The New Zealander wheeled the #97 Chevrolet to a 1:14.677s in the Final Round of Qualifying and that stood up for his first ever pole position in any NASCAR competition.

Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota driver Ty Gibbs was the best of the rest at 0.372s adrift in a top 10 comprised solely of Camaros and Toyota Supras, with AJ Allmendinger fourth at 0.702s off the pace in another Kaulig Chevrolet.

The usual road course qualifying format was in play, with a first round split into two groups to decide the 10 drivers advancing to the final, pole round.

The Final Round started with a quiet track for the first two minutes before Gibbs clocked a 1:15.049s in the #19 Toyota.

Richard Childress Racing team-mates Austin Hill (#21 Chevrolet) and Jesse Love (#2 Chevrolet) then set a 1:15.118s and 1:15.459s respectively.

Allmendinger was third-quickest of five drivers to set a time when he completed a 1:15.379s in the #16 Chevrolet but that lap – and the rest on the board at that point – was soon bettered by van Gisbergen’s 1:14.677s.

Gibbs went for a second run but was unable to improve, although he remained on the front row.

The rest of the top 10 was Hill, Allmendinger, Justin Allgaier (#7 JR Motorsports Chevrolet), Love, John Hunter Nemechek (#20 JGR Toyota), Sam Mayer (#1 JRM Chevrolet), Sheldon Creed (#18 JGR Toyota), and Sammy Smith (#8 JRM Chevrolet).

Back in Round 1 of Qualifying, van Gisbergen was in Group A, but he and team-mate Josh Williams (#11 Chevrolet) were in no rush to exit pit lane.

Gibbs went out in the initial bunch of cars and laid down a 1:15.348s which became the time to beat.

Eventually, both Williams and van Gisbergen appeared, with the former following his road course star of a team-mate but inevitably losing touch with the #97 Camaro.

They took their time bringing their tyres up before van Gisbergen nailed a 1:14.804s on his second lap to better the field by half a second, with Williams clocking a 1:16.809s.

Gibbs sat second, from RCR team-mates Hill and Love, before Cole Custer (#00 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford) moved into fifth with a 1:15.759s.

However, Custer was knocked out of the top five when Nemechek went fourth on a 1:15.381s.

That was how the top five remained, with van Gisbergen among those not in need of a second run, while Williams could not improve when he went back out and ended up 13th in the group.

In Group B, Creed set the pace on a 1:15.427s in the #18 Toyota, with four Chevrolet drivers joining him in advancing.

The schedule for the rest of the day is Cup Qualifying from 18:00 ET/08:00 AEST and the Xfinity Race from 20:00 ET/10:00 AEST.

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