SVG eighth in Indy qualifying, Kostecki 11th despite crash

Shane van Gisbergen and Brodie Kostecki have shown impressive pace ahead of Monday’s (AEST) NASCAR Cup Series race at Indianapolis, despite the latter crashing in qualifying.

Van Gisbergen and Kostecki, who are regular Supercars rivals, are making cameos in this weekend’s Cup Race on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course.

Triple Eight driver van Gisbergen is returning with Trackhouse Racing and Project91, with Erebus Motorsport’s Kostecki making his debut with Richard Childress Racing.

Qualifying at the IMS road course was divided into two groups, with the top five from each group advancing to a final 10-minute hit out.

Van Gisbergen (#91 Chevrolet), who won in Chicago last month, qualified eighth for Monday's (AEST) race behind Trackhouse teammate Daniel Suarez (#99 Chevrolet), who claimed pole position.

The Kiwi had a far smoother time of it than Kostecki, who crashed in Round 1 of Qualifying. Kostecki, who currently leads the Supercars standings, will start last after being shifted into a back-up chassis.

Debutant Kostecki lost the rear of his #33 Camaro as he approached the banked section of the IMS road course late in the 15-minute Group B segment of qualifying.

Kostecki slid out of control and hit the wall with both corners of the left-hand side of his #33 Camaro.

Regardless, 11th all told was still impressive for Kostecki given he went into qualifying with little practice laps under his belt due to a throttle pedal problem.

Suarez was fastest with a 1:27.968s from Tyler Reddick (#45 Toyota) on a 1:28.367s ahead of the final hit out.

Van Gisbergen snuck into the top 10 despite reporting a possible misfire earlier in the day, and took seventh with a 1:28.697s.

The Kiwi was pushed down to ninth by the time the chequered flag flew, before improving to eighth on his final lap.

2020 Cup champion Chase Elliott (#9 Chevrolet) was third, from Michael McDowell (#34 Ford), Kyle Busch (#8 RCR Chevrolet), Kyle Larson (#5 Hendrick Chevrolet) and Christopher Bell (#20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota).

Van Gisbergen, Alex Bowman (#48 Hendrick Chevrolet), and Ty Gibbs (#54 JGR Toyota) rounded out the top 10.

2009 Formula One champion Jenson Button (#15 Ford) will start 31st, with ex-F1 driver and Le Mans winner Kamui Kobayashi (#67 Toyota) 28th.

The race is scheduled to start at 4:30am AEST on Monday, and will be shown live on Fox Sports and streamed on Kayo.