Van Gisbergen completes debut oval qualifying session

Shane van Gisbergen has qualified 28th on his oval debut while title contender Christian Eckes took pole for the NASCAR Trucks Series Playoffs opener at Indianapolis Raceway Park.

Van Gisbergen is making a cameo appearance in the #41 Niece Motorsports Chevrolet Silverado, ahead of his second Cup Series start later this weekend on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course.

CLICK HERE for van Gisbergen reaction from qualifying

The three-time Supercars champion’s afternoon at IRP began by going 32nd-fastest in the 39-car field in Practice, his personal-best being a 0:24.125s on his seventh lap compared to Regular Season Champion Corey Heim’s (#11 Toyota) 0:23.299s.

In Qualifying, Niece’s Chad Chastain (#44 Chevrolet) was first out and set a benchmark of 0:23.884s before Jake Drew (#61 Toyota) on a 0:23.371s and then Layne Riggs (#7 Chevrolet) on a 0:23.166s took over provisional pole.

The next 11 drivers could not topple Riggs, with van Gisbergen taking up 12th thanks to a 0:23.834s on his first lap before moving up to sixth with a 0:23.527s next time around.

The New Zealander was shuffled back to eighth when Dean Thompson (#5 Toyota) finally dislodged Riggs with a 0:23.149s/106.683mph (171.690km/h), and to 11th when Rajah Caruth (#24 Chevrolet) clocked a 0:22.967s at an average of 107.528mph (173.050km/h).

Eckes (#19 Chevrolet) was the first of the Playoff contenders to move the marker, setting a 0:22.884s at an average of 107.918mph (173.677km/h) to go top with six drivers still to come.

Heim was next and came up shy on a 0:22.963s, before Ty Majeski (#98 Ford) took over second place on a 0:22.922s.

That was how the top three remained, with Caruth ending up fourth, the highest of those not in Playoff contention.

Niece’s Carson Hocevar (#42 Chevrolet) was classified fifth, from Grant Enfinger (#23 Chevrolet), Jake Garcia (#35 Chevrolet), Zane Smith (#38 Ford), Nick Sanchez (#8 Chevrolet), and William Sawalich (#1 Toyota).

Race start is scheduled for 21:00 ET/11:00 AEST.

Results: Qualifying