Shane van Gisbergen has won the pole for the third time in his Cup Series career. This time, he did so at the track where he won in his NASCAR debut.
The Trackhouse Racing driver won the pole with a lap of 89.656 seconds. He was the lone driver to go sub-90 seconds during Saturday afternoon's eventful session as he won the pole for the second time. Van Gisbergen also won the pole for Saturday afternoon's Xfinity Series race.
Michael McDowell, a one-time Cup Series road course winner, posted the second-fastest qualifying time on the streets of Chicago. He completed his lap in 90.124 seconds.
MORE: Chicago Cup Series starting lineup
McDowell was followed by Carson Hocevar (90.124), Tyler Reddick (90.227), and Chase Briscoe (90.273). The rest of the top 10 included Kyle Busch (90.371), Ryan Preece (90.534), Chris Buescher (90.544), Ty Gibbs (90.627), and Austin Dillon (90.719).
Reigning Supercars champion Will Brown, who returns to the Cup Series, qualified 19th with a lap of 91.045 seconds.
Saturday's Cup Series practice and qualifying sessions were eventful for several drivers. William Byron showed speed during practice but crashed at the end of the session and damaged the No. 24 Chevrolet. He did not take part in qualifying.
Back-to-back Cup Series road course poles!@shanevg97 | @WeatherTech https://t.co/0pzkuaxjpT pic.twitter.com/e6dz4yVQKs
— Trackhouse Racing (@TeamTrackhouse) July 5, 2025
Chase Elliott also tagged the wall and damaged the No. 9 Chevrolet. His car sustained less damage than Byron's, but he did not qualify. Alex Bowman sustained toe link damage but took part in qualifying. He will drop to the rear of the field for unapproved adjustments.
The list of issues continued with Denny Hamlin, who blew an engine on the opening lap of practice, and Corey Heim, who bent a toe link after hitting the wall. This damaged the No. 67 to the extent that Heim posted a slower lap than Katherine Legge, who hit both a tire barrier and the wall. Heim was the lone driver who failed to qualify for Sunday's Cup Series race.
Brad Keselowski qualified 15th despite spinning into a tire barrier. Bubba Wallace posted the 37th-fastest time after multiple spins in qualifying. One incident ended the session so NASCAR could check the status of a tire barrier.
A look at the spin for the No. 23 late in qualifying. pic.twitter.com/QVPAOlHu35
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) July 5, 2025
Noah Gragson, who defeated Chase Briscoe in the opening week of the in-season challenge, broke a toe link on the No. 4 Ford after hard contact with the wall. He qualified 24th but will have to start the race from the rear of the field.
The Cup Series drivers will take on the streets of Chicago on Sunday, July 6. TNT Sports will provide coverage starting with the 1 p.m. ET pre-race show. The coverage will continue at 2 p.m. ET.