Joe Gibbs Racing driver Ty Gibbs secured the first road-course pole position of his NASCAR Cup Series career on Saturday, June 27, 2026, after a late qualifying run at Sonoma Raceway.
Driving the No. 54 Toyota, Gibbs completed the 1.99-mile course in one minute and 14.829 seconds, narrowly beating Carson Hocevar who timed in at 1:14.854.
Kyle Larson, Michael McDowell, and Ross Chastain rounded out the top five, according to The Associated Press.
The 23-year-old driver urged his team to let him make an additional attempt during the final qualifying session after a disappointing opening lap.
"I felt like I just had some more speed out there," said Gibbs. "I just thought that I didn't have a great first lap.
It was pretty good, but I just think I could get better and then I just stuck to that."
The pole is the third of Gibbs' Cup career and his first since July 2024 at Pocono Raceway.
Gibbs, who earned his first Cup victory at Bristol Motor Speedway in April, expressed confidence ahead of the 110-lap main event on Sunday.
"Our Camry is really fast," said Gibbs. "I'm really happy with it.
It did a really good job, and I did a good job as well."
Defending Winner Van Gisbergen Qualifies Sixth
Defending race winner Shane van Gisbergen qualified in sixth place after a previous crash in San Diego dropped him to 17th in points.
Van Gisbergen said the setback serves as motivation.
"We had a good opportunity for a points day," said van Gisbergen.
"My car just came alive, so I was pretty gutted trying to think about what I could have done better there.
I was pretty pissed off with that, but I can use it as motivation pretty well."
"I'm pretty fired up this weekend but also pretty calm and focused, too.
We just have to go and execute, do my job and try and make up for it this week," he added.
Further back, Bubba Wallace qualified 26th after spinning out and hitting the wall.
The No. 23 Toyota team faces extensive front-end repairs to maintain the starting spot without switching to a backup vehicle.
