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Ross Chastain delivered a superb qualifying performance at Watkins Glen, earning him the pole position for Sunday’s race. For him, starting at the front of the field on a road course is a huge career milestone.
Chastain is a 31-year-old Florida native who drives the No. 1 Chevrolet Camaro for Trackhouse Racing. The pole win at Watkins Glen is his first of the season and second in his NASCAR Cup Series career after qualifying P1 at Nashville Superspeedway in 2023.
During a post-qualifying interview, Ross Chastain admitted road courses have been challenging for him.
“Turning right seems so simple, but it’s been such a challenge for me,” Chastain said.
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The Chevrolet driver also opened up about attending driving schools to improve his speed on road courses.
“I went to Skip Barber Driving School to learn how to turn right,” Chastain shared. “Chevrolet is taking us out to Spring Mountain and done schooling with Ron Fellows, the instructors there.”
“It wasn’t any one thing. It was so many years of trying to learn how to do this,” Chastain continued. “For a Busch Light Chevy, this is just a career moment, lifetime achievement to go faster than everybody in the Cup Series. It’s unbelievable for Trackhouse and myself.”
Ross Chastain secured pole position at Watkins Glen International after clocking the best lap time of 1:12.130. He will be joined by playoff driver Martin Truex Jr. on the front row as the No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota driver set the second-best qualifying time of 1:12.264, just -0.134s off the leader.
Shane Van Gisbergen, who will join Chastain at Trackhouse Racing next season, will start 3rd at Watkins Glen, along with playoff contender Alex Bowman on the second row. Austin Cindric completes the top 5, with Trackhouse Racing teammate Daniel Suarez good for P8.
The Watkins Glen debuts a new tire compound courtesy of Goodyear, which is expected to create a three-second fall-off over the course of a run. This means drivers should expect a significant drop in pace throughout Sunday’s race, thus starting at pole gives Ross Chastain a huge advantage.
The Go Bowling at The Glen is the second race of the Round of 16. The first race was in Atlanta where playoff driver Joey Logano qualified for the Round of 12 after finishing P1.
Ross Chastain’s last road course victory was at COTA
Ross Chastain has won four times in the NASCAR Cup Series. His first and only road course win was recorded at the Circuit of the Americas in 2022. Chastain only qualified 16th at the 2022 EchoPark Texas Grand Prix, with teammate Daniel Suarez securing P2.
The No. 1 driver led the most laps in Texas after climbing up the field from 16th. He lost the lead to Alex Bowman and AJ Allmendinger during the final lap before taking it back when Allmendinger got spun out.
The P1 finish at COTA was Chastain’s first win in the Cup Series. It was followed by wins at Talladega in 2022, Nashville in 2023, and Phoenix in last year’s Championship 4.
