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Go Bowling at The Glen qualifying results: Shane van Gisbergen wins pole, lineup set for NASCAR Cup Series race at Watkins Glen

Stephen Samraby: Steve Samra05/09/26SamraSource

The NASCAR Cup Series is in upstate New York this weekend, returning to a road course that’s familiar to fans and drivers alike in Watkins Glen. With qualifying in the books, we now know that none other than Shane van Gisbergen will sit on the pole when the green flag waves.

It’s no surprise, as SVG is a road course savant, proven by his dominance at the track-type since joining the Cup Series. Next to him will be Michael McDowell, who needs a solid finish to get his season back on track. Check out the full starting grid below.

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

Now, the questions becomes, who will win at Watkins Glen? That’s a question that Kevin Harvick and his cohort attempted to tackle on the latest episode of the Kevin Harvick’s Happy Hour podcast. SVG, as you might imagine, figured to be a popular choice after his dominance at road courses a year ago.

But host Kaitlyn Vincie went a different direction as the first on the podcast to make a pick for Watkins Glen. She admitted it was a surprise: “I think mine is going to surprise you guys, but whatever,” Vincie said. “My heart wanted to pick SVG, but I’m a show-me-lately kind of person and I’m just not feeling it. So I’m going with Chris Buescher because he has been good there in the past and he’s been very good as of late at all tracks.”

It didn’t take Harvick very long to make his selection after that. After all, when you leave one of the most track-dominant racers available at Watkins Glen, that’s opportunity: “Well thank you, I’ll take SVG,” Harvick said. Of course, that is last year’s winner at Watkins Glen.

The final host to make his pick on the podcast was Mamba Smith. He also went with a recent winner, though not at Watkins Glen: “I think I came in here with a strategy and I really, it’s out the window,” he said. “You know what? Is Michael Jordan going to be there this weekend? Tyler Reddick.”

— On3’s Thomas Goldkamp contributed to this article.