For the first time since the early March race at Circuit of the Americas (COTA), the NASCAR Cup Series is set to visit a road course this weekend. Watkins Glen International is scheduled to host the Go Bowling at The Glen in the spring this year, rather than in the summer like it has in the past.
Road course qualifying generally differs from oval qualifying in that it is a group session, rather than a single-car session.
The same qualifying metric that NASCAR introduced in 2025, which sets the qualifying orders for oval races, is used to determine the two qualifying groups for road course races. A full breakdown of that two-variable formula can be found here.
However, after a late change, that will not be the case this weekend.
Each group was supposed to be given 20 minutes, with drivers allowed to make as many qualifying attempts around the eight-turn, 2.454-mile (3.949-kilometer) Watkins Glen, New York road course as they please within those 20 minutes.
After time expires for the second group, the results of both groups are typically simply combined to set the full 38-car starting lineup, as there is no second round pole position shootout.
But this weekend, due to rain, NASCAR simply condensed qualifying into a single 35-minute group, following a 50-minute practice session.
Follow along with our qualifying updates from Watkins Glen.
NASCAR Cup Series starting lineup at Watkins Glen
Order | Driver |
|---|---|
1 | Shane van Gisbergen, No. 97 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet |
2 | Michael McDowell, No. 71 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet |
3 | Austin Cindric, No. 2 Team Penske Ford |
4 | Ross Chastain, No. 1 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet |
5 | Connor Zilisch, No. 88 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet |
6 | Joey Logano, No. 22 Team Penske Ford |
7 | Ryan Blaney, No. 12 Team Penske Ford |
8 | Christopher Bell, No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota |
9 | Chase Briscoe, No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota |
10 | Ty Gibbs, No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota |
11 | Carson Hocevar, No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet |
12 | A.J. Allmendinger, No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet |
13 | William Byron, No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet |
14 | Chris Buescher, No. 17 RFK Racing Ford |
15 | Tyler Reddick, No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota |
16 | Daniel Suarez, No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet |
17 | John Hunter Nemechek, No. 42 Legacy Motor Club Toyota |
18 | Bubba Wallace, No. 23 23XI Racing Toyota |
19 | Cole Custer, No. 41 Haas Factory Team Chevrolet |
20 | Denny Hamlin, No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota |
21 | Kyle Busch, No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet |
22 | Todd Gilliland, No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford |
23 | Kyle Larson, No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet |
24 | Erik Jones, No. 43 Legacy Motor Club Toyota |
25 | Austin Dillon, No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet |
26 | Brad Keselowski, No. 6 RFK Racing Ford |
27 | Chase Elliott, No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet |
28 | Alex Bowman, No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet |
29 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 Hyak Motorsports Chevrolet |
30 | Ryan Preece, No. 60 RFK Racing Ford |
31 | Ty Dillon, No. 10 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet |
32 | Riley Herbst, No. 35 23XI Racing Toyota |
33 | Zane Smith, No. 38 Front Row Motorsports Ford |
34 | Josh Berry, No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford |
35 | Noah Gragson, No. 4 Front Row Motorsports Ford |
36 | Cody Ware, No. 51 Rick Ware Racing Chevrolet |
37 | Josh Bilicki, No. 66 Garage 66 Ford |
38 | Katherine Legge, No. 78 Live Fast Motorsports Chevrolet |
Tune in to Fox Sports 1 this Sunday, May 10 at 3:00 p.m. ET for the live broadcast of the Go Bowling at the Glen from Watkins Glen International. Take advantage of FuboTV's free trial offer and don't miss any of the action!
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