Photo credit: Nigel Kinrade Photography

Mexico City starting lineup: Shane van Gisbergen wins Cup pole


The starting lineup is set in Mexico City. Trackhouse Racing's Shane van Gisbergen has won the pole for the inaugural Cup Series race at Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez (June 15 at 3 p.m. ET, Prime Video).

Van Gisbergen posted the fastest lap of the session at 92.776 seconds. This marks his first pole win of the season and the second of his career. He won the pole at the Charlotte Roval last season while driving for Kaulig Racing.

MORE: Mexico City Cup starting lineup

"We had a lot of speed today, which is good," van Gisbergen told Prime Video's Marty Snider. "It's been a great improvement.

"What a really cool achievement for us and a great start for tomorrow. I'm excited. That's really cool."

Ryan Preece qualified second during Saturday's rain-shortened session, which matched his best starting position of the season. His best lap was 92.84 seconds. Preece was followed by Ross Chastain (92.849), Ty Gibbs (92.921), and Michael McDowell (92.974).

The rest of the top 10 included Kyle Larson (92.984), Todd Gilliland (93.02), AJ Allmendinger (93.022), Joey Logano (93.049), and Daniel Suarez (93.061).

Ryan Truex, who replaces Denny Hamlin in the starting lineup this weekend, qualified 36th with a lap of 94.624 seconds.

Inclement weather at the road course cut Saturday's qualifying session short. Many drivers only completed one lap before NASCAR canceled the rest of the session. This prevented them from going out later and getting a second opportunity.

Some of the other drivers who did not qualify as well as they hoped due to the shortened session were Tyler Reddick in 22nd (93.345), William Byron in 27th (93.458), Alex Bowman in 29th (93.604), and Christopher Bell in 31st (93.72).

The Cup Series race will take place on Sunday, June 15, at 3 p.m. ET. Prime Video will provide coverage with Adam Alexander, Dale Earnhardt Jr., and Steve Letarte in the booth. This is the fourth of five races airing on the streaming service.