Suarez takes IMS pole, SVG top 10 as Kostecki crashes

Daniel Suarez has taken pole position at Indianapolis Motor Speedway while Trackhouse Racing team-mate Shane van Gisbergen qualified eighth for his second NASCAR Cup Series race.

Although van Gisbergen made the top 10 again in the #91 Chevrolet, fellow Supercars driver Brodie Kostecki crashed in Round 1 of Qualifying and is set to start from Row 6 on Sunday (local time), assuming Richard Childress Racing does not need to go to a back-up car.

UPDATE: Kostecki to start from rear of grid

The debutant started to lose the rear of the MobileX-backed #33 Chevrolet as he entered the banked section of the IMS Road Course late in the 15-minute Group B stanza, hitting the wall with both corners of the left-hand side of his Camaro.

Trouble for @BrodieKostecki! pic.twitter.com/QVVHTdxdKC

— NASCAR (@NASCAR) August 12, 2023

Qualifying was divided initially into two groups, with the top five from each advancing to a final, 10-minute segment.

Half a dozen drivers set a time initially in that decisive stanza, Suarez (#99 Chevrolet) fastest of them on a 1:27.968s from Tyler Reddick (#45 23XI Racing Toyota) on a 1:28.367s.

Van Gisbergen, who reported a possible misfire earlier in the afternoon but still managed to sneak into the final 10, was among the four who waited before setting a 1:28.697s on his first flyer to take up seventh position.

Michael McDowell (#34 Front Row Motorsports Ford) took over third place on a 1:28.434s, with van Gisbergen shuffled to ninth by the time the chequered flag flew.

He edged back up to eighth with a 1:28.544s on his final lap, before Chase Elliott (#9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet) moved up to second on a 1:28.335s.

However, Reddick reclaimed his spot on the front row with a subsequent 1:28.113s, leaving him 0.145s off the pace set by Suarez.

The rest of the top 10 was Elliott in third, from McDowell, Kyle Busch (#8 RCR Chevrolet), Kyle Larson (#5 Hendrick Chevrolet), Christopher Bell (#20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota), van Gisbergen, Alex Bowman (#48 Hendrick Chevrolet), and Ty Gibbs (#54 JGR Toyota).

Kostecki, who had to qualify with virtually no practice time after a throttle pedal problem during the opening session of the day, is 11th on the starting grid as it stands.

In the third Trackhouse entry, Ross Chastain put the #1 Trackhouse Chevrolet 21st on the grid.

Race start is scheduled for Sunday at 14:30 ET/Monday at 04:30 AEST.

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Results: Qualifying

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