Watkins Glen International is set to host the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series season's 12th race and second road course race, the first since the early March race at Circuit of the Americas (COTA), this Sunday afternoon.
Qualifying for road courses is different than it is for all oval races. Saturday's qualifying session at the eight-turn, 2.454-mile (3.949-kilometer) natural terrain road course in Watkins Glen, New York is not a single-car session.
Drivers are split up into two groups, and each group gets 20 minutes. Unlike on ovals, drivers are allowed to make as many qualifying attempts as they want to during those 20 minutes. The results of the two groups are then combined to set the full 38-car starting lineup; there is no second round shootout for the pole position.
Just as the qualifying orders for oval races are set by the two-variable qualifying metric that NASCAR has used since 2025, the qualifying groups for this weekend's race were as well. A full breakdown of that formula can be found here.
This week's 38 cars include two non-chartered (open) cars, after a total of three lineup changes were made since this past weekend's oval race at Texas Motor Speedway. All cars are locked into Sunday's 100-lap race, which has been extended by 10 laps from previous years.
Here's a look at Saturday's qualifying groups for Sunday's race at Watkins Glen.
NASCAR Cup Series qualifying groups at Watkins Glen
Group A
1 - Katherine Legge, No. 78 Live Fast Motorsports Chevrolet
2 - Cole Custer, No. 41 Haas Factory Team Chevrolet
3 - Josh Bilicki, No. 66 Garage 66 Ford
4 - Cody Ware, No. 51 Rick Ware Racing Chevrolet
5 - Joey Logano, No. 22 Team Penske Ford
6 - Christopher Bell, No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
7 - Todd Gilliland, No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford
8 - Josh Berry, No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford
9 - Noah Gragson, No. 4 Front Row Motorsports Ford
10 - Ty Gibbs, No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
11 - Ty Dillon, No. 10 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet
12 - Kyle Larson, No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
13 - Michael McDowell, No. 71 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet
14 - John Hunter Nemechek, No. 42 Legacy Motor Club Toyota
15 - Ross Chastain, No. 1 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet
16 - A.J. Allmendinger, No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet
17 - Kyle Busch, No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
18 - Zane Smith, No. 38 Front Row Motorsports Ford
19 - Connor Zilisch, No. 88 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet
Group B
20 - Chase Briscoe, No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
21 - Austin Dillon, No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
22 - Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 Hyak Motorsports Chevrolet
23 - Shane van Gisbergen, No. 97 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet
24 - Riley Herbst, No. 35 23XI Racing Toyota
25 - Erik Jones, No. 43 Legacy Motor Club Toyota
26 - Austin Cindric, No. 2 Team Penske Ford
27 - Ryan Preece, No. 60 RFK Racing Ford
28 - Brad Keselowski, No. 6 RFK Racing Ford
29 - Alex Bowman, No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
30 - Bubba Wallace, No. 23 23XI Racing Toyota
31 - William Byron, No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
32 - Daniel Suarez, No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet
33 - Ryan Blaney, No. 12 Team Penske Ford
34 - Carson Hocevar, No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet
35 - Chris Buescher, No. 17 RFK Racing Ford
36 - Tyler Reddick, No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota
37 - Denny Hamlin, No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
38 - Chase Elliott, No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
Tune in to Fox Sports 1 at 3:00 p.m. ET this Sunday, May 10 for the live broadcast of the Go Bowling at The Glen from Watkins Glen International. Start a free trial of FuboTV now and catch all of the action!
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