Kevin Harvick will start on the pole in Sunday’s O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 at Texas Motor Speedway. Harvick, driving the No. 4 Jimmy John’s Ford, swept all three rounds of the qualifying session.
In round one, Harvick posted a 27.565, 195.901 mph. lap to sit atop the leaderboard. In round two, the California native posted a 27.307, 197.751 mph. lap around the 1.5-mile Texas oval. In round three, Harvick continued to show strength by posting the fastest lap once again with a 27.217, 198.405 mph. to earn the front row start.
“I just didn’t feel like I got through turns 1 and 2 like I needed to. The front took off and I didn’t want to do what everyone was doing in practice and get out of the groove and drive it into the wall,” Harvick said after earning the pole. “I’m just really proud of everyone on our Jimmy Johns/Busch Ford. I have to thank everyone at Mobil 1, Outback, Hunt Brothers, Morton Off Road for sticking behind us with this Ford. It’s been a stressful day. Coming in and breaking in a new race track and going out there running as fast as we had to run for qualifying. I have to say thank you to the Xfinity guys for letting me run that car this weekend because I really think the reps allowed us learn some things that I was able to apply here.”
The pole will give Harvick his 19th career Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series pole. The California native also becomes the first driver to capture multiple poles this season.
Ryan Blaney, driving the No. 21 Motorcraft / Quick Lane Ford for Wood Brothers Racing, will start second in Sunday’s race. Blaney sat sixth on the leaderboard in round one and fifth in round two.
“Yeah, three and four we got a little tight out there. I should have raised the track bar down the back,” said Blaney after qualifying. “We got better each round which is always encouraging, always what you want. You never want to get worse or make the wrong adjustments. I feel this year we’ve gotten better going round by round. Man, I heard that they give you a shotgun when you win the pole here. I saw my lap and thought that might do it but Kevin (Harvick) just snuck by us. I think I have a really fast Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford Fusion. It was even good in race trim today. The track has come a long way in a few hours and hopefully it will widen out even more for the Xfinity race tomorrow and for our practices. Not a bad start to the weekend.”
It’ll mark the fourth top five start for the team this season. He’ll try to use it as momentum as he looks to capture his second top five finish of the year.
Blaney posted a lap of 27.270, 198.020 mph. in the final round of knockout qualifying.
Rounding out the top three starters on Sunday will be Clint Bowyer in the No. 14Ford. Bowyer, a teammate of Harvick, tied Blaney for second in the final round. Because the tie-breaker goes by driver points standings, Bowyer will be placed third on Sunday’s starting grid.
“We are just steady-Eddie right now. It is fun to be with this group,” said Bowyer after qualifying. “It seems like every time you give Bugga and the guys a chance to work on it they make it better for me. It is fun to be in this situation and have these teammates that are fast and running up front. You go into a weekend like this with a lot of unknowns and it is the teamwork that pulls you through and makes you strong. Really nice day for us and the 14 team and also for Ford. Sweeping the top-five is big.”
Rounding out the top five starting spots will be Team Penske drivers Joey Logano and Brad Keselowski – making the top five starting spots all Ford drivers. Logano is a former winner at Texas – driving to victory lane in April of 2014.
Several drivers had issues getting through inspection and were not able to take laps. Those nine drivers were Timmy Hill, Kyle Busch, Derrike Cope, Kasey Kahne, Chris Buescher, Kyle Larson, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Chase Elliott and Erik Jones. However, with 40 drivers on the weekend entry list, nobody went home.
The clock stopped for one incident throughout the three rounds of qualifying. It involved Jimmie Johnson just past halfway in the first round on the backstretch. He will start Sunday’s race at the rear of the field because the Chevrolet will need brand-new tires.
About Me: Brett has been following the sport of NASCAR since the beginning of the 2006 NASCAR Sprint Cup season. Since Brett was 13, he has had a passion of chasing a job in sports that not many get the opportunity of doing. He has been in the NASCAR media since the middle of the 2010 season. Since then, he has been a part of many racing podcast shows to improve his talents. He has written for racingonfuel.com and theracingwheel.com. Currently, Brett writes for motorsportsnat.com and TracksideChatter.com. You can find him on twitter @NASCAR_Brett.
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