Ross Chastain of Trackhouse Racing claimed his first pole position of the 2024 season and the second of his career on Saturday afternoon at the renowned Watkins Glen International road course.
Chastain’s No. 1 Chevrolet clocked a fast lap of 122.279 mph around the 2.45-mile, seven-turn circuit in upstate New York, narrowly beating former race winner Martin Truex Jr. by just 0.134 seconds. Truex, ranked 15th among the 16 NASCAR Cup Series Playoff drivers, also secured an important result with his front-row start.
The pair will lead the field when the green flag drops for Sunday’s Go Bowling at The Glen (3 p.m. ET on USA Network, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NBC Sports App). The race is the second of 10 in the playoff schedule and marks the first of two road courses in the postseason.
“It wasn’t any one thing; it’s just years of trying to figure out how to do this. It feels like a career moment, a lifetime achievement, to be faster than everyone in the Cup Series. Unbelievable for Trackhouse to pull it off,” Chastain said.
The qualifying session was intriguing, with Chastain among five non-playoff drivers advancing to the final round. Shane van Gisbergen of Kaulig Racing, who will start third, along with his teammate A.J. Allmendinger (starting sixth), Stewart-Haas Racing’s Noah Gragson, and Front Row Motorsports’ Michael McDowell (starting ninth and 10th respectively) completed the group of non-playoff drivers in the top ten.
In addition to Truex, several playoff drivers also made it to the final qualifying round: Hendrick Motorsports’ Alex Bowman (starting fourth), Team Penske’s Austin Cindric (fifth) and Joey Logano (seventh), and Chastain’s teammate at Trackhouse Racing, Daniel Suárez (eighth).
This race is the second of three in the opening playoff round, with the four lowest-ranked drivers being eliminated after next week’s race at Bristol Motor Speedway.
Qualifying at Watkins Glen has often proven crucial, with 16 of the last 19 race winners starting from seventh or higher on the grid.
Logano, who won last week’s playoff opener in Atlanta, is the only driver so far to secure a spot in the Round of 12. His Penske teammate, Ryan Blaney, holds a narrow five-point lead over Christopher Bell of Joe Gibbs Racing in the standings but will start 30th, while Bell will roll off 20th.
Tyler Reddick of 23XI Racing, the Regular Season Champion, is fourth in the standings and will start 16th. Defending race winner William Byron of Hendrick Motorsports, currently fifth in the playoff standings, will start 11th. His teammates Chase Elliott, a two-time winner at Watkins Glen, and Kyle Larson, also a two-time winner, will start 14th and 20th respectively.
Joe Gibbs Racing’s Denny Hamlin, another former Watkins Glen winner, will start 22nd. His teammate Ty Gibbs, holding the 12th and final transfer spot by just one point over Brad Keselowski, will start 15th.
Former series champion and RFK Racing co-owner Brad Keselowski will start 28th, while Harrison Burton, ranked 17th and 16 points below the cutoff, will start 33rd. Chase Briscoe of Stewart-Haas Racing, who sits 16th in the Playoff standings and 21 points below Gibbs, had a strong qualifying effort and will start 12th.
Additionally, former Watkins Glen winner Juan Pablo Montoya will make his first NASCAR Cup Series start in a decade, rolling off 34th in the No. 50 23XI Racing Toyota.
Reddick was the fastest in practice
Tyler Reddick of 23XI Racing topped the practice charts with a lap at 122.469 mph, ahead of 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.
