Winning a pole on a NASCAR Cup Series road course typically means outrunning Shane van Gisbergen, and that’s exactly what Ryan Blaney did Saturday.
Blaney knocked van Gisbergen from the top spot with a late-session lap at 122.568mph to earn the first starting spot for Sunday’s Go Bowling at the Glen at Watkins Glen International’s 2.45-mile road course.
Van Gisbergen, sixth in practice, finished second on the qualifying list at 122.512mph. He’ll be in search of his fourth win of the season in Sunday’s race.
Completing the top five were Chase Briscoe, Ross Chastain and Kyle Busch.
Penske’s Blaney scored his second pole of the season and the team’s 150th.
“Bubba (Wallace) came up to me and said, ‘Well, that was a bad idea because he’s (van Gisbergen) really going to wax you tomorrow,’” Blaney said. “People ask me, ‘What does Shane do so good?’ I don’t really race with him very much. He’s so far ahead of me, so at least from the start of the race I’ll be able to watch.”
Van Gisbergen owns three Cup wins this season – all on road or street courses. Even after failing to win the pole, he’ll be the favorite come Sunday’s 2 p.m. (ET) start.
Sunday’s race is the third-to-last of the regular season (Richmond and Daytona follow), and winless drivers near the cut line will be in search of a victory to push into the playoffs.
Among those bouncing around the bubble are Alex Bowman (qualified seventh), Chris Buescher (12th), Ryan Preece (17th) and Kyle Busch (fifth). Busch, a two-time series champion, would seem to have the best shot at a breakthrough win Sunday.
