CHICAGO: When it comes to NASCAR’s street course in downtown Chicago, there is Shane van Gisbergen, and then there is everyone else.
Van Gisbergen has won the pole for Sunday’s Grant Park 165. The 36-year-old New Zealander turned a lap at 88.338 mph on a tricky 2.2-mile course that was made more treacherous by temperatures in the 90s Fahrenheit on Saturday.
“Practice wasn’t that great for us, but when we went out for qualifying, the car felt really good,” van Gisbergen said. “We turned in two pretty good laps.”
The Trackhouse Racing driver will be joined on the front row by Michael McDowell, who grabbed the second slot at 87.879 mph. Carson Hocevar (87.824 mph), Tyler Reddick (87.779 mph) and Chase Briscoe (87.734 mph) rounded out the top five.
McDowell is one of three drivers who finished in the top 10 in the first two races in downtown Chicago.
“Our car’s in the game,” he said. “Tomorrow will be a mixed bag with potential weather in and out. So a lot of variables to go out there and navigate.”
Van Gisbergen, a three-time champion in Australia’s Supercars, also was on the pole for Saturday’s Xfinity Series race.
“I learned a lot in the Xfinity Series car this morning, and that just gives you a great leg up for the Cup car,” he said. “I think it’s great running both cars, it certainly helps.”
Just two years ago, van Gisbergen raced to a historic victory in a rainy first edition of NASCAR’s downtown Chicago experiment. Making the most of his extensive street racing experience, he became the first driver to win his Cup Series debut since Johnny Rutherford in the second qualifying race at Daytona in 1963.
He won Chicago’s Xfinity Series stop last year and the first stage in the Cup race before he was knocked out by a crash.
Katherine Legge became the first woman to qualify for the Cup race in downtown Chicago when she turned a lap of 85.744 mph, knocking Corey Heim out of the field.
“We would have been a lot faster, I think, had I not kept nicking the wall,” Legge said. “I’ve given my crew a lot of work to do from that, but we had to keep pushing to put it in the show. I’m really proud of this team, and I’m very much looking forward to tomorrow.”
Shane van Gisbergen wins the pole for Cup Series race in downtown Chicago
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Shane van Gisbergen wins the pole for Cup Series race in downtown Chicago
- Van Gisbergen has won the pole for Sunday’s Grant Park 165
Strong Arab lineup set for Saudi Open at Dirab
- Top Saudi Arabia professionals and amateurs will take part from Dec. 10-13
RIYADH: The Saudi Open presented by PIF, taking place at the Dirab Golf and Country Club from Dec. 10 to 13, will feature one of the largest domestic and Arab fields in the tournament’s history.
This year’s championship includes leading Arab players from Morocco, Egypt, Kuwait, Qatar and Algeria, alongside a powerful Saudi Arabia presence comprising professionals and amateurs.
Five of Saudi Arabia’s top professionals and Golf Saudi ambassadors will compete: Othman Almulla, Saud Al-Sharif, Faisal Salhab, Khalid Attieh, and Shergo Al-Kurdi.
In addition several Saudi amateurs are competing including Abdulhakim Alnajran, Khalid Al-Qunai’bit, Ali Babtain, and Prince Khalid bin Saud Al-Faisal. They will face an elite international field at the Asian Tour’s season-ending event.
With a prize fund of $1 million, the event offers a valuable opportunity for Arab and Saudi players to gain international exposure.
This year marks the first time the season finale has been hosted at the Dirab Golf Club, one of the Kingdom’s established courses, that has helped introduce the game to new players.
Almulla, Saudi Arabia’s first professional golfer, will bring leadership and experience to the national lineup. Almulla has been a part of the national golf program for more than a decade.
Salhab and Attieh have come through the national pathway and now compete regularly against leading fields in the region.
Al-Sharif remains a core member of Saudi national teams and continues to build his experience across a range of events. The inclusion of emerging amateur Alnajran reflects the opportunity for promising amateurs to test themselves in a high-performance environment.
