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NASCAR Cup Series Go Bowling at The Glen: Qualifying, Ryan Blaney’s Turnaround Pole Position, Starting Lineup At Watkins Glen International

Jeff Hawkins Written by Sports EditorJeff Hawkins
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NASCAR Cup Series Go Bowling at The Glen: Qualifying, Ryan Blaney’s Turnaround Pole Position, Starting Lineup At Watkins Glen International

As much as Ryan Blaney wanted to forget about last season’s effort at Watkins Glen International, the NASCAR Cup Series driver remains optimistic Saturday’s qualifying effort will be one to remember.

Who would fail to recall beating three-time Supercars champion Shane van Gisbergen in any road-course scenario?

Blaney, the 2023 Cup champion, turned a hot lap of 122.568 mph, edging van Gisbergen by 0.33 seconds.

In 2024, Blaney qualified poorly and failed to complete one lap at the 2.45-mile course.

Blaney plans on creating more memories Sunday, earning Team Penske’s 150th Cup pole position.

“Ninety laps is going to be a little harder to beat (van Gisbergen on Sunday), but gotta start somewhere,” Blaney said, as reported by NASCAR.com. “It’s more neat for me because we had an absolutely abysmal weekend here last year.

“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.”

Chase Elliott’s Crew Chief Lays Out 3-Race Plan

Chase Elliott’s garage is following a late-season plan.

Already qualified for the playoffs, the No. 9 Chevrolet team’s short-term focus remains on capturing the NASCAR Cup Series’ regular-season championship.

With three events remaining before the start of the Round of 16, Elliott, who compiled 752 points, trails Hendrick Motorsports teammate and circuit leader William Byron by 18 points and fronts another teammate, Kyle Larson, by 27 points.

Elliott, whose last road-course win came at Road America in 2021, is returning to Watkins Glen, the site of his first Cup victory. A solid run could play into crew chief Alan Gustafson’s master plan to capture the driver’s title and gain momentum of the postseason.

Gustafson challenged Elliott to win one of the final three regular-season races. Byron’s elite fuel-saving effort led to a visit at Iowa Speedway’s Victory Lane and propelled him past Elliott in the drivers’ standings.

“We obviously want to win the regular season, but more importantly than that, we want to win some races,” Gustafson told HendrickMotorsports.com. “I’m excited about Watkins Glen.

“I think we’ve got three races to polish up as much as we can and go win and get to the playoffs.”

Starting Lineup for NASCAR Cup Series’ Go Bowling At The Glen

Here is a look at the lineup for Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series’ Go Bowling at The Glen at Watkins Glen International:

Starting Position, Driver, Car No.

  • 1, Ryan Blaney, No. 12 Ford
  • 2, Shane van Gisbergen, No. 88 Chevrolet
  • 3, Chase Briscoe, No. 19 Toyota
  • 4, Ross Chastain, No. 1 Chevrolet
  • 5, Kyle Busch, No. 8 Chevrolet
  • 6, Michael McDowell, No. 71 Chevrolet
  • 7, Alex Bowman, No. 48 Chevrolet
  • 8, Carson Hocevar, No. 77 Chevrolet
  • 9, Christopher Bell, No. 20 Toyota
  • 10, William Byron, No. 24 Chevrolet
  • 11, Joey Logano, No. 22 Ford
  • 12, Chris Buescher, No. 17 Ford
  • 13, Austin Cindric, No. 2 Ford
  • 14, Ty Gibbs, No. 54 Toyota
  • 15, Bubba Wallace, No. 23 Toyota
  • 16, Brad Keselowski, No. 6 Ford
  • 17, Ryan Preece, No. 60 Ford
  • 18, AJ Allmendinger, No. 16 Chevrolet
  • 19, Daniel Suarez, No. 99 Chevrolet
  • 20, Chase Elliott, No. 9 Chevrolet
  • 21, Tyler Reddick, No. 45 Toyota
  • 22, Denny Hamlin, No. 11 Toyota
  • 23, Justin Haley, No. 7 Chevrolet
  • 24, Josh Berry, No. 21 Ford
  • 25, Connor Zilisch, No. 87 Chevrolet
  • 26, Austin Dillon, No. 3 Chevrolet
  • 27, Kyle Larson, No. 5 Chevrolet
  • 28, Todd Gilliland, No. 34 Ford
  • 29, Riley Herbst, No. 35 Toyota
  • 30, Erik Jones, Nol. 43 Toyota
  • 31, John Hunter Nemechek, No. 42 Toyota
  • 32, Cole Custer, No. 41 Ford
  • 33, Ty Dillon, No. 10 Chevrolet
  • 34, Zane Smith, No. 38 Ford
  • 35, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 Chevrolet
  • 36, Noah Gragson, No. 4 Ford
  • 37, Cody Ware, No. 51 Ford
  • 38, Katherine Legge, No. 78 Chevrolet
  • 39, JJ Yeley, No. 44 Chevrolet
  • 40, Josh Bilicki, No. 66 Ford

Jeff Hawkins Written by Sports EditorJeff Hawkins
Jeff Hawkins is an award-winning sportswriter with more than four decades in the industry, in both print and digital media. He joined the Sportscasting team in 2021 following a decade of freelancing. He spent his early career as a reporter for various newspapers in Illinois, New York, Florida, North Carolina, and Michigan, with a particular emphasis as a beat reporter for the Chicago Blackhawks. Jeff earned his bachelor's degree in journalism from Oakland University. Over the course of his career he earned several sports writing awards, including two national awards from the Associated Press Sports Editors for column writing and news reporting. One of the five prized columns included a commentary on NASCAR's increasing corporate influences, particularly in northern racetracks — commentary which you might find Jeff building on as part of the Motorsports writing team at Sportscasting now.  
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