Chase Elliott takes Watkins Glen Cup pole, Raikkonen 27th
Chase Elliott appears set to challenge for yet another win at Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International on Sunday.
Elliott posted the fastest average speed in the final round of Saturday’s NASCAR Cup Series qualifying session at 125.147 mph, just edging out his Hendrick Motorsports teammate Kyle Larson (125.078 mph) for top starting position.
The pole is the third of the 2022 season for Elliott and 12th of his career.
It’s the second career pole at the Glen for Elliott, who has won two of the last three races at the road course.
“My car has been solid. I felt like we had some work to do there from where we were in practice,” Elliott said. “I felt like there was a couple parts of the track I wanted to put together better.
“It’s just so fast. The pace is just so high here with this car I feel like from what I remember and how much throttle you’re carrying. A little bit carries with you a long ways. I’m really proud of my team.”
Michael McDowell qualified third, fellow Hendrick driver William Byron was fourth and Tyler Reddick rounded out the top-five.
Completing the top-10 lineup are A.J. Allmendinger, Chris Buescher, Austin Cindric, Daniel Suarez and Kyle Busch.
Former F1 world champion Kimi Raikkonen qualified 27th for his first career Cup series start, driving a third entry for Trackhouse Racing.
“I wish there had been more laps. It just felt like there is a lot of potential, but you know, I’m not sure which line to take and just not enough laps to put everything together,” he said.
Cla | # | Driver | Manufacturer | Laps | Time | Gap | Interval | Mph | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 9 | Chase Elliott | Chevrolet | 3 | 1'10.477 | 125.147 | |||
2 | 5 | Kyle Larson | Chevrolet | 5 | 1'10.516 | 0.039 | 0.039 | 125.078 | |
3 | 34 | Michael McDowell | Ford | 1 | 1'10.738 | 0.261 | 0.222 | 124.685 | |
4 | 24 | William Byron | Chevrolet | 4 | 1'10.811 | 0.334 | 0.073 | 124.557 | |
5 | 8 | Tyler Reddick | Chevrolet | 3 | 1'10.837 | 0.360 | 0.026 | 124.511 | |
6 | 16 | A.J. Allmendinger | Chevrolet | 4 | 1'10.980 | 0.503 | 0.143 | 124.260 | |
7 | 17 | Chris Buescher | Ford | 2 | 1'11.180 | 0.703 | 0.200 | 123.911 | |
8 | 2 | Austin Cindric | Ford | 1 | 1'11.335 | 0.858 | 0.155 | 123.642 | |
9 | 99 | Daniel Suarez | Chevrolet | 5 | 1'11.496 | 1.019 | 0.161 | 123.364 | |
10 | 18 | Kyle Busch | Toyota | 2 | 1'11.736 | 1.259 | 0.240 | 122.951 |
Round 1 / Group B
Byron set his quick lap early in the session (124.450 mph) and it stood up.
McDowell ended up second-fastest (124.199 mph) and Busch was third (124.106 mph).
Cindric and Suarez rounded out the top-five and also advanced to the final round.
Among those who failed to advance were Brad Keselowski, Justin Haley, Martin Truex Jr. and Aric Almirola.
There were no on-track incidents during the Group B session.
