Ryan Blaney Wins Qualifying, Secures Pole at Watkins Glen
In an exciting qualifying session, Ryan Blaney took the pole position at Watkins Glen International, surpassing Shane van Gisbergen by just three hundredths of a second. This achievement marks a milestone for Blaney, who will seek to excel in Sunday’s race. Blaney, driving the No. 12 Ford, set a time of 1 minute and 11.960 seconds, leaving behind Van Gisbergen, who recorded 1 minute and 11.993 seconds in his No. 88 Chevrolet. Securing the pole is a surprise for Blaney, given that he has only achieved three top 10 finishes on this 2.45-mile circuit. The 2023 Cup champion is looking to break a streak of 22 races without finishing in the top five on circuits of this type.Van Gisbergen, who was aiming for his fourth consecutive victory on this type of circuit, will start second. The driver has shown exceptional performance, achieving victories from pole in Mexico City, Chicago, and Sonoma.What a great pole! I’m a pretty average circuit racer, but I work hard to improve and find ways to be better. We need to improve the race pace a bit, but it’s good to have speed on one lap. It’s fun when you can be on the pole in a place where I’m not very good.
Ryan Blaney
Chase Briscoe, who had secured the pole in the last two weeks at Iowa Speedway and Indianapolis Motor Speedway, qualified third in the No. 19 Toyota. He was followed by Ross Chastain in the No. 1 Chevrolet and Kyle Busch in the No. 8 Chevrolet.It’s incredible how close everything is on a circuit. My laps were good, and there were probably some things I could have fixed. A good start for tomorrow.
Shane van Gisbergen
