WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. (AP) — Martin Truex Jr. was the highest-qualified driver among 16 entering Sunday’s Cup race at Watkins Glen International, a much-needed boost for the 2017 NASCAR champion who needs a victory to secure a spot in the next round.
Truex was one of five playoff drivers to finish in the top 10 in the starting order Saturday on the 2.45-mile road course. Alex Bowman was fourth and Austin Cindric was fifth. Joey Logano, who advanced to the next round after his win last weekend in Atlanta, was seventh and Daniel Suarez was eighth.
Ross Chastain posted a top speed of 122.279 mph to win the pole, leading a top 10 that included road course aces Shane Van Gisbergen and AJ Allmendinger doing their best to play postseason spoilers.
Watkins Glen is the second race of the playoffs, and the field will be reduced to 12 after next week’s race at Bristol Motor Speedway.
Brad Keselowski, Harrison Burton, Truex and Chase Briscoe are in the final four spots of the playoff standings and are in win-or-lose mode. Ryan Blaney, Christopher Bell and Tyler Reddick should feel safe above the starting line. The other eight drivers need strong points performances — or a win, of course — to stay in the field of 12.
Keselowski will start 28th and Burton 33rd among the 38 drivers racing on Sunday.
Led by Chastain, Chevrolet had five drivers in the top 10, Ford had four and Truex was the only Toyota.
Truex was winless in his final full NASCAR season, and the Joe Gibbs Racing driver understood the challenges ahead as he entered Sunday 15th in the playoff field and 19 points off the threshold.
“It’s called a dip. Great players dip in other sports, and that’s how I feel,” Truex said. “I feel like we’re doing a lot of good things. We’ve got a lot of speed and we’re putting ourselves in position, we just have to put it all together. Some days I make mistakes, some days the team makes mistakes, some days, last week we got in a crash. There’s been a lot of them. We just have to put it all together in one day and hopefully that’s going to be it this weekend.”
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