Shane van Gisbergen bests Sam Mayer for Xfinity Series pole at the Roval

For the third time this season, Shane van Gisbergen is on the pole in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. Will he advance in the playoffs? SVG enters today 10 points under the cutline, he can point his way in or just go out and win his way to the Round of 8.

This round of the playoffs is finishing up great for Shane van Gisbergen. He has recently held his own on the ovals. P8 at Kansas, and he had a good run going at Talladega before being wrecked out of the race.

Today at the Roval, he was more than two-tenths quicker than Sam Mayer. Mayer is hoping to win his way into the Round of 8 like he did last season. The No. 1 team was hit with a DQ after last week at Talladega and now they are in a points hole.

AJ Allmendinger qualified P3. The Dinger has never lost an Xfinity Series race at the Roval. Can he hold off SVG?

This lap is FAST! @shanevg97 goes to the top of the charts! pic.twitter.com/iRMHkEW0Ys

— NASCAR Xfinity (@NASCAR_Xfinity) October 12, 2024

SVG, Mayer, Allmendinger, Josh Bilicki, Sheldon Creed, Austin Hill, Chandler Smith, Jesse Love, Justin Allgaier, and Connor Mosack make up the top-10. This is going to be a slugfest.

The new front stretch and back stretch chicane as well as the new hairpin Turn 7 are going to cause issues. We saw even SVG had problems with one of the new chicanes, blowing through it.

The rivalry between Allmendinger and SVG is great. These are two of the best road course racers in all of NASCAR. Putting them up against one another on a track like this will only produce fireworks.

Shane van Gisbergen ready to win another

So far this season, Shane van Gisbergen has wins at Portland, Sonoma, and Chicago. He was the pole sitter in the latter two of those three races. We already know that van Gisbergen is a road course talent, but he’s never seen a track quite like the Roval.

For drivers like Sam Mayer, winning is all that they care about. It is going to be hard to make up 20+ points at the Roval. But a checkered flag would wipe all of that away and put the JR Motorsports driver into the Round of 8.

Last year, Mayer won the pole and won the race to make the Round of 8. He is hoping to repeat that effort. But he will ave to do it from P2 to start the race. Last year, there was no Allmendinger, no SVG – those two completely change this race.

Shane van Gisbergen is hoping to win his way into the Round of 8. Only 10 points down, he can point his way in, but he shouldn’t count on it. But will someone like Mayer put it all on the line to upset the Kiwi?