Ryan Blaney Surprises Himself With Watkins Glen Pole Over SVG

Surprisingly, Shane van Gisbergen was shut out in qualifying this weekend at Watkins Glen International. Even more surprising, it was Ryan Blaney, who topped the New Zealander in NASCAR Cup Series qualifying on Saturday afternoon at the 2.45-mile road course.

Starting Lineup: Go Bowling at The Glen

Following his pole-winning run, which came on the strength of a 71.960-second (122.568 mph) lap around the New York road course, Blaney admitted he was just as surprised to score the pole than anyone else, as he doesn't consider himself a road course expert.

"Man, what a cool pole. I'm a pretty average road racer, honestly," Blaney said in an interview with TruTV after he secured the pole position. "I work really hard to try to get better at it and try to figure out ways to be better. So, really proud of the whole [No.] 12 group, like you said, the dirty dozen. Fun day, just getting better and hopefully we've got -- gotta find a little bit of race pace tomorrow, I thought. But it's nice to have one-lap speed in it."

For Blaney, the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series champion, this is his second pole of the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season and it marks the 12th pole of his 366-race NASCAR Cup Series career, and it's just his second career pole on a road course (won the pole at Circuit of the Americas in 2022).

There was a lot to be proud of for Blaney and his No. 12 Team Penske team as this race was one of the biggest lowlights during their 2024 season, which saw Blaney finish runner-up in the championship fight.

"It's just nice to start towards the front. You know, last year at this race, we had a rough weekend. and qualified in the back and got in the wreck on Lap 1. To turn around and have a much better start to the weekend, at least, just hope to keep it up," Blaney stated with optimism.

Heading into this weekend, Blaney has just one top-five finish at Watkins Glen International in eight NASCAR Cup Series starts at the facility. He'll look to parlay the pole into another solid run on Sunday.

While van Gisbergen missed the pole by 0.033 seconds, the driver of the No. 88 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet finds himself in a great position to chase his fourth victory of the season. Leading into Sunday's Go Bowling at The Glen, the 36-year-old racer has scored wins in the last three NASCAR Cup Series road races (Mexico City, Chicago Street Course, and Sonoma).

If SVG, who announced a multiyear contract extension with Trackhouse Racing on Friday, can win on Sunday, he'll set a new record for most wins by a rookie in NASCAR Cup Series competition with his fourth win of the season. Previously, Tony Stewart (1999) and Jimmie Johnson (2002) snagged three wins apiece in their rookie seasons, which is the all-time record that van Gisbergen tied at Sonoma Raceway last month.

Chase Briscoe, who leads the NASCAR Cup Series with six poles this season, will lineup from the third starting spot, Sunday at Watkins Glen International. Ross Chastain will start from the fourth position, and Kyle Busch, who is looking to end the longest winless drought of his NASCAR Cup Series career, will start from the fifth spot in the No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet.

Michael McDowell, Alex Bowman, Carson Hocevar, Christopher Bell, and series point leader William Byron rounded out the top-10 qualifiers for Sunday's race.

Other notable qualifying runs included defending Watkins Glen race winner Chris Buescher (12th), Brickyard 400 winner Bubba Wallace (15th), Chase Elliott (20th), Connor Zilisch (25th), Kyle Larson (27th), and Katherine Legge (38th).