Ty Gibbs snares first Cup Series road course pole at Sonoma

The Cup Series’ first two new winners of 2026 will have a strong opportunity to earn their second on Sunday at Sonoma Raceway.

Ty Gibbs threw down a blistering 74.829-second lap to secure the pole for Sunday’s Toyota/Save Mart 350. The result is Gibbs’ third Cup pole and first since 2024. It’ll be his first time leading the field to green on a road course.

“Our Saia Toyota Camry is really fast this weekend and we’re really excited to race it tomorrow,” Gibbs said afterward.

Gibbs will be joined on the front row by Carson Hocevar, who briefly held the top spot before Gibbs elected to make a final run. The pair were the standout new Cup winners of the year after their triumphs at Bristol Motor Speedway (Gibbs) and Talladega Superspeedway (Hocevar) before future rookie Corey Heim’s shocking win last week in San Diego.

Kyle Larson followed in third, with Michael McDowell and Ross Chastain completing the top-five. They all came from the final group, leaving heavy favorite Shane van Gisbergen sixth after he topped the opening group. The Kiwi had potential to complete a final lap, but wound up going for a surprising spin in the closing moments of the session instead.

Points leader Tyler Reddick qualified 11th, alongside San Diego contender Austin Hill. The quickest driver in practice, Ryan Blaney, slotted in 16th, with road course hopeful Connor Zilisch one spot behind him in 17th.

The challenging Sonoma course proved tricky for many drivers in the field. Van Gisbergen’s late spin in the opening group was preceded by a trip off-track for Christopher Bell and a spin into the dirt from Cody Ware. Multiple others had close calls while battling their machines.

San Diego runner-up Bubba Wallace will have a tough climb to make in order to keep his positive momentum surging after slamming nose-first into the outside wall at the exit of Turn 10.

The defending Brickyard 400 winner went wide on corner exit and put his left-side tires into dirt. He briefly corrected right before spinning left and sliding into the wall. The contact knocked his No. 23 Toyota out of the session, but his 23XI Racing team intends to repair the car ahead of Sunday’s race.

Sunday’s Cup race will go live at 3:30pm ET on TNT.

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