WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. — Ryan Blaney claimed his second Busch Light Pole Award of the season Saturday afternoon at Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International — his second of the season, 15th of his career and second-ever on a road course.
For the first time in his NASCAR Cup Series championship career, Blaney will lead the field to green in Sunday’s Go Bowling at The Glen.
It was a dramatic effort for the driver of the No. 12 Team Penske Ford Mustang, knocking the reigning road course master, Trackhouse Racing’s Shane van Gisbergen, from the top spot on the speed chart by a slight .33 seconds with a lap of 122.568 mph around the historic 2.45-mile road course in scenic upstate New York.
It was a markedly different day for the 31-year old North Carolinian Blaney, who endured a disappointing showing here a year ago when a poor qualifying effort left him in a vulnerable position. He was ultimately eliminated from the race on the opening lap.
Blaney acknowledged that beating the road-racing ace van Gisbergen on Sunday will be another story.
“Ninety laps is going to be a little harder to beat him tomorrow, but gotta start somewhere,” the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series champion said with a smile. “It’s more neat for me because we had an absolutely abysmal weekend here last year. … We’ve worked really hard on where we need to get better here, where I need to do a better job. How can we improve our race cars. So it was like a big dual effort.
“Just proud of their dedication to get better at this place and improving the car from last year and I tried to work on a lot of things. I consider myself a pretty average road course racer and I’ve worked really hard on trying to get better, where can I improve my driving skills and styles and compete a little bit more at these places and it’s neat when that all comes together.
“I try to take these things one day at a time. Tomorrow is a whole different task but it’s nice to have done our job really well today and now about focusing on trying to make 90 good laps tomorrow.”
It is the 150th NASCAR Cup Series pole for Team Penske, making the storied organization only the fourth team in series history to eclipse that mark.
Blaney and van Gisbergen — who has three road course wins on the season — will lead the field to the green flag, followed by Joe Gibbs Racing’s Chase Briscoe, van Gisbergen’s Trackhouse teammate Ross Chastain, and Richard Childress Racing’s Kyle Busch, who for much of the qualifying session looked to have had a front row start.
“That’s not bad,” said a smiling Busch, who won from pole position at Watkins Glen in 2008.
“Great job by everyone on this Chevrolet,” he added. “Feels good to have a good solid effort like that right now.”
Driver Connor Zilisch was to start 25th but has been pulled from Sunday’s race after being injured in a slip and fall from his car in Victory Lane after winning Saturday’s Xfinity Series race at Watkins Glen. Zilisch, 19, was taken to a local hospital and treated for a broken collarbone, with JR Motorsports posting later Saturday that he had been released. Trackhouse Racing announced Saturday night that it would withdraw Zilisch’s No. 87 Chevrolet entry, wishing their driver a speedy recovery.
Zilisch posted to social media Saturday night about the nature of his injuries, indicating that his collarbone was broken and sharing his appreciation for the rapid response of safety personnel.
Defending Watkins Glen race winner Chris Buescher, of Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing, will roll off 12th in the No. 17 RFK Ford. He holds the 16th and final points position among the 16 drivers currently aiming for the Playoffs with three regular season races remaining.
His teammate Ryan Preece sits just 23 points behind him in the standings and will start 17th.
Their team co-owner Brad Keselowski, who also needs a victory in one of the remaining three regular-season races will start 16th. Keselowski has back-up drivers on standby for the next three weeks as his wife Paige is due to give birth to their fourth child. Road course ace Joey Hand is at Watkins Glen.
Championship points leader William Byron — the 2023 Watkins Glen winner — will roll off 10th. His teammate Chase Elliott, a two-time Watkins Glen winner who is 18 points behind Byron with three regular season races remaining, will start 20th.
–By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service, Special to Field Level Media
