bigbadbrother
03-14-2015, 04:22 PM
Tom Jensen
Avondale, Ariz. —
Reigning NASCAR Sprint Cup champion Kevin Harvick continues to be the hottest driver in the sport right now, and by a wide margin.
Under beautiful clear Arizona skies on Friday afternoon, Harvick won the pole for Sunday's CampingWorld.com 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Phoenix International Raceway.
The pole was Harvick's 15th of his career and his first at the 1-mile oval, although he has crushed the competition here of late, winning four of the last five PIR Sprint Cup races, including a sweep in 2014.
In his last six races overall dating back to last season, Harvick has three race victories and three runner-up finishes in the No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet. He has firmly established himself as the man to beat both this weekend and this year.
"I didn't actually know that we hadn't been on pole here, but to get that first pole with these guys and celebrate anything that we hadn't done or have done," is special, said Harvick, who had a pole lap of 140.751 miles per hour. "Every week is just a new adventure and it's pretty special to be a part of a group of guys like this."
Joey Logano was second fast at 140.543 mph in the No. 22 Penske Racing Ford and will start on the outside of Row 1 on Sunday.
"We were just a little bit on the snug side," said Logano, who qualified on the front row for the third week in a row.
Still, Logano was frustrated afterwards. "I want to be first," Logano said. "Second's just the first loser."
Jamie McMurray, Matt Kenseth and Ryan Newman completed the top five. Brad Keselowski qualified sixth and in his first race this year, Kurt Busch was eighth.
"Overall, just a pleasant day," said Busch. "Overwhelming support from the team, the garage area."
Among other drivers of note, Dale Earnhardt Jr. qualified 16th, Tony Stewart 17th and Danica Patrick 23rd.
Denny Hamlin and Clint Bowyer were among those who failed to make it out of the first of three rounds of qualifying. "We shouldn't have been that close to the bubble," said Hamlin, who qualified 25th.
Asked why his car was slow, Bowyer shook his head. "Hell, if I knew that, we'd fix it," said Bowyer, who qualified 30th.
Pre-qualifying inspection continued to be an issue, though less than in weeks past. The cars of Kurt Busch, JJ Yeley, Kevin Harvick, Alex Bowman, Michael Annett and Justin Allgaier all failed inspection twice, but passed on the third try.
Matt DiBenedetto's car flunked three times and made it through on the fourth. Per NASCAR's new policy enacted earlier this week, DiBenetto will have to serve a 15-minute penalty in the first round of practice next week at Auto Club Speedway.
Failing to qualify were Tanner Berryhill and Travis Kvapil.
CampingWorld.com 500
Qualifying
Pos Driver Car # Make Qual. Speed
1 Kevin Harvick 4 Chevrolet 140.751
2 Joey Logano 22 Ford 140.543
3 Jamie McMurray 1 Chevrolet 140.422
4 Matt Kenseth 20 Toyota 140.072
5 Ryan Newman 31 Chevrolet 139.833
6 Brad Keselowski 2 Ford 139.817
7 Carl Edwards 19 Toyota 139.779
8 Kurt Busch 41 Chevrolet 139.665
9 Kasey Kahne 5 Chevrolet 139.643
10 Jeff Gordon 24 Chevrolet 139.535
11 Austin Dillon 3 Chevrolet 138.969
12 Kyle Larson 42 Chevrolet 138.755
13 David Ragan 18 Toyota 139.157
14 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 17 Ford 139.141
15 Martin Truex Jr. 78 Chevrolet 138.884
16 Dale Earnhardt Jr. 88 Chevrolet 138.814
17 Tony Stewart 14 Chevrolet 138.718
18 Brian Vickers 55 Toyota 138.654
19 Greg Biffle 16 Ford 138.515
20 Jimmie Johnson 48 Chevrolet 138.483
21 Paul Menard 27 Chevrolet 138.478
22 AJ Allmendinger 47 Chevrolet 138.430
23 Danica Patrick 10 Chevrolet 138.297
24 Casey Mears 13 Chevrolet 137.862
25 Denny Hamlin 11 Toyota 137.562
26 Alex Bowman 7 Chevrolet 137.363
27 Sam Hornish Jr. 9 Ford 137.211
28 Justin Allgaier 51 Chevrolet 136.674
29 David Gilliland 38 Ford 136.586
30 Clint Bowyer 15 Toyota 136.550
31 Michael Annett 46 Chevrolet 136.467
32 Aric Almirola 43 Ford 136.405
33 Landon Cassill 40 Chevrolet 136.266
34 Josh Wise 98 Ford 136.245
35 Matt DiBenedetto 83 Toyota 135.834
36 Trevor Bayne 6 Ford 135.675
37 Mike Bliss 32 Ford 135.110
38 Brett Moffitt 34 Ford 135.029
39 Cole Whitt 35 Ford 134.948
40 J.J. Yeley 23 Toyota 134.625
41 Jeb Burton 26 Toyota 134.409
42 Brendan Gaughan 62 Chevrolet 133.417
43 Alex Kennedy 33 Chevrolet 132.319
44 Tanner Berryhill 66 Chevrolet DNQ
45 Travis Kvapil 44 Chevrolet DNQ
Avondale, Ariz. —
Reigning NASCAR Sprint Cup champion Kevin Harvick continues to be the hottest driver in the sport right now, and by a wide margin.
