WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. — Not known as a road course racer, Ross Chastain secured the pole for Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Watkins Glen Int’l.
Chastain laid down a lap of 72.130 seconds (122.279 mph) in the final round of qualifying, besting two-time series champion Martin Truex Jr. for the top spot.
S”o much work has gone into this,” Chastain said. “Turning right seems simple, but it’s been something that’s been such a challenge for me. I’ve gone to Skip Barber’s Driving School to learn how to turn right. I’ve leaned on Josh Wise and Scott Speed so much. Chevrolet has taken us out to Spring Mountain and has done schooling with Ron Fellows and the instructors there. It wasn’t any one thing, it was just so many years of trying to learn how to do this.
“For our No. 1 Busch Light Chevy team, it’s just a career moment, a lifetime achievement, to go faster than everyone in the Cup Series. It just unbelievable for Trackhouse Racing and myself.”
Former Chicago Street Course winners Shane van Gisbergen and Alex Bowman make up the second row while Austin Cindric will start fifth.
“Our guys just did a really great job,” Cindric said. “No different than to Atlanta. We had a really great race and there’s no reason why this can’t be any different for us. We just got to keep rolling.”
A.J. Allmendinger, Joey Logano, Daniel Suárez, Noah Gragson and Michael McDowell round out the top 10.
Just five playoff drivers made the second round of qualifying.
William Byron will start 11th and Chase Briscoe will start 12th. Chase Elliott, Ty Gibbs, Tyler Reddick and Christopher Bell start 14th through 17th, respectively. Kyle Larson starts 20th. Denny Hamlin starts 22nd and is just two points above the cutline.
“Just didn’t do a good job of hitting my marks. That was really it,” Hamlin said. “The field is just so close, a tenth would’ve put us moving onto the next round and I blew two corners big time. Just didn’t execute my job.”
Brad Keselowski, who is a point below the cutline, starts 28th. Ryan Blaney rolls off 30th and Harrison Burton is the worst of the playoff drivers in 33rd.
“We just want to be in fighting range for Bristol,” Keselowski said on his prospects for Sunday. “Within 10, 20 points. I look at the guys we’re around, and I’m prepared to go to Bristol and run real hard and have a great car.”
The Go Bowling at the Glen is scheduled for Sunday at 3 p.m. ET on USA Network.