Ryan Blaney upstaged Shane van Gisbergen at a road course. For a day anyway, and just barely, as in three-hundredths of a second.
Blaney captured the pole Saturday at Watkins Glen, touring the 2.45-mile track in 71.960 seconds, for an average speed of 122.568. He won’t have to look far to find SVG at the start of Sunday’s race. In fact, NASCAR’s current King of the Road will be right outside his side window.
Van Gisbergen, looking to win his fourth straight Cup Series road race, turned the historic course in 71.993 seconds, an average of 122.512 mph, to lead Group 1 before parking and watching Blaney dominate Group 2.
At road courses, the Cup Series doesn’t use the single-car qualifying employed at the ovals. Instead, half the field goes out in Group 1 and half in Group 2. Each driver shares a Sunday starting row with the driver who shared his qualilfying position in the other qualifying group.
Connor Zilisch, approaching his fourth career Cup Series start, is high on the Watkins Glen odds board due to his road-racing prowess, but he was just 10th fastest in Group 1. To illustrate the cutting-edge nature of qualifying, Zilisch was just 6-10ths of a second slower than van Gisbergen.
A full field of 40 entries is scheduled to dash past the green flag Sunday afternoon at 2:05. The USA Network will provide TV coverage.
Three races remain in the Cup Series’ 26-race regular season, and with 13 different winners locking up playoff spots, jockeying should become fierce for the three playoff berths still available.
Most onlookers point to Week 26 and Daytona as the ultimate wildcard race that could see a non-winner clinch a berth by winning the Coke Zero Sugar 400. But road courses like Watkins Glen also offer good opportunity for some solid-to-excellent road racers still in need of a 2025 victory.
AJ Allmendinger, for instance, was probably NASCAR’s best pure road-racing ace before Shane van Gisbergen came along. Only a win will get AJ in the playoffs, while Chris Buescher and Tyler Reddick seem OK to get to the playoffs on points. Buescher won at Watkins Glen last year, hasn’t won since, and would love to officially join the championship chase next month by winning Sunday at The Glen.
NASCAR lineup for Watkins Glen race
How to watch NASCAR from The Glen
How to watch NASCAR races at Watkins Glen
Saturday: Xfinity Series, Mission 200, 3 p.m. (CW).
Sunday: Cup Series, Go Bowling at the Glen, 2 p.m. (USA).
This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: NASCAR qualifying results: Starting lineup set for Watkins Glen race. TV lineup too
Reporting by Ken Willis, Daytona Beach News-Journal / The Daytona Beach News-Journal
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
