NASCAR Cup Series qualifying results from Watkins Glen International on August 4, 2018
The 2.454-mile road course hosts Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series qualifying. Tonight, they’ll set the starting lineup for Sunday’s race at Watkins Glen.
View Watkins Glen qualifying results below.
The qualifying session was delayed by just under 30 minutes. It’s a late start at the New York road course.
Watkins Glen Menu: MENCS
TV | Prac 1 | Prac 2 | Qual | Race
Round 1
Watkins Glen
A 25 minute session kicks things off in round 1. The top 12 advance to the final round.
Logano is one of the first cars on the track. However, he heads right back for the pit lane without turning a lap.
20 minutes remain, Suarez leads round 1 so far. The time is a 71.298. Here’s a surprise, Michael McDowell jumps to the top of the board. McDowell has a best finish of 12th at Watkins Glen.
12 minutes remain, Kyle Busch goes to 2nd on the board. Chase Elliott sits at the top.
2 minutes remain, Kevin Harvick sits outside the top 12. He wheel hopped into turn 1 and aborted his lap.
The time is up, flying laps will count. Jimmie Johnson bumps Martin Truex Jr outside of the top 12. Truex is already on a hot lap as is Harvick, they both sit outside of the top 12. Truex bumps Johnson! Harvick is just short. Harvick was in the green until he approached turn 6.
Chase Elliott wins round 1 of Watkins Glen qualifying!
Johnson and McMurray both stated that they wheel hopped going into the corner. Johnson missed a transfer spot by less than a tenth of a second.
Round 1 Results: 1. Chase Elliott (70.489); 2. Kyle Busch (70.736); 3. Erik Jones (70.754); 4. Martin Truex Jr; 5. Joey Logano; 6. Denny Hamlin; 7. Kyle Larson; 8. AJ Allmendinger; 9. Aric Almirola; 10. Ryan Blaney; 11. Michael McDowell; 12. Kasey Kahne;
Round 2
Watkins Glen
The top 12 times from round 1 are reset as they each make a run for the pole in the final round of qualifying at Watkins Glen. It’s a brief 10 minutes session in round two as the sun sets in Watkins Glen, NY.
Kyle Busch didn’t run a single qualifying run in the two rounds of practice earlier today. However, everyone in the garage says he has the car to beat. Is it fast enough for the pole?
Kyle Busch is the first car on the race track for his qualifying run. It’s a 70.320 for Busch, that’s the fastest lap of the day. But, the track is cooling off, they will all be fast.
Chase Elliott uses every inch of the race track off turn 7, Elliott misses the pole by .003. Hamlin to the top of the board, 70.260.
Denny Hamlin takes the pole position at Watkins Glen International!
View the full 2018 Watkins Glen starting lineup for the NASCAR Cup Series event below.
Watkins Glen
Qualifying Results
August 4, 2018 – MENCS
Pos | Driver | Best Time
1. Denny Hamlin
70.260
2. Kyle Busch
70.320
3. Chase Elliott
70.323
4. Martin Truex Jr
70.418
5. Kyle Larson
70.687
6. Joey Logano
70.721
7. Aric Almirola
70.820
8. AJ Allmendinger
70.891
9. Erik Jones
70.897
10. Kasey Kahne
70.897
11. Ryan Blaney
70.951
12. Michael McDowell
70.969
13. Jimmie Johnson
71.085
14. Paul Menard
71.146
15. Jamie McMurray
71.161
16. Kevin Harvick
71.167
17. William Byron
71.194
18. Brad Keselowski
71.196
19. Clint Bowyer
71.211
20. Ryan Newman
71.233
21. Kurt Busch
71.235
22. Chris Buescher
71.235
23. Daniel Suarez
71.298
24. Alex Bowman
71.387
25. Ricky Stenhouse Jr
71.406
26. Austin Dillon
71.589
27. David Ragan
71.617
28. Matt Kenseth
71.871
29. Parker Kligerman
72.038
30. Matt DiBenedetto
72.201
31. Bubba Wallace
72.224
32. Ty Dillon
72.328
33. Cole Whitt
72.791
34. Ross Chastain
73.436
35. Josh Bilicki
73.750
36. Spencer Gallagher
73.809
37. Landon Cassill
74.934
Watkins Glen
Post-Qualifying Inspection
This is another enhanced weekend. It’s a similar to last week at Pocono where 13 cars failed post-race inspection. With the enhanced schedule, there’s less inspections.
Just like last week, there were no pre-qualifying inspections. However, they are doing things a bit different this week at Watkins Glen.
Instead of inspecting the cars directly after qualifying they will impound them. The cars will be rolled and locked until the morning.
On Sunday morning, the cars will roll through the inspection tent just as they came off the track in qualifying. Any infractions will be announced ahead of the race and those cars will start from the tail at Watkins Glen International.
Are you planing on getting up at 8AM to see if your car passed tech?
“No, I’m not. I’m very confident,” pole sitter Denny Hamlin stated from the Watkins Glen media center.
UPDATE: Two cars have failed post-qualifying inspection at Watkins Glen
More
Related: NASCAR Xfinity Series: Race Results (August 4, 2018)
Related: 13 cars fails post-qualifying inspection at Pocono Raceway