Cla | # | Driver | Manufacturer | Laps | Time | Gap | Interval | Mph | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 24 | William Byron | Chevrolet | 1 | 1'10.872 | 124.450 | |||
2 | 34 | Michael McDowell | Ford | 3 | 1'11.015 | 0.143 | 0.143 | 124.199 | |
3 | 18 | Kyle Busch | Toyota | 3 | 1'11.068 | 0.196 | 0.053 | 124.106 | |
4 | 2 | Austin Cindric | Ford | 4 | 1'11.093 | 0.221 | 0.025 | 124.063 | |
5 | 99 | Daniel Suarez | Chevrolet | 6 | 1'11.149 | 0.277 | 0.056 | 123.965 | |
6 | 31 | Justin Haley | Chevrolet | 5 | 1'11.250 | 0.378 | 0.101 | 123.789 | |
7 | 6 | Brad Keselowski | Ford | 3 | 1'11.259 | 0.387 | 0.009 | 123.774 | |
8 | 45 | Ty Gibbs | Toyota | 5 | 1'11.340 | 0.468 | 0.081 | 123.633 | |
9 | 15 | Joey Hand | Ford | 5 | 1'11.350 | 0.478 | 0.010 | 123.616 | |
10 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Toyota | 4 | 1'11.442 | 0.570 | 0.092 | 123.457 | |
11 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | Ford | 3 | 1'11.551 | 0.679 | 0.109 | 123.269 | |
12 | 19 | Martin Truex Jr. | Toyota | 3 | 1'11.675 | 0.803 | 0.124 | 123.055 | |
13 | 91 | Kimi Raikkonen | Chevrolet | 10 | 1'11.824 | 0.952 | 0.149 | 122.800 | |
14 | 42 | Ty Dillon | Chevrolet | 5 | 1'11.906 | 1.034 | 0.082 | 122.660 | |
15 | 41 | Cole Custer | Ford | 3 | 1'11.958 | 1.086 | 0.052 | 122.572 | |
16 | 21 | Harrison Burton | Ford | 5 | 1'12.033 | 1.161 | 0.075 | 122.444 | |
17 | 27 | Loris Hezemans | Ford | 4 | 1'12.737 | 1.865 | 0.704 | 121.259 | |
18 | 10 | Aric Almirola | Ford | 5 | 1'12.959 | 2.087 | 0.222 | 120.890 | |
19 | 20 | Christopher Bell | Toyota | ||||||
20 | 51 | Cody Ware | Ford |
Round 1 / Group A
In the final minute of the session, Elliott posted the fastest average lap speed at 125.044 mph.
Larson ended up second-fastest (124.747 mph) and Reddick was third (124.436 mph).
Allmendinger and Buescher also advanced to the final round of qualifying.
Just over nine minutes into the session, Kyle Tilley went off course in the inner loop and hit the wall to bring out a caution.
Among those who failed to advance to the final round were Chase Briscoe, Joey Logano, Ryan Blaney and Bubba Wallace.
Cla | # | Driver | Manufacturer | Laps | Time | Gap | Interval | Mph | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 9 | Chase Elliott | Chevrolet | 3 | 1'10.535 | 125.044 | |||
2 | 5 | Kyle Larson | Chevrolet | 3 | 1'10.703 | 0.168 | 0.168 | 124.747 | |
3 | 8 | Tyler Reddick | Chevrolet | 3 | 1'10.880 | 0.345 | 0.177 | 124.436 | |
4 | 16 | A.J. Allmendinger | Chevrolet | 3 | 1'11.002 | 0.467 | 0.122 | 124.222 | |
5 | 17 | Chris Buescher | Ford | 3 | 1'11.124 | 0.589 | 0.122 | 124.009 | |
6 | 48 | Alex Bowman | Chevrolet | 5 | 1'11.200 | 0.665 | 0.076 | 123.876 | |
7 | 3 | Austin Dillon | Chevrolet | 5 | 1'11.215 | 0.680 | 0.015 | 123.850 | |
8 | 14 | Chase Briscoe | Ford | 5 | 1'11.259 | 0.724 | 0.044 | 123.774 | |
9 | 1 | Ross Chastain | Chevrolet | 5 | 1'11.364 | 0.829 | 0.105 | 123.592 | |
10 | 38 | Todd Gilliland | Ford | 3 | 1'11.393 | 0.858 | 0.029 | 123.542 | |
11 | 22 | Joey Logano | Ford | 3 | 1'11.434 | 0.899 | 0.041 | 123.471 | |
12 | 47 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | Chevrolet | 5 | 1'11.435 | 0.900 | 0.001 | 123.469 | |
13 | 23 | Bubba Wallace | Toyota | 5 | 1'11.443 | 0.908 | 0.008 | 123.455 | |
14 | 12 | Ryan Blaney | Ford | 6 | 1'11.783 | 1.248 | 0.340 | 122.870 | |
15 | 43 | Erik Jones | Chevrolet | 3 | 1'12.359 | 1.824 | 0.576 | 121.892 | |
16 | 7 | Corey Lajoie | Chevrolet | 5 | 1'12.536 | 2.001 | 0.177 | 121.595 | |
17 | 77 | Mike Rockenfeller | Chevrolet | 9 | 1'12.583 | 2.048 | 0.047 | 121.516 | |
18 | 26 | Daniil Kvyat | Toyota | 6 | 1'13.129 | 2.594 | 0.546 | 120.609 | |
19 | 78 | Kyle Tilley | Ford | 2 | 1'15.126 | 4.591 | 1.997 | 117.403 |
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