The Trackhouse Racing driver will start out of 10th for the race on the quarter-mile oval, which features a 23-car grid.
Before the 200-lapper will be a last-chance qualifier. That race will feature a few high-profile names including Kyle Larson, Ty Gibbs, and Michael McDowell.
Van Gisbergen labelled his 25-lap heat race “full-on” but conceded every other competitor likely had the same experience.
“I had a lot of fun. It was pretty intense at the start of the race there,” van Gisbergen told Frontstretch for Speedcafe.
“I got into a good rhythm there in practice and felt good, but the race at the start was wild. I couldn’t really get going that good and got pushed around but held position. It was a lot of fun.
“I’d never really seen this place. You see the restarts and it just looks crazy. Watching that first heat, the guys on the outside could hand on pretty good it looked like.”
Ahead of Monday’s (AEDT) race, the Kiwi said car set-up would play a significant part.
It’s all @Chris_Buescher in Heat 2. pic.twitter.com/NEhYwfuDd5
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) February 2, 2025
The race will feature a break at the 100-lap mark. Only green flag laps will count in the feature, which must finish under green.
“We only did 25 laps, but in practice 75 laps,” said van Gisbergen.
“It was almost a second [fall-off]. Doing that, if we get long runs, they’re definitely going to fall off a fair bit.
“I think balance is really important. I had a lot of push [understeer] then and burned the front up and then burned the rears trying to turn it.
“Balance is going to be pretty crucial to keep the tyre wearing evenly.”
Chase Elliott was the standout on Sunday (AEDT) for Hendrick Motorsports, topping qualifying and winning his heat to take pole position for the Clash.
RFK Racing’s Chris Buescher won Heat 2 while Heat 3 and Heat 4 went to Denny Hamlin (Joe Gibbs Racing) and Tyler Reddick (23XI Racing) respectively.
A big moment for Larson! pic.twitter.com/jrpwZQKxXD
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) February 2, 2025
If history is anything to go by, then one of the top four will be the winner. No driver has ever won a NASCAR Cup Series race from outside the first two rows.
However, that was more than 50 years. NASCAR hasn’t hosted top-flight stock car racing at the oval since the 1970s.
“It’s going to be tough to win from the third or fourth row,” said Elliott.
“I think the first couple of rows certainly have a massive advantage on the rest of the field. Obviously, anything can happen.
“You all have been watching long enough to know that anything can happen, and I’m well aware of that.
“But I think just in a normal circumstance of people not totally crashing each other or whatever—yeah, I certainly would want to be on the first couple of rows and, fortunately, we are.
“We’ll try to take advantage of that.”
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