demanding weekend, getting acclimated to the altitude and road racing in general. Yes, extra laps and extra seat time would be great to be more familiar, but I felt like you're going to be at your limit on Sunday and I want to make sure that I have the best possible day of the week."