Ross Chastain snags Busch Light Pole at Watkins Glen

WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. — Trackhouse Racing‘s Ross Chastain won his first pole position of the 2024 season — and second of his career — Saturday afternoon at the historic Watkins Glen International road course.

Chastain‘s No. 1 Chevrolet turned in a fast lap of 122.279 mph around the 2.45-mile, seven-turn course in upstate New York to edge former race winner Martin Truex Jr. for the top position by a mere 0.134 seconds. Ranked 15th of the 16 NASCAR Cup Series Playoff drivers, it was an important result for Truex as well.

The two will lead the field to green in Sunday‘s Go Bowling at The Glen (3 p.m. ET on USA Network, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NBC Sports App), the second of 10 playoff races for the series and the first of two road courses on the postseason schedule.

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“It wasn‘t any one thing, just so many years of trying to learn how to do this, it was just a career moment, a lifetime achievement to go faster than everybody in the Cup Series, just unbelievable for Trackhouse to do,” Chastain said.

It was an interesting qualifying session with Chastain among five non-playoff drivers who advanced to the final round of qualifying on Saturday. Kaulig Racing‘s Shane van Gisbergen, who will start third, his Kaulig teammate A.J. Allmendinger, who will start sixth, and Stewart-Haas Racing‘s Noah Gragson and Front Row Motorsports‘ Michael McDowell who line up ninth and 10th completed that group of drivers not eligible for the championship.

In addition to Truex, the playoff drivers that advanced to final qualifying are Hendrick Motorsports‘ Alex Bowman (who will line up fourth), Team Penske‘s Austin Cindric (fifth) and Joey Logano (seventh) and Chastain‘s Trackhouse Racing teammate Daniel Suárez (eighth).

Sunday‘s race is the second of the three first-round races. The lowest-ranked four of the 16 drivers will be eliminated from championship eligibility after next week‘s race at the famed Bristol Motor Speedway half-mile.

Qualifying has proven to be especially important at the Watkins Glen course with the race winner starting seventh or better on the grid in 16 of the last 19 races.

Logano, who won last week‘s playoff opener at Atlanta is the only driver to have secured his second-round position into the Round of 12. His Team Penske teammate Ryan Blaney, who holds a five-point edge over JGR‘s Christopher Bell in the championship points standings, will start 30th. Bell will roll off 20th.

23XI Racing‘s Tyler Reddick, the Regular Season Champion, is fourth in the standings and will start 16th. Hendrick Motorsports William Byron, the defending race winner who is ranked fifth in the playoff standings, will start 11th. His teammate Chase Elliott — a two-time Watkins Glen winner — will roll off 14th. Their teammate Kyle Larson — another two-time Watkins Glen winner — will start 20th.

Joe Gibbs Racing‘s Denny Hamlin, also a former Watkins Glen winner, will start 22nd. His JGR teammate Ty Gibbs, who holds that 12th and final transfer position by a mere one point over Brad Keselowski, will roll off 15th.

The veteran and former series champ RFK Racing co-owner Keselowski will start 28th. Harrison Burton, who is ranked 17th — 16 points below the elimination line — will start 33rd Sunday. Stewart-Haas Racing‘s Chase Briscoe, who is 16th in the Playoff standings 21 points below Gibbs, had an encouraging qualifying session and will start 12th.

Also of note, Juan Pablo Montoya, a former Watkins Glen race winner, will make his first NASCAR Cup Series start in 10 years and will roll off 34th in the No. 50 23XI Racing Toyota.

Reddick fastest in practice

23XI Racing’s Tyler Reddick topped the leaderboard in practice at 122.469 mph, besting Ross Chastain (122.337 mph) and Kyle Larson (122.296 mph).

Shane van Gisbergen (122.267 mph) and Denny Hamlin (122.015 mph) rounded out the top five.

MORE: Practice results

Joey Logano (121.963 mph), Austin Cindric (121.778 mph), Ryan Blaney (121.764 mph), Corey LaJoie (121.759 mph) and Noah Gragson (121.620 mph) completed the top 10.

Contributing: Staff reports