Harvick Powers To Dover Pole

Kevin Harvick captured his seventh pole position of the 2014 season today, turning a  fast lap in 22.095 seconds, at 162.095 mph to earn the top starting spot for Sunday’s AAA 400 at Dover International Speedway.

“It is exciting,” said Harvick after his fast lap. “These guys do an awesome job in preparing the race cars. Our first time here this year, we struggled after we unloaded a little bit, but had it good by Saturday. We unloaded really good this time and it has carried through the weekend.

“It is going to be a good deal to have the first pit stall,” said Harvick, who has never started on the pole at Dover in his 14-year Sprint Cup Series career. “The good pit stalls are typically on that (Turn One) end of pit road, and if you wind up having to get out of your pit (when) guys are still coming in… it is hard to get out of your stall. So, I’m really excited."

Kyle Busch qualified second, followed by Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Denny Hamlin, Brad Keselowski and Jamie McMurray. Jeff Gordon, Kyle Larson, Jimmie Johnson, Clint Bowyer and Austin Dillon completed the Top-10.

Despite being a comfortable third in the Chase standings, Harvick said his strategy for Sunday’s race is “to try to win. That’s really the thinking at this particular point. Points-wise, we feel like we’re in good shape and we just want to keep