For the fifth and final time during the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series regular season, the series is set to visit a non-oval this weekend.
Watkins Glen International is the fourth road course on the schedule, and after spending just one year in the playoffs last year, it was moved back to its traditional August date for this year's Go Bowling at The Glen.
Saturday's qualifying session for Sunday's 90-lap race around the eight-turn, 2.454-mile (3.949-kilometer) road course in Watkins Glen, New York is set to follow a simple procedure. The 40 cars on the entry list are split up into two groups of 20, and each group gets 20 minutes on the track.
Unlike on ovals, this is not a single-car session; drivers are allowed on the track with others in their group, and they are allowed to turn as many laps as they'd like.
At the end of both groups, the lap times are combined to determine the full 40-car starting lineup. There is no more second round shootout for the pole position, and there is no more row-by-row lane designation based on group number, like we've seen in previous years.
The groups are determined by NASCAR's new two-variable qualifying metric, which replaced the old formula that had been used from 2020 to 2024. A full breakdown of the current metric can be found here.
The drivers with the higher (worse) metric scores are in the first group, and the drivers with the lower (better) metric scores are in the second group.
Here's a look at those qualifying groups.
NASCAR at Watkins Glen: Qualifying Group 1
1 - J.J. Yeley, No. 44 NY Racing Team Chevrolet
2 - Connor Zilisch, No. 87 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet
3 - Katherine Legge, No. 78 Live Fast Motorsports Chevrolet
4 - Josh Bilicki, No. 66 Garage 66 Ford
5 - Ty Dillon, No. 10 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet
6 - Zane Smith, No. 38 Front Row Motorsports Ford
7 - Cody Ware, No. 51 Rick Ware Racing Ford
8 - Todd Gilliland, No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford
9 - Riley Herbst, No. 35 23XI Racing Toyota
10 - Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 Hyak Motorsports Chevrolet
11 - Noah Gragson, No. 4 Front Row Motorsports Ford
12 - Shane van Gisbergen, No. 88 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet
13 - Cole Custer, No. 41 Haas Factory Team Ford
14 - Daniel Suarez, No. 99 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet
15 - Michael McDowell, No. 71 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet
16 - Justin Haley, No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet
17 - Kyle Larson, No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
18 - Ty Gibbs, No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
19 - Kyle Busch, No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
20 - Chris Buescher, No. 17 RFK Racing Ford
NASCAR at Watkins Glen: Qualifying Group 2
21 - Erik Jones, No. 43 Legacy Motor Club Toyota
22 - A.J. Allmendinger, No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet
23 - Denny Hamlin, No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
24 - John Hunter Nemechek, No. 42 Legacy Motor Club Toyota
25 - Austin Dillon, No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
26 - Josh Berry, No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford
27 - Tyler Reddick, No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota
28 - Christopher Bell, No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
29 - Austin Cindric, No. 2 Team Penske Ford
30 - Carson Hocevar, No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet
31 - Ross Chastain, No. 1 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet
32 - Chase Elliott, No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
33 - Joey Logano, No. 22 Team Penske Ford
34 - Brad Keselowski, No. 6 RFK Racing Ford
35 - Alex Bowman, No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
36 - Ryan Preece, No. 60 RFK Racing Ford
37 - Bubba Wallace, No. 23 23XI Racing Toyota
38 - Ryan Blaney, No. 12 Team Penske Ford
39 - Chase Briscoe, No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
40 - William Byron, No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
Tune in to USA Network this Sunday, August 10 at 2:00 p.m. ET for the live broadcast of the Go Bowling at The Glen from Watkins Glen International. Start a free trial of FuboTV now and don't miss any upcoming NASCAR Cup Series action!