Ryan Blaney secured pole position for Sunday’s Cup Series road course race at Watkins Glen International, edging Shane van Gisbergen by three hundredths of a second in qualifying. Blaney’s lap time of 1 minute, 11.960 seconds outpaced van Gisbergen’s 1 minute, 11.993 seconds.
The result was unexpected for Blaney, who has struggled on the track, with only three top-10 finishes in his career. However, he is confident in his abilities and focused on finding a balance between one-lap speed and race pace. Blaney earned his 150th Cup pole position for Team Penske and looks to bounce back from a 22-race slump without a top-five finish on a road course.
Van Gisbergen, who has won from the pole at three other tracks, was close behind but acknowledged that there were opportunities to improve. He starts second for Sunday’s race, which he is bidding to win for his fourth consecutive Cup victory on a road or street course. Chase Briscoe qualified third in the No. 19 Toyota, followed by Ross Chastain and Kyle Busch in the top five spots.
Source: https://www.espn.com/racing/nascar/cup/story/_/id/45932907/ryan-blaney-edges-shane-van-gisbergen-watkins-glen-pole