Van Gisbergen Flexes Muscles In Cup Series Qualifying At The Glen

When Shane van Gisbergen doesn't have the fastest car in qualifying at a road course, he's expected to be the guy to beat. So, when he does have the fastest car in qualifying, as was the case on Saturday at Watkins Glen International, it's enough to put the rest of the field on notice.

And boy, van Gisbergen's fifth career NASCAR Cup Series pole came in dominant fashion. The native of New Zealand had a run through the bus stop portion of the 2.45-mile road course that was a thing of beauty, and showcased speed that made his competition green with envy.

By the time the session was over, SVG had topped the field by 0.259 seconds, a staggering margin for a pole-winning run in the modern Next Gen era of the NASCAR Cup Series. After climbing from his car, van Gisbergen down-played his speed in qualifying, and instead focused on his car's imperfections on the long-run in Saturday's practice session.

“Just rear grip, tire life. We just needed front for the one lap, but for the long run, we need rear grip," van Gisbergen stated. "I’m sure everyone is fighting the same things. But the guys will put their heads together tonight, and hopefully tune it up."

If his No. 97 team makes improvements to his racecar overnight, we could be looking at one of the all-time most dominant performances in Sunday's Go Bowling at The Glen.

In his rookie season in the NASCAR Cup Series a season ago, van Gisbergen scored five consecutive road course wins, and in doing so became the all-time winningest rookie racer in the history of the NASCAR Cup Series.

The driver, who also won in his series debut in a part-time schedule during the 2023 season, is seeking his seventh career win in the Go Bowling at The Glen.

Michael McDowell, an established road racer in his own right, came up shy of his ninth career NASCAR Cup Series pole, as he slotted in as the fastest driver in the non-SVG class in qualifying. And while he hated to trail van Gisbergen by such a margin, McDowell was proud of the solid qualifying effort after what he described as a trying few weeks for his No. 71 Spire Motorsports team.

“I feel like SVG kicked my butt through that bus stop, but really proud of everybody at Spire Motorsports,” McDowell said. “It’s been a rough few weeks here. The Go Bowling Chevrolet was fast. Tire falloff was incredible in practice. We got a decent lap in, but man, when you watch the SMT [data], and you watch how fast SVG gets through the bus stop, you feel like, man, I should have done a better job. But proud of everybody. We’ll take it.”

A few weeks ago, McDowell was a driver on the fringe of working his way inside the Chase for the Cup cutline. However, after an average finish of 29.25 over his last four races, McDowell came into this weekend sucking wind. Now, he looks to reverse momentum at Watkins Glen on Sunday.

Austin Cindric was the fastest driver in Saturday's NASCAR Cup Series practice session, and he backed that speed up with a third-place qualifying run. Cindric, who drives the No. 2 Team Penske Ford, will be joined by Ross Chastain, the driver of the No. 1 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet, in Row 2 of the starting grid on Sunday.

Rookie of the year contender Connor Zilisch, who has struggled mightily this season, will start from the fifth position, after he turned an impressive qualifying lap behind the wheel of the No. 88 Red Bull Chevrolet on Saturday.

Zilisch, who comes from an established road racing background in Trans Am and IMSA competition, finished 14th at Circuit of the Americas earlier in the season, after having to rebound from being spun out by others twice in the event.

Could Watkins Glen be where the driver, who showed so much potential last season in the NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series, turns his season around?

Official Go Bowling at The Glen Starting Lineup

1. 97-Shane van Gisbergen
2. 71-Michael McDowell
3. 2-Austin Cindric
4. 1-Ross Chastain
5. 88-Connor Zilisch
6. 22-Joey Logano
7. 12-Ryan Blaney
8. 20-Christopher Bell
9. 19-Chase Briscoe
10. 54-Ty Gibbs
11. 77-Carson Hocevar
12. 16-AJ Allmendinger
13. 24-William Byron
14. 17-Chris Buescher
15. 45-Tyler Reddick
16. 7-Daniel Suarez
17. 42-John Hunter Nemechek
18. 23-Bubba Wallace
19. 41-Cole Custer
20. 11-Denny Hamlin
21. 8-Kyle Busch
22. 34-Todd Gilliland
23. 5-Kyle Larson
24. 43-Erik Jones
25. 3-Austin Dillon
26. 6-Brad Keselowski
27. 9-Chase Elliott
28. 48-Alex Bowman
29. 47-Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
30. 60-Ryan Preece
31. 10-Ty Dillon
32. 35-Riley Herbst
33. 38-Zane Smith
34. 21-Josh Berry
35. 4-Noah Gragson
36. 51-Cody Ware
37. 66-Josh Bilicki
38. 78-Katherine Legge

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