Carl Edwards wins pole for Cheez-It 355 at Watkins Glen
WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. — Carl Edwards won the pole for the Cheez-It 355 at Watkins Glen International on Saturday.
The Joe Gibbs Racing driver covered the 2.45-mile, seven-turn road course with a best lap of 126.562 miles per hour in one minute, nine seconds and .689. Edwards nabbed the pole from Ganassi Racing’s Kyle Larson in the final seconds of the multi-car qualifying round.
Larson (126.233) will be followed by retiring three-time Sprint Cup champion Tony Stewart (126.177), who has won five times at Watkins Glen. Edwards won on the Sonoma Raceway road course in 2014 but not at Watkins Glen. He also claimed the pole at Sonoma this season and has four this season.
EARLY MISS: Jimmie Johnson (13th), Martin Truex Jr. (14th) and points leader Kevin Harvick (15th), all former road course winners in Sprint Cup, couldn’t get clean laps and failed to advanc to the 12-driver second round. Roush Fenway Racing’s Ricky Stenhouse Jr. had been third-best in the previous practice but qualified 30th. Truex Jr. blamed inattention by Stenhouse Jr. exiting the pits for ruining his qualifying run. He retaliated by impeding Stenhouse Jr. on his qualifying run.
No Hendrick Motorsports driver qualified for the second round, including Johnson, Chase Elliott (18th), four-time Watkins Glen-winner Jeff Gordon — replacing the injured Dale Earnahrdt Jr. — 21st and Kasey Kahne 23rd.
STARTING LINEUP: Carl Edwards won the pole and is looking for his second win of the season.
1. Carl Edwards
2. Kyle Larson
3. Tony Stewart
4. Matt Kenseth
5. Kyle Busch
6. Denny Hamlin
7. Joey Logano
8. Ryan Newman
9. AJ Allmendinger
10. Jamie McMurray
11. Michael McDowell
12. Brad Keselowski
13. Jimmie Johnson
14. Martin Truex Jr.
15. Kevin Harvick
16. Chase Elliott
17. Kurt Busch
18. Austin Dillon
19. Ryan Blaney
20. Casey Mears
21. Jeff Gordon
22. Cole Whitt
23. Kasey Kahne
24. Greg Biffle
25. Chris Buescher
26. David Ragan
27. Brian Scott
28. Clint Bowyer
29. Regan Smith
30. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
31. Danica Patrick
32. Trevor Bayne
33. Paul Menard
34. Aric Almirola
35. Matt DiBenedetto
36. Alex Kennedy
37. Boris Said
38. Michael Annett
39. Josh Wise
40. Landon Cassill