The #88 Trackhouse Racing driver set a 1:32.776 to edge RFK Racing’s Ryan Preece in the #60 Ford Mustang.

It was a strong showing for Trackhouse Racing with Ross Chastain in the #1 Chevrolet Camaro third while hometown hero Daniel Suarez was 10th in the #99 teammate car.

Ty Gibbs in the #54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota Camry will line up fourth while Practice 1 pace setter Michael McDowell starts fifth in the #34 Spire Motorsports Ford Mustang.

Kyle Larson, Todd Gilliland, AJ Allmendinger, and Joey Logano were sixth through ninth.

Van Gisbergen laid down his benchmark early in the 45-minute session, which stood the test of time.

The session was ultimately brought to a premature end with 17 minutes to go due to inclement weather, which drew the red flag.

“We made some big swings last night,” said van Gisbergen, who bemoaned slow speed grip during practice.

“The SafetyCulture Chevy was a bit better. A lore more front grip, which is what I needed.

“My laps were average. You’ll see everyone was beating me for the first half of the lap and then my lap gets good at the end.

“I went for another lap. I was on a ripper and I locked up.

“We’ve got a lot of speed today, which is good. It’s been a great improvement. Really good start point.

“What a really cool achievement for us. Great start spot for tomorrow. I’m excited, that’s really cool.”

Van Gisbergen in ‘pretty scary’ aircraft incident

Van Gisbergen foreshadowed a chaotic race, which will take in 100 laps of Autodrome Hermanos Rodriguez.

“Going into Turn 1 is crazy,” he explained.

“The brake zone there, there’s going to be a lot of action there tomorrow.

“Looking after the brakes, there’s no air so the brakes are really going to struggle.

“We struggled yesterday on the long run. Being out front, you’ll get the most air in there.”

Results: NASCAR Cup Series Viva Mexico 250 Qualifying

Get the latest NASCAR news, stats, and US racing coverage at Speedcafe US