NASCAR Cup Series qualifying at Coronado Naval Base on Saturday afternoon set the starting lineup for Sunday's race.
The polesitter's identity is, as it goes, fairly predictable. Shane van Gisbergen will take point to start the historic race, despite a lap he was clearly unhappy with after the session.
He'll be joined on the front row by Carson Hocevar, despite the young Spire Motorsports star typically showing a lack of top-end pace at road courses throughout his career – with an average starting position of 17.1 and average finishing position of 21.7 in 11 Cup races. Van Gisbergen's equivalent marks, for what it's worth, are 4.5 and 4.7.
They'll be followed by Ryan Blaney and Zane Smith in fourth, with Todd Gilliland rounding out the top five.
Where is points leader, accomplished road course driver, and this year's COTA winner Tyler Reddick? All the way down in 17th, after a scruffy session in which he misjudged multiple corners and spun once, only narrowly avoiding wrecking the front of his car.
With that said, let's take a look at all of the starting positions below.
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NASCAR Cup Series starting lineup for San Diego
Here is the full starting lineup for Sunday’s Anduril 250.
| Pos | Driver (Car No.) | Team (OEM) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Shane van Gisbergen (#97) | Trackhouse Racing (Chevrolet) |
| 2 | Carson Hocevar (#77) | Spire Motorsports (Chevrolet) |
| 3 | Ryan Blaney (#12) | Team Penske (Ford) |
| 4 | Zane Smith (#38) | Front Row Motorsports (Ford) |
| 5 | Todd Gilliland (#34) | Front Row Motorsports (Ford) |
| 6 | Daniel Suárez (#7) | Spire Motorsports (Chevrolet) |
| 7 | Ryan Preece (#60) | RFK Racing (Ford) |
| 8 | Connor Zilisch (#88) | Trackhouse Racing (Chevrolet) |
| 9 | Michael McDowell (#71) | Spire Motorsports (Chevrolet) |
| 10 | Austin Hill (i) (#33) | Richard Childress Racing (Chevrolet) |
| 11 | Ty Gibbs (#54) | Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota) |
| 12 | Bubba Wallace (#23) | 23XI Racing (Toyota) |
| 13 | Corey Heim (i) (#67) | 23XI Racing (Toyota) |
| 14 | Kyle Larson (#5) | Hendrick Motorsports (Chevrolet) |
| 15 | AJ Allmendinger (#16) | Kaulig Racing (Chevrolet) |
| 16 | Chris Buescher (#17) | RFK Racing (Ford) |
| 17 | Tyler Reddick (#45) | 23XI Racing (Toyota) |
| 18 | Austin Dillon (#3) | Richard Childress Racing (Chevrolet) |
| 19 | Joey Logano (#22) | Team Penske (Ford) |
| 20 | Alex Bowman (#48) | Hendrick Motorsports (Chevrolet) |
| 21 | Kevin Magnussen (#91) | Trackhouse Racing (Chevrolet) |
| 22 | Chase Briscoe (#19) | Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota) |
| 23 | Ross Chastain (#1) | Trackhouse Racing (Chevrolet) |
| 24 | Riley Herbst (#35) | 23XI Racing (Toyota) |
| 25 | Cole Custer (#41) | Haas Factory Team (Chevrolet) |
| 26 | Denny Hamlin (#11) | Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota) |
| 27 | William Byron (#24) | Hendrick Motorsports (Chevrolet) |
| 28 | John Hunter Nemechek (#42) | Legacy Motor Club (Toyota) |
| 29 | Brad Keselowski (#6) | RFK Racing (Ford) |
| 30 | Chase Elliott (#9) | Hendrick Motorsports (Chevrolet) |
| 31 | Austin Cindric (#2) | Team Penske (Ford) |
| 32 | Noah Gragson (#4) | Front Row Motorsports (Ford) |
| 33 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (#47) | Hyak Motorsports (Chevrolet) |
| 34 | Ty Dillon (#10) | Kaulig Racing (Chevrolet) |
| 35 | Josh Berry (#21) | Wood Brothers Racing (Ford) |
| 36 | Jimmie Johnson (#84) | Legacy Motor Club (Toyota) |
| 37 | Christopher Bell (#20) | Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota) |
| 38 | Erik Jones (#43) | Legacy Motor Club (Toyota) |
| 39 | Cody Ware (#51) | Rick Ware Racing (Chevrolet) |
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