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Qualifying report
NASCAR Cup Watkins Glen

NASCAR Cup Watkins Glen: Chastain beats Truex to pole

He may not be in the playoffs, but Ross Chastain isn't going away quietly after earning pole position for Sunday's race

Ross Chastain claimed his second career NASCAR Cup pole and his first on a road course at Watkins Glen International.

The driver of the No. 1 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet almost seemed in disbelief after the qualifying session, which his only other pole coming at Nashville last summer, a race he won. 

"So much work has gone into this," said Chastain.

"Turning right seems simple, but it’s been something that’s been such a challenge for me. I’ve gone to Skip Barber’s Driving School to learn how to turn right.

"I’ve leaned on Josh Wise and Scott Speed so much. Chevrolet has taken us out to Spring Mountain and has done schooling with Ron Fellows and the instructors there.

"It wasn’t any one thing, it was just so many years of trying to learn how to do this. This is a career moment. A lifetime achievement to go faster than everybody in the Cup Series. It's unbelievable for Trackhouse and myself."

The rest of the field

Chastain, who just missed out on the playoffs, is currently the highest driver in points among those who didn't make the post-season. In qualifying, he beat Martin Truex Jr. by 0.134s, who led all playoff drivers and will start on the front row. MTJ is in desperate need of a good run, entering The Glen 19 points below the cut-line.

Shane van Gisbergen qualified third with Alex Bowman and Austin Cindric rounding out the top five.

A.J. Allmendinger, Joey Logano, Daniel Suarez, Noah Gragson, and Michael McDowell filled out the remainder of the top ten.

Other playoff drivers starting deeper in the field include William Byron in 11th; Chase Briscoe 12th; Chase Elliott 14th; Ty Gibbs 15th; Tyler Reddick 16th; Christopher Bell 17th; Kyle Larson 19th; Denny Hamlin 21st; Brad Keselowski 27th; Ryan Blaney 29th; Harrison Burton 32nd.

Juan Pablo Montoya, making his first Cup start in over a decade, qualified 34th.

In the first round, McDowell advanced into the pole round by besting Briscoe by just 0.017s in Group A. In Group B, Allmendinger was the final driver to advance, beating Byron by 0.029s. 

There were no red flags in qualifying, but Carson Hocevar did end up off track and actually used the entrance to the boot section as a run-off area.

Read Also:
Cla Driver # Manufacturer Laps Time Interval Mph
1 R. ChastainTrackHouse Racing 1 Chevrolet 1

1'12.130

  122.279
2 M. Truex JrJoe Gibbs Racing 19 Toyota 1

+0.134

1'12.264

0.134 122.052
3 S. van GisbergenKaulig Racing 16 Chevrolet 2

+0.246

1'12.376

0.112 121.864
4 A. BowmanHendrick Motorsports 48 Chevrolet 1

+0.258

1'12.388

0.012 121.843
5 A. CindricTeam Penske 2 Ford 1

+0.296

1'12.426

0.038 121.779
6 A. AllmendingerKaulig Racing 13 Chevrolet 1

+0.352

1'12.482

0.056 121.685
7 J. LoganoTeam Penske 22 Ford 1

+0.528

1'12.658

0.176 121.391
8 D. SuarezTrackHouse Racing 99 Chevrolet 3

+0.627

1'12.757

0.099 121.225
9 N. GragsonStewart-Haas Racing 10 Ford 3

+0.852

1'12.982

0.225 120.852
10 M. McDowellFront Row Motorsports 34 Ford 2

+0.922

1'13.052

0.070 120.736

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