It was just the second pole of Ross Chastain's career and his first on a road course. The last time he started from pole was at Nashville last summer, a race he won. The driver of the No. 1 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet almost seemed in disbelief after the qualifying session at Watkins Glen International on Saturday.
"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 postseason. 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: William Byron 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 runoff area.
| 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 |
