Ross Chastain won his first pole of the 2024 season for Trackhouse Racing on Saturday (Sept. 14), setting the fastest lap at Watkins Glen International for the Go Bowling at the Glen with a speed of 122.279 mph.
It’s the second pole of the 31-year old’s Cup Series career. His first came at Nashville Superspeedway last season. Chastain’s first career victory in NASCAR was at a road course at Circuit of the Americas in 2022.
Martin Truex Jr. joined Chastain on the front row in his No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, qualifying with a speed of 122.052 mph. Truex entered Watkins Glen 15th in the points and 19 points behind the cutoff. Truex has one previous win at Watkins Glen, which came in his 2017 championship season.
Shane Van Gisbergen tied his career-best qualifying result at third for Kaulig Racing in the No. 16 Chevrolet, and Alex Bowman will line up on row two with the New Zealander. Austin Cindric completed the top five.
AJ Allmendinger, Joey Logano, Daniel Suarez, Noah Gragson and Michael McDowell rounded out the top 10. Logano and Suarez joined Truex, Bowman and Cindric in playoff drivers making up half the top 10 starting spots.
For the other playoff drivers, last year’s Watkins Glen winner William Byron and Chase Briscoe line up in row six. Chase Elliott, Ty Gibbs, Tyler Reddick and Christopher Bell qualified 14th through 17th, respectively. Kyle Larson was the slowest of the Hendrick Motorsport Chevrolets in 20th, getting loose on his first flying lap.
Denny Hamlin, two points above the cutoff entering Watkins Glen, will start 22nd. Brad Keselowski qualified 28th, Ryan Blaney posted the 30th-fastest time and Harrison Burton starts 33rd.
In his first Cup Series race in 10 seasons, Juan Pablo Montoya will roll off 34th in the 23XI Racing No. 50 Toyota.
Only 38 drivers turned a qualifying lap, two short of the maximum of 40. Therefore, all drivers qualified for the race.
Cup Watkins Glen Qualifying Results
The second race of the Round of 16 starts at 3 p.m. ET. Television broadcasting will be provided by USA Network.
Wyatt Watson has followed NASCAR closely since 2007. He joined Frontstretchas a journalist in February 2023 after serving in the United States Navy for five years as an Electronic Technician Navigation working on submarines. Wyatt writes breaking NASCAR news and contributes to columns such as Friday Faceoff and 2-Headed Monster. Wyatt also contributes to Frontstretch's social media and serves as an at-track reporter, collecting exclusive content for Frontstretch.
Wyatt Watson can be found on X @WyattGametime