Kevin Harvick poses with the Coors Light Pole Award after qualifying for pole position for Sunday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Kansas Speedway. Photo by NASCAR via Getty Images
When you think of potential pole winners for NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races, Kevin Harvick is nowhere near the top of the list.
But Harvick scratched a seven-year itch during Friday’s time trials at Kansas Speedway.
Covering the 1.5-mile distance in 28.796 seconds (187.526 mph), Harvick won the pole for Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400, the fourth race in the Chase for the Sprint Cup.
In claiming his first Coors Light pole award after a dry spell of 254 races dating to September 2006 at New Hampshire, Harvick edged Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. (187.480 mph) by .007 seconds. Harvick earned the top starting spot for a Cup race for the sixth time in 460 tries.
The pole is a good jump start for Harvick in his attempt to reel in Chase leader Matt Kenseth. Harvick is tied for fourth in the standings with Jeff Gordon, 39 points behind Kenseth, 31 behind Jimmie Johnson in third and 27 behind Kyle Busch in third.
Johnson qualified third at 187.162 mph, with Brad Keselowski (186.233 mph), Joey Logano (186.168 mph) and Dale Earnhardt Jr. (186.072 mph) lining up in positions four through six. Kenseth qualified seventh at 185.893 mph, with Busch a disappointing 18th at 184.603 mph.
With Harvick in a lame-duck season, the result of an announced moved to Stewart-Haas Racing next year, the driver of the No. 29 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet is used to being discounted when it comes to his championship prospects.
“To be honest with you, I walked into media day (in February at Daytona), and there were two people standing in line to conduct interviews, so from day one of this year, everybody’s kind of written us off,” Harvick said.
“We’re three races into the Chase, and it is what it is. We’ve done our thing and put ourselves in position to just go out and race and enjoy it.”
Winning the pole gives Harvick the luxury of picking pit stall No. 1, closest to the exit from pit road. That can be a huge factor late in the race.
“The first pit stall is definitely important,” Harvick said. “It’s obviously not going to hurt anything to be down on that end of pit road. When it comes down to the end of the race and everybody’s got the two-tire strategy, no-tire strategy, four tires—whatever the strategy may be—you should be able to get off pit road pretty well.”
Stenhouse, who won his first career pole in August at Atlanta, was disappointed to miss getting a second one by such a slim margin. To Stenhouse, waiting seven years between poles, as Harvick did, is not an option.
“Hopefully, we don’t go that long without a pole,” Stenhouse said. “I really wish that he (Harvick) didn’t have a pole, so that I could have another one. I’m getting kind of greedy.”
In addition to Harvick, Johnson, Logano, Earnhardt, Kenseth and Kyle Busch, other Chase drivers qualified as follows: Carl Edwards, ninth; Jeff Gordon, 14th; Kasey Kahne, 15th; Ryan Newman, 17th; Kurt Busch, 19th; Clint Bowyer, 22nd; and Greg Biffle, 26th.
Note: The pole was the first for Richard Childress Racing since Clint Bowyer was the fastest qualifier for the Chase race at New Hampshire in September 2007.
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
Kansas Speedway – Kansas City, KS
Hollywood Casino 400 Qualifying – Oct. 4, 2013
1. 29 Kevin Harvick 28.796 187.526
2. 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 28.803 187.480
3. 48 Jimmie Johnson 28.852 187.162
4. 2 Brad Keselowski 28.996 186.233
5. 22 Joey Logano 29.006 186.168
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7. 20 Matt Kenseth 29.049 185.893
8. 27 Paul Menard 29.052 185.874
9. 99 Carl Edwards 29.084 185.669
10. 11 Denny Hamlin 29.121 185.433
11. 55 Brian Vickers 29.123 185.420
12. 42 Juan Pablo Montoya 29.148 185.261
13. 56 Martin Truex Jr. 29.157 185.204
14. 24 Jeff Gordon 29.167 185.141
15. 5 Kasey Kahne 29.192 184.982
16. 31 Jeff Burton 29.201 184.925
17. 39 Ryan Newman 29.248 184.628
18. 18 Kyle Busch 29.252 184.603
19. 78 Kurt Busch 29.272 184.477
20. 43 Aric Almirola 29.287 184.382
21. 51 Justin Allgaier 29.331 184.106
22. 15 Clint Bowyer 29.391 183.730
23. 14 Mark Martin 29.401 183.667
24. 1 Jamie McMurray 29.447 183.380
25. 9 Marcos Ambrose 29.497 183.069
26. 16 Greg Biffle 29.540 182.803
27. 83 David Reutimann 29.559 182.685
28. 47 AJ Allmendinger 29.584 182..531
29. 10 Danica Patrick 29.664 182.039
30. 30 Cole Whitt 29.667 182.020
31. 98 Michael McDowell 29.675 181.971
32. 34 David Ragan 29.677 181.959
33. 36 JJ Yeley 29.678 181.953
34. 38 David Gilliland 29.688 181.892
35. 32 Timmy Hill 29.696 181.843
36. 93 Travis Kvapil 29.698 181.830
37. 13 Casey Mears Owner Points
38. 35 Josh Wise Owner Points
39. 87 Joe Nemechek Owner Points
40. 95 Reed Sorenson Owner Points
41. 7 Dave Blaney Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet Owner Points
42. 40 Tony Raines Owner Points
43. 33 Landon Cassill Owner Points
Did Not Qualify: None
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