Ryan Blaney Wins at Watkins Glen Qualifying
Ryan Blaney secured the pole position in the Cup Series qualifying at Watkins Glen International, edging out Shane van Gisbergen by a mere three hundredths of a second. Blaney, driving the No. 12 Ford, completed a lap in 1 minute, 11.960 seconds, leaving behind the No. 88 Chevrolet of van Gisbergen, who clocked 1 minute, 11.993 seconds. This is a surprise for Blaney, who, despite being the 2023 Cup champion, has only managed three top 10s on this 2.45-mile circuit. Furthermore, Blaney is on a streak of 22 races without finishing in the top five on road courses.Van Gisbergen, seeking his fourth consecutive victory on road and street circuits, will start second, having won from pole in Mexico City, Chicago, and Sonoma.“What a great pole,” commented Blaney, who secured the 150th position for Team Penske. “I’m an average road racer, and I work hard to improve and try to find ways to be better. We need to find some race pace, 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 achieved the pole in the last two weeks at Iowa Speedway and Indianapolis Motor Speedway, qualified third in the No. 19 Toyota, followed by Ross Chastain’s No. 1 Chevrolet and Kyle Busch’s No. 8 Chevrolet.“Man, it’s incredible how close everything is on a street circuit,” said van Gisbergen. “My laps were good, and there were probably a few things I could have fixed. A good start for tomorrow.”
Shane van Gisbergen
