Van Gisbergen came up two tenths short of pole position for the 65-lapper at the Austin, Texas track.
Richard Childress Racing driver Austin Hill will start third in the #21 Chevrolet Camaro alongside Brandon Jones for Joe Gibbs Racing in the #20 Toyota Supra.
“It’s fun to be back in these cars. Thanks to JR Motorsports for having me and Safety Culture. It’s really fun,” said van Gisbergen after his qualifying run.
“They just move around so much. It’s really cool. My lap was good, but that little bugger is pretty quick. Hopefully we race him tomorrow.
“My long run speed was good in the race runs we did in practice. Who knows? Up the front is a good place to start.”
Zilisch set a 1:37.740s around a shortened Circuit of the Americas, which cuts through the eastern hairpin.
Earlier, Zilisch set the ninth fastest time in practice and suffered a puncture.
“We had a bit of an issue in practice and cut a tyre down,” he explained.
“We made some adjustments on the front end to not do that again.
“The entire #1 crew, it’s great being with Rodney [Childers], having his experience, and everyone here in this JR Motorsports team.
“It’s been a lot of fun getting back with these guys in the O’Reilly car. I love coming back and racing these cars, they’re a ton of fun.
“We’ve got a fast Chevrolet for tomorrow. Looking forward to it. Busy weekend for me, but great way to start it.”
Sunday’s race, which is live and exclusively on Fox and Kayo, is scheduled for 7:00am AEDT.
Results: NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series Circuit of the Americas, Qualifying
| Pos | Num | Driver | Team | Lap | Diff | Gap | Speed (mph) |
| 1 | 1 | Connor Zilisch(i) | Roto-Rooter Chevrolet | 97.740 | 88.398 | ||
| 2 | 9 | Shane Van Gisbergen(i) | Safety Culture Chevrolet | 97.949 | 0.209 | 0.209 | 88.209 |
| 3 | 21 | Austin Hill | Bennett Transportation Chevrolet | 98.359 | 0.619 | 0.410 | 87.841 |
| 4 | 20 | Brandon Jones | Menards/Fisher Toyota | 98.448 | 0.708 | 0.089 | 87.762 |
| 5 | 7 | Justin Allgaier | BRANDT Chevrolet | 98.562 | 0.822 | 0.114 | 87.661 |
| 6 | 91 | Carson Kvapil | Clarience Technologies Chevrolet | 98.572 | 0.832 | 0.010 | 87.652 |
| 7 | 19 | Brent Crews | Young Life Toyota | 98.670 | 0.930 | 0.098 | 87.565 |
| 8 | 41 | Sam Mayer | Charbroil Chevrolet | 98.717 | 0.977 | 0.047 | 87.523 |
| 9 | 0 | Sheldon Creed | Road Ranger Chevrolet | 98.786 | 1.046 | 0.069 | 87.462 |
| 10 | 8 | Sammy Smith | Pilot Chevrolet | 98.863 | 1.123 | 0.077 | 87.394 |
| 11 | 2 | Jesse Love | Whelen Chevrolet | 98.887 | 1.147 | 0.024 | 87.372 |
| 12 | 17 | Corey Day | HendrickCars.com Chevrolet | 98.900 | 1.160 | 0.013 | 87.361 |
| 13 | 87 | Austin Green | Peterson Racing Chevrolet | 98.903 | 1.163 | 0.003 | 87.358 |
| 14 | 54 | Taylor Gray | Operation 300 Toyota | 99.021 | 1.281 | 0.118 | 87.254 |
| 15 | 18 | William Sawalich | Soundgear Toyota | 99.393 | 1.653 | 0.372 | 86.928 |
| 16 | 96 | Anthony Alfredo | Protein Rice Treats Chevrolet | 99.429 | 1.689 | 0.036 | 86.896 |
| 17 | 50 | Preston Pardus | Chincor Electric Inc. Chevrolet | 99.483 | 1.743 | 0.054 | 86.849 |
| 18 | 39 | Ryan Sieg | SciAps/SIMS METAL Chevrolet | 99.542 | 1.802 | 0.059 | 86.798 |
| 19 | 88 | Rajah Caruth | HendrickCars.com Chevrolet | 99.544 | 1.804 | 0.002 | 86.796 |
| 20 | 25 | Nick Sanchez | Paynuity Ford | 99.546 | 1.806 | 0.002 | 86.794 |
| 21 | 32 | Ross Chastain(i) | GLF Environmental Chevrolet | 99.586 | 1.846 | 0.040 | 86.759 |
| 22 | 55 | Sage Karam | Point Blank Tequila Toyota | 99.947 | 2.207 | 0.361 | 86.446 |
| 23 | 24 | Harrison Burton | DEX/Sharp Toyota | 100.024 | 2.284 | 0.077 | 86.379 |
| 24 | 31 | Blaine Perkins | WERNER Chevrolet | 100.140 | 2.400 | 0.116 | 86.279 |
| 25 | 7 | Josh Bilicki | Circle B Diecast Chevrolet | 100.145 | 2.405 | 0.005 | 86.275 |
| 26 | 44 | Brennan Poole | Frontline Fire Protection Chevrolet | 100.190 | 2.450 | 0.045 | 86.236 |
| 27 | 26 | Dean Thompson | Thompson Pipe Group Toyota | 100.241 | 2.501 | 0.051 | 86.192 |
| 28 | 0 | Alex Labbe | Trophy Tractor Chevrolet | 100.243 | 2.503 | 0.002 | 86.191 |
| 29 | 99 | Parker Retzlaff | Viking Motorsports Chevrolet | 100.431 | 2.691 | 0.188 | 86.029 |
| 30 | 51 | Jeremy Clements | Alliance Driveway Solutions Chevrolet | 100.462 | 2.722 | 0.031 | 86.003 |
| 31 | 45 | Lavar Scott # | Urban Affairs Coalition Chevrolet | 100.484 | 2.744 | 0.022 | 85.984 |
| 32 | 48 | Patrick Staropoli | Syfovre Chevrolet | 100.702 | 2.962 | 0.218 | 85.798 |
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