Last year’s winner at Watkins Glen will begin his quest to repeat in 2015 from the point position in tomorrow’s Cheez-It 355 at The Glen. AJ Allmendinger won the Coors Light Pole Award for the 30th Annual Cheez-It 355 at The Glen with a lap of 68.993 seconds, 127.839 mph.
The driver of the No. 47 Kroger/Bush’s Beans Chevrolet posted his first ever pole in seven tries at Watkins Glen International early this afternoon in prime conditions for speed. The overcast skies made for an exciting 10 minute round two of NASCAR Sprint Cup Series qualifying. The No. 47 car has successfully swept both pole positions on road courses this season.
The No. 47 team has found some speed overnight as the car was only 28th fastest in Final Practice on Friday afternoon. Allmendinger spoke to the media about the turnaround the team saw from practice to qualifying following Saturday’s qualifying session.
“I didn’t know what to expect going into qualifying,” he said. “I was pretty down after the second practice yesterday. I wasn’t good. I got frustrated from it. We sat down after, debriefed, and picked through everything throughout the course of the day and said what is good, what isn’t good. Overall it was a strong day going into the day to see the changes we made to have that much speed. Rarely do you ever lead the (qualifying) sessions by over a tenth. Hopefully, we just do the right things tomorrow and give ourselves a chance to win. The guys did a great job from yesterday to today.”
Allmendinger went to the top of the boards with less than a minute left in round two, edging out Martin Truex Jr. by just two-tenths of a second as the clock ran out. Truex posted his 11th top-10 start of 2015, and his fourth in 10 races at Watkins Glen International.
Tony Stewart will start Sunday’s Cheez-It 355 at The Glen from his best starting spot all season. He will roll off third on Sunday, marking his third straight top-five starting spot.
Reigning NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Champion, Kevin Harvick will roll off fourth on Sunday, and the car that was fastest in NASCAR Sprint Cup Series’ final practice on Friday, Jeff Gordon, will start fifth. Gordon, making his final start at Watkins Glen, a place where he’s won four times, set the pace in final practice on Friday, but couldn’t secure a spot in the first two rows to start Sunday’s Cheez-It 355 at The Glen.
Kyle Larson will roll off sixth, Dale Earnhardt Jr. seventh, Kyle Busch eighth, Jimmie Johnson ninth, and Austin Dillon rounds out the top-10.
Stay tuned for more from The Glen all weekend.