Under beautiful clear Arizona skies on Friday afternoon, Harvick won the pole for Sunday's CampingWorld.com 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Phoenix International Raceway.
The pole was Harvick's 15th of his career and his first at the 1-mile oval, although he has crushed the competition here of late, winning four of the last five PIR Sprint Cup races, including a sweep in 2014.
In his last six races overall dating back to last season, Harvick has three race victories and three runner-up finishes in the No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet. He has firmly established himself as the man to beat both this weekend and this year.
"I didn't actually know that we hadn't been on pole here, but to get that first pole with these guys and celebrate anything that we hadn't done or have done," is special, said Harvick, who had a pole lap of 140.751 miles per hour. "Every week is just a new adventure and it's pretty special to be a part of a group of guys like this."
Joey Logano was second fast at 140.543 mph in the No. 22 Penske Racing Ford and will start on the outside of Row 1 on Sunday.
"We were just a little bit on the snug side," said Logano, who qualified on the front row for the third week in a row.
Still, Logano was frustrated afterwards. "I want to be first," Logano said. "Second's just the first loser."
Jamie McMurray, Matt Kenseth and Ryan Newman completed the top five. Brad Keselowski qualified sixth and in his first race this year, Kurt Busch was eighth.
"Overall, just a pleasant day," said Busch. "Overwhelming support from the team, the garage area."
Among other drivers of note, Dale Earnhardt Jr. qualified 16th, Tony Stewart 17th and Danica Patrick 23rd.
Denny Hamlin and Clint Bowyer were among those who failed to make it out of the first of three rounds of qualifying. "We shouldn't have been that close to the bubble," said Hamlin, who qualified 25th.
Asked why his car was slow, Bowyer shook his head. "Hell, if I knew that, we'd fix it," said Bowyer, who qualified 30th.
Pre-qualifying inspection continued to be an issue, though less than in weeks past. The cars of Kurt Busch, JJ Yeley, Kevin Harvick, Alex Bowman, Michael Annett and Justin Allgaier all failed inspection twice, but passed on the third try.
Matt DiBenedetto's car flunked three times and made it through on the fourth. Per NASCAR's new policy enacted earlier this week, DiBenetto will have to serve a 15-minute penalty in the first round of practice next week at Auto Club Speedway.
Failing to qualify were Tanner Berryhill and Travis Kvapil.
CampingWorld.com 500
Qualifying
Pos Driver Car # Make Qual. Speed
1 Kevin Harvick 4 Chevrolet 140.751
2 Joey Logano 22 Ford 140.543
3 Jamie McMurray 1 Chevrolet 140.422
4 Matt Kenseth 20 Toyota 140.072
5 Ryan Newman 31 Chevrolet 139.833
6 Brad Keselowski 2 Ford 139.817
7 Carl Edwards 19 Toyota 139.779
8 Kurt Busch 41 Chevrolet 139.665
9 Kasey Kahne 5 Chevrolet 139.643
10 Jeff Gordon 24 Chevrolet 139.535
11 Austin Dillon 3 Chevrolet 138.969
12 Kyle Larson 42 Chevrolet 138.755
13 David Ragan 18 Toyota 139.157
14 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 17 Ford 139.141
15 Martin Truex Jr. 78 Chevrolet 138.884
16 Dale Earnhardt Jr. 88 Chevrolet 138.814
17 Tony Stewart 14 Chevrolet 138.718
18 Brian Vickers 55 Toyota 138.654
19 Greg Biffle 16 Ford 138.515
20 Jimmie Johnson 48 Chevrolet 138.483
21 Paul Menard 27 Chevrolet 138.478
22 AJ Allmendinger 47 Chevrolet 138.430
23 Danica Patrick 10 Chevrolet 138.297
24 Casey Mears 13 Chevrolet 137.862
25 Denny Hamlin 11 Toyota 137.562
26 Alex Bowman 7 Chevrolet 137.363
27 Sam Hornish Jr. 9 Ford 137.211
28 Justin Allgaier 51 Chevrolet 136.674
29 David Gilliland 38 Ford 136.586
30 Clint Bowyer 15 Toyota 136.550
31 Michael Annett 46 Chevrolet 136.467
32 Aric Almirola 43 Ford 136.405
33 Landon Cassill 40 Chevrolet 136.266
34 Josh Wise 98 Ford 136.245
35 Matt DiBenedetto 83 Toyota 135.834
36 Trevor Bayne 6 Ford 135.675
37 Mike Bliss 32 Ford 135.110
38 Brett Moffitt 34 Ford 135.029
39 Cole Whitt 35 Ford 134.948
40 J.J. Yeley 23 Toyota 134.625
41 Jeb Burton 26 Toyota 134.409
42 Brendan Gaughan 62 Chevrolet 133.417
43 Alex Kennedy 33 Chevrolet 132.319
44 Tanner Berryhill 66 Chevrolet DNQ
45 Travis Kvapil 44 Chevrolet DNQ