NASCAR qualifying order for Cup Series at Watkins Glen in May 2026

The NASCAR Cup Series is set to arrive at Watkins Glen International for its 12th race of the 2026 season. It is the only date in Watkins Glen, as NASCAR visits the venue once per season. In 2025, Ryan Blaney won the pole for the Cup Series race at Watkins Glen, marking his second and final pole position during the season.

First, the Cup Series needs to qualify for the event in Watkins Glen, and the qualifying format is simple. The session will be split into Groups A and B. Each group will have a certain amount of time to complete a run. There will only be one round, so the best lap time will determine where a driver starts. The metric system determines the qualifying order and groups.

Below, you can check out the NASCAR qualifying order and groups for the 2026 Go Bowling At The Glen at Watkins Glen this weekend!

NASCAR Cup Series qualifying order for Watkins Glen International (May 2026):

(Qualifying Order)

• No. 78 Katherine Legge
• No. 41 Cole Custer
• No. 66 Josh Bilicki
• No. 51 Cody Ware
• No. 22 Joey Logano
• No. 20 Christopher Bell
• No. 34 Todd Gilliland
• No. 21 Josh Berry
• No. 4 Noah Gragson
• No. 54 Ty Gibbs
• No. 10 Ty Dillon
• No. 5 Kyle Larson
• No. 71 Michael McDowell
• No. 42 John Hunter Nemechek
• No. 1 Ross Chastain
• No. 16 AJ Allmendinger
• No. 8 Kyle Busch
• No. 38 Zane Smith
• No. 88 Connor Zilisch
• No. 19 Chase Briscoe
• No. 3 Austin Dillon
• No. 47 Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
• No. 97 Shane Van Gisbergen
• No. 35 Riley Herbst
• No. 43 Erik Jones
• No. 2 Austin Cindric
• No. 60 Ryan Preece
• No. 6 Brad Keselowski
• No. 48 Alex Bowman
• No. 23 Bubba Wallace
• No. 24 William Byron
• No. 7 Daniel Suarez
• No. 12 Ryan Blaney
• No. 77 Carson Hocevar
• No. 17 Chris Buescher
• No. 45 Tyler Reddick
• No. 11 Denny Hamlin
• No. 9 Chase Elliott

This article originally appeared on Motorsports Wire: NASCAR qualifying order for Cup Series at Watkins Glen in May 2026