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 (N.Y.) 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 .134-second. 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, the second of 10 Playoff races for the series and the first of two road courses on the Playoff schedule.
“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 drivers not championship-eligible, but who advanced to the final round of 10 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 on non-Playoff drivers.
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 Suarez (eighth).
Sunday’s race is the second of the three first round Playoff races. The lowest-ranked four of the 16 drivers will be eliminated from championship eligibility after next week’s race at the famed Bristol (Tenn.) 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 Playoff position. 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 1-point over Brad Keselowski, will roll off 15th.
The veteran and former series champ, Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing co-owner Keselowski will start 28th. Harrison Burton, who is ranked 17th — 16 points below the cutoff 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.
–By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service. Special to Field Level Media.
