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Nick DeGroot

UNBELIEVABLE: Nascar cup sonoma starting lineup ty gibbs earns pole svg sixth | History Defined

In a remarkably close qualifying session, Ty Gibbs secured pole position in the No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota with a fast lap of 1:14.829s. He beat Spire Motorsports driver Carson Hocevar by just 0.025s for pole position.

Kyle Larson will start third, Michael McDowell fourth, and Ross Chastain fifth. Pre-race favorite Shane van Gisbergen was the fastest driver in Group 1, but that was only enough for sixth on the grid. There was less than a single tenth separating the top six drivers on the speed charts!

"The re-runs are super weird here. Sometimes you can go a lot faster, sometimes you don't," said Gibbs, who now has three career poles. "I felt like I had some more speed out there."

Hocevar said that he was getting ready to run another lap, but after hearing the call that he was P1, he decided to go straight through the pits. Gibbs ended up running his pole lap on his fourth lap around the track.

In the battle for the championship lead, Denny Hamlin actually out-qualified Tyler Reddick. Hamlin will start ninth, and Reddick 11th.

Nursing a fractured left wrist, Christopher Bell qualified 14th.

Qualifying recap

Most drivers waited until much later in the session to set a lap, aiming for optimal track conditions.

Bell set the early pace with a 1:15.814s, and the session was briefly stopped with seven minutes left for debris on the track.

But it was Van Gisbergen who toppled Bell's time by nine tenths of a second, with a 1:14.914s lap.

Drivers were pushing their cars to the absolute limit as the clock ran out, and Bell went off as he tried to respond to Van Gisbergen's lap. SVG himself went for a 360-degree spin as he tried to better his time, and Cody Ware spun off into the barriers.

When the dust cleared in Group A, SVG remained on top of the charts, and it was Austin Hill closest to him, just over two tenths behind.

Bubba Wallace was one of the first drivers out on track for Group B, and after dipping a wheel at the exit of Turn 10, he lost control and slammed nose-first into the wall. He suffered significant damage, ending his qualifying session.

Hocevar was the first to knock SVG off the top spot with a 1:14.854s lap, and several drivers slotted in directly between Hocevar and Van Gisbergen. Chase Briscoe looked to have the pole in sight, but slipped up in the esses just before reaching the alternate start/finish line.

In the end, it was only Gibbs who could replace Hocevar at the top of the grid, and so, they will share the front row on Sunday.

NASCAR Cup 2026 Sonoma Full Starting Lineup

Cla Driver # Manufacturer Time Mph
1 T. GibbsJoe Gibbs Racing 54 Toyota

74.829

95.738
2 C. HocevarSpire Motorsports 77 Chevrolet

+0.025

74.854

95.706
3 K. LarsonHendrick Motorsports 5 Chevrolet

+0.041

74.870

95.686
4 M. McDowellSpire Motorsports 71 Chevrolet

+0.048

74.877

95.677
5 R. ChastainTrackHouse Racing 1 Chevrolet

+0.084

74.913

95.631
6 S. van GisbergenTrackHouse Racing 97 Chevrolet

+0.085

74.914

95.630
7 C. BriscoeJoe Gibbs Racing 19 Toyota

+0.155

74.984

95.540
8 A. AllmendingerKaulig Racing 16 Chevrolet

+0.216

75.045

95.463
9 D. HamlinJoe Gibbs Racing 11 Toyota

+0.223

75.052

95.454
10 J. LoganoTeam Penske 22 Ford

+0.256

75.085

95.412
11 T. Reddick23XI Racing 45 Toyota

+0.271

75.100

95.393
12 A. HillRichard Childress Racing 33 Chevrolet

+0.363

75.192

95.276
13 W. ByronHendrick Motorsports 24 Chevrolet

+0.530

75.359

95.065
14 C. BellJoe Gibbs Racing 20 Toyota

+0.537

75.366

95.056
15 C. BuescherRFK Racing 17 Ford

+0.555

75.384

95.033
16 R. BlaneyTeam Penske 12 Ford

+0.562

75.391

95.025
17 C. ZilischTrackHouse Racing 88 Chevrolet

+0.585

75.414

94.996
18 C. ElliottHendrick Motorsports 9 Chevrolet

+0.712

75.541

94.836
19 R. PreeceRFK Racing 60 Ford

+0.799

75.628

94.727
20 J. NemechekLegacy Motor Club 42 Toyota

+0.811

75.640

94.712
21 D. SuarezSpire Motorsports 7 Chevrolet

+0.908

75.737

94.590
22 A. BowmanHendrick Motorsports 48 Chevrolet

+1.003

75.832

94.472
23 A. CindricTeam Penske 2 Ford

+1.009

75.838

94.465
24 Z. SmithFront Row Motorsports 38 Ford

+1.019

75.848

94.452
25 R. Herbst23XI Racing 35 Toyota

+1.049

75.878

94.415
26 B. Wallace23XI Racing 23 Toyota

+1.058

75.887

94.404
27 C. CusterHaas Factory Team 41 Chevrolet

+1.094

75.923

94.359
28 J. BerryWood Brothers Racing 21 Ford

+1.129

75.958

94.315
29 T. GillilandFront Row Motorsports 34 Ford

+1.251

76.080

94.164
30 A. DillonRichard Childress Racing 3 Chevrolet

+1.300

76.129

94.103
31 T. DillonKaulig Racing 10 Chevrolet

+1.463

76.292

93.902
32 E. JonesLegacy Motor Club 43 Toyota

+1.474

76.303

93.889
33 R. Stenhouse JrHyak Motorsports 47 Chevrolet

+1.705

76.534

93.605
34 N. GragsonFront Row Motorsports 4 Ford

+1.776

76.605

93.519
35 B. KeselowskiRFK Racing 6 Ford

+1.802

76.631

93.487
36 C. WareRick Ware Racing 51 Chevrolet

+2.610

77.439

92.512
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