Van Gisbergen qualifies career-best fifth at Martinsville

Teammates Ross Chastain and Connor Zilisch were only 18th and 25th at half-mile oval.

It’s the first time van Gisbergen has qualified fifth on an oval for a points-paying race. His previous best was at New Hampshire Motor Speedway last year.

Ahead of qualifying, van Gisbergen explained how he had made a change from right foot braking to left foot braking – a move that has seemingly paid dividends.

“On the ovals you have to left-foot. Everyone left-foots,” he said.

“Most tracks it’s easy, but on a track like this where you downchange, I’m not really used to that downchanging.

“In the Xfinity Car, the first time I was here I right-foot braked and went back and fourth.

“Now I’ve committed to left-foot braking, I’ve put big spacing between my pedals so I can’t right-foot brake.

“It’s just the timing of then to blip, because you don’t have to clutch like I do on the road course to help with the downchange. It’s just a rhythm and technique thing.

“It’s very easy to overlap quite a lot with the throttle and brake like a go kart. Just trying to keep my inputs separate. It’s a lot of timing and repetition that i’m not used to.”

Joe Gibbs Racing driver Denny Hamlin continued his purple patch to take pole position in the #11 Toyota Camry.

Hendrick Motorsports’ William Byron will start second as the best Chevrolet Camaro in the #24 ahead of leading Ford Mustang driver Josh Berry for Wood Brothers Racing in the #21 car.

Hamlin’s teammate Ty Gibbs will line up fourth in the #54 Camry.

“I knew it was possible simply from where my car was in practice,’’ said Hamlin, who racked up his fifth pole position at Martinsville.

“Any time you’ve got fast lap speed in practice here that’s in the top 12, you’re close enough there that qualifying trim doesn’t change your car that much.”

“You’ve got enough speed to where you nail it and do a good enough job as a driver you’ve got a chance at the pole.

“I knew it was very possible but truthfully, I approached the lap to get in the top eight.

“I think I’d go faster if I went and did it again right now, but I think I’ll go on and stand on my time.”

Monday’s race is scheduled for 7:30am AEDT with coverage live on Fox Sports and streaming on Kayo Sports.

Results: NASCAR Cup Series Cook Out 400 Martinsville Speedway, Qualifying

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