{"id":52770,"date":"2025-06-14T15:35:24","date_gmt":"2025-06-14T20:35:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/?p=52770"},"modified":"2025-06-15T10:24:08","modified_gmt":"2025-06-15T15:24:08","slug":"road-course-ace-van-gisbergen-captures-pole-for-inaugural-mexico-city-race","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/2025\/06\/14\/road-course-ace-van-gisbergen-captures-pole-for-inaugural-mexico-city-race\/","title":{"rendered":"Road course ace Van Gisbergen captures pole for inaugural Mexico City race"},"content":{"rendered":"
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By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service<\/em><\/p>\n

MEXICO CITY \u2013 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).<\/p>\n

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Shane Van Gisbergen, driver of the #88 Safety Culture Chevrolet, poses for photos after winning the pole award during qualifying for the NASCAR Cup Series Viva Mexico 250 at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez on June 14, 2025 in Mexico City, Mexico. (Photo by Chris Graythen\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

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 \u2013 his pole-winning lap of 93.905 mph improving notably from his speed in Saturday afternoon\u2019s two practice sessions.<\/p>\n

Smiling and referring to road courses as his \u201cnatural habitat,\u2019\u2019 Van Gisbergen was quite satisfied with his work in the No. 88 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet \u2013 especially considering the unknown of a first-time race at the venue.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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Shane Van Gisbergen, driver of the #88 Safety Culture Chevrolet, drives during qualifying for the NASCAR Cup Series Viva Mexico 250 at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez on June 14, 2025 in Mexico City, Mexico. (Photo by James Gilbert\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cIt 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 \u2013 a couple I thought were maybe too much \u2013 and started my lap and the car felt magic right from the start,\u2019\u2019 Van Gisbergen said.<\/p>\n

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 championship field.<\/p>\n

\u201cCertainly, a win fixes our year, gets you locked in,\u2019\u2019 he said with a smile about the pole helping produce a victory Sunday.<\/p>\n

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Shane Van Gisbergen, driver of the #88 Safety Culture Chevrolet, poses for photos after winning the pole award during qualifying for the NASCAR Cup Series Viva Mexico 250 at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez on June 14, 2025 in Mexico City, Mexico. (Photo by Chris Graythen\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cWin 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,\u2019\u2019 he continued. \u201cWe\u2019re very sort of welded in a box in the moment, just not wanting to get out of our comfort zone.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n

Another notable qualifying effort came from RFK Racing\u2019s Ryan Preece who will start second, on the front row alongside Van Gisbergen. Preece was second fastest \u2013 and ran only a single lap in the session. <\/p>\n

Van Gisbergen\u2019s Trackhouse teammate Ross Chastain was third fastest in the No. 1 Chevrolet, followed by Joe Gibbs Racing\u2019s Ty Gibbs who earned a front row start in the NASCAR Xfinity Series race earlier in the day.<\/p>\n

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Shane Van Gisbergen, driver of the #88 Safety Culture Chevrolet, drives during qualifying for the NASCAR Cup Series Viva Mexico 250 at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez on June 14, 2025 in Mexico City, Mexico. (Photo by Sean Gardner\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

One of NASCAR\u2019s most respected road course drivers, Spire Motorsports\u2019 Michael McDowell was fifth fastest in qualifying and will start alongside the season\u2019s three-race winner, Hendrick Motorsports\u2019 Kyle Larson on the third row.<\/p>\n

Mexico native \u2013 and huge crowd favorite – Daniel Suarez was 10th fastest in the No. 99 Trackhouse Chevrolet.<\/p>\n

NASCAR Cup Series championship leader, Hendrick\u2019s William Byron will start 27th.<\/p>\n

NOTEBOOK<\/b><\/p>\n

*PODIUM CELEBRATION<\/b><\/p>\n

Hendrick Motorsports driver Kyle Larson is among the most versatile \u2013 and well-travelled \u2013 competitors in the NASCAR garage. And he had nothing but compliments for the organizers of the Mexico City race, noting it was kind of \u201cfun\u201d staying at the same hotel and sharing bus rides to the circuit with his competitors.<\/p>\n

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 \u2013 similar to the traditional Formula One victory celebration.<\/p>\n

Larson likes the idea and thinks maybe it\u2019s something the sport would consider elsewhere as well.<\/p>\n

\u201cMaybe just your crown jewels events would be a good start, but I’m not sure,\u2019\u2019 Larson said, adding,  \u201cAlthough 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.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Daniel Suarez, driver of the #9 Quaker State Chevrolet, prepares to practice for the NASCAR Xfinity Series The Chilango 150 at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez on June 14, 2025 in Mexico City, Mexico. (Photo by Chris Graythen\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

*RESPECTING SUAREZ<\/b><\/p>\n

Many of the drivers this weekend remarked about the huge local support shown to Trackhouse Racing\u2019s Daniel Suarez, a Mexico native and the number leader of promoting NASCAR\u2019s race in Mexico City.<\/p>\n

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\u2019d already thought about that scenario.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was reminiscing about that. I was like, you do not want to spin out (Daniel) Suarez here, I can tell you that,\u2019\u2019 McDowell said. \u201cYou do not want to do that. That is not a part of your strategy for the weekend.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut 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.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou’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.\u201d<\/p>\n

23XI Racing\u2019s Bubba Wallace conceded the grid was definitely going to be aware of the huge crowd favorite Suarez.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve seen [Team Penske driver] Ryan\u2019s (Blaney) video this morning, and if there is one rule this week \u2013 is to not wreck Suarez, and I\u2019m like I didn\u2019t think about that, but definitely adopting that rule too,\u201d Wallace said smiling.<\/p>\n

*CHAGES IN ALTITUDES<\/b><\/p>\n

Mexico City sits at 7,349 feet above sea level and is surrounded by mountains on three sides \u2013 it\u2019s a vastly different setting than what the NASCAR national series regularly experience.<\/p>\n

Some drivers even used a hypoxia tent to help them acclimate easier, others arrived early to get used to the climate and altitude .<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen it comes to the driver and the altitude training, there’s a lot of different strategies and a lot of different philosophies,\u2019\u2019 McDowell said. \u201cI, 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.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt 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.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service MEXICO CITY \u2013 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 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":676,"featured_media":52794,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[11],"tags":[1105,16],"class_list":["post-52770","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nascar","tag-autodromo-hermanos-rodriguez","tag-nascar"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/GettyImages-2220140869-scaled.jpg?fit=2560%2C1707&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7hzTZ-dJ8","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52770","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/676"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=52770"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52770\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":52803,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52770\/revisions\/52803"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/52794"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=52770"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=52770"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=52770"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}