Ryan Blaney did not expect to start Sunday's Go Bowling 400 at The Glen stacked up next to road course titan Shane van Gisbergen, but a pole win on Saturday sets him up to do just so.
Blaney went out in the second qualifying group and, after losing time to Shane van Gisbergen's provisional pole lap in the bus stop, improved over the rest of the lap for a time of 1:11,960, 0.033 seconds faster than the rookie from New Zealand.
With Saturday's, Blaney delivers his 13th career pole, the last 11 for Team Penske, pushing Roger's team to 150 poles in the NASCAR Cup Series. Blaney has failed to convert any of his 13 pole positions into a win. His only other pole on a road course came at The Circuit of the Americas in 2022, where he would go on to finish fourth.
"I’m a pretty average road racer, honestly," Blaney told NASCAR on TNT. "I work really hard to try and get better at it and find ways to be better. I’m really proud of the whole 12 group."
Blaney's last visit to Watkins Glen ended early when a first-lap incident took him out of contention, and would go on to bring major changes to NASCAR's Damage Vehicle Policy.
Bubba Wallace, who qualified 15th, came up to his competitor and close friend, Blaney, to rib him about putting himself on van Gisbergen's radar.
"Well, that was a bad idea because now he’s going to really wax you tomorrow," Blaney shared Bubba's words with him.
"Hey, I’ve beaten him once this weekend," Blaney replied, "You have to start somewhere."
Van Gisbergen will also start second in Saturday's Xfinity Series race at Watkins Glen on the outside of Connor Zilisch, his JR Motorsports teammate, who will also be making his second career Cup Series Start from 25th. He qualified 14th in his debut at the Circuit of The Americas this year before being taken out in a crash with Trackhouse Racing's Daniel Suarez.
Chase Briscoe qualified third, continuing his top-tier qualifying effort in 2025, which includes six poles. Ross Chastain, who earned pole here in 2024, will start fourth ahead of Kyle Busch, who had a surprisingly great qualifying effort on a road course in the middle of a subpar season that threatens to keep him out of the playoffs.
Michael McDowell will start next to Busch on the third row.
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