2008 Pole Sitter: none, rained out, #18-Kyle Busch, started 1st, finished 1st

Track Qualifying Record: Jeff Gordon, August 2003, 124.580mph

Fastest Last Practice Speed: #2-Kurt Busch, 124.362mph, scheduled to qualify 11th out of 46 drivers

Johnson on pole at Watkins Glen: #48-Jimmie Johnson won the Coors Light Pole Award for the Heluva Good! Sour Cream Dips at The Glen with a lap of 123.663mph for his 1st pole of the season and 20th career pole. Johnson how now won at least one pole a year for 8 straight seasons [all 8 seasons of his career]. #2-Busch was 2nd fastest followed by #11-Hamlin, #47-Ambrose, #12-Stremme, #39-Nemechek, #16-Biffle, #18-Busch, #08-Said and #42-Montoya. Points leader #14-Stewart will start 13th and #24-Gordon had a poor run and qualified 31st. The fastest 43 cars made the race and the three slowest failed to qualify.
The non Top-35 drivers who made the race: #08-Said, #13-Papis, #71-Lally, #82-Speed, #09-Fellows, #04-Jones, #66-Blaney and #37-Ave.
The three drivers who failed to qualify: #87-Nemechek, #36-Simo and #70-Gilliland [his first DNQ of the season, but in a different car, the #71 Chevy he usually drives, qualified 15th.(8-7-2009)

Qualifying Fast Facts - Watkins Glen International:
#48-Jimmie Johnson won the Coors Light Pole Award for the Heluva Good! Sour Cream Dips at The Glen (23rd Running) with a lap of 71.340 seconds, 123.633 mph.
This is his 20th pole in 277 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races.
This is his first pole and 17th top-10 start in 2009.
This is his first pole in eight races at Watkins Glen International.
#2-Kurt Busch (second) posted his 12th top-10 start of 2009 and his sixth in nine races at Watkins Glen International.
#11-Denny Hamlin (third) posted his fourth top-10 start at Watkins Glen International. It is his 10th in 22 races this season.
#13-Max Papis (16th) was the fastest qualifying rookie.(NASCAR Statistics)(8-7-2009)

Coverage of Qualifying for the Heluva Good! Sour Cream Dips at The Glen at Watkins Glen International is scheduled for Friday, August 7, 2009 at 3:10pm/et.
TV: ESPN2 - 3:00pm/et
Radio: MRN Radio and Sirius XM Satellite NASCAR Radio
Jayski.com: Jayski's FREE Semi-Live Qualifying Page
Qualifying Re-Air: none scheduled

Pole Progression: (who had the pole first, who got it next and who ended up with it)
#42-Montoya, 1st out to qualify, 122.081mph, starts 10th
#11-Hamlin, 3rd out, 123.093, starts 3rd
#48-Johnson, 9th out, 123.663, starts 1st

How did the non Top-35 teams do in qualifying?
Fastest 7 get in, 8th [43rd] spot goes to most recent past champ not in the race already or 8th fastest
[46 entered for 43 spots]:
have qualified for the race:
#08-Boris Said, 122.495
#71-Andy Lally, 121.722
#13-Max Papis, 121.654
#82-Scott Speed, 121.185
#09-Ron Fellows, 120.581
#04-P.J. Jones, 120.416
#66-Dave Blaney, 119.900
#37-Tony Ave, 119.787
will miss the race:
#87-Joe Nemechek, 119.770
#36-Brian Simo, 118.895
#70-David Gilliland, 118.671

Rookie of the Year Candidates: how fast were they and where do they start:
#13-Max Papis (X), 121.654mph, starts 16th
#20-Joey Logano, 120.838mph, starts 35th
#82-Scott Speed (X), 121.185mph, starts 26th
(X) = needs to race their way in to the race
DNR = Did not race
DNQ = Did not qualify for race

Some Qualifying Notes:
#11-Hamlin was scheduled to go out first, but was late making it back from the Nationwide garage after practicing for that race. Hamlin went out 3rd, will not be penalized. #42-Montoya went out 1st, didn't seem too happy about it.

Practice Results:
Practice Speeds Page

Fastest Qualifier by Manufacturer::
Chevy: #48-Johnson, 123.663, starts 1st
Dodge: #2-Busch, 123.619, starts 2nd
Ford: #16-Biffle, 122.519, starts 7th
Toyota: #11-Hamlin, 123.093, starts 3rd

Race info at: Race Info Page

Event Entry List

Past Champions Provisional page

All Time Sprint Cup Pole Winners

After the 5th race of the season, the current season OWNERS points are used:
#1) - First 35 by current Owner Points [team does not have to attempt all the races]
#2) - Last Years Cup Champ or the Event Champion if not already in the field
#3) - Car Owners whose team has won in the previous and current season not already in the field
#4) - Drivers who have won in the previous and current season not already in the field
#5) - Past Nextel Cup Champions not in by 1 thru 4
#6) - Qualifying Attempts with Owners points as the tie breaker
#7) - Qualifying Order Position
(all above apply as long as the team was entered by the entry deadline - usually 7-13 days before the race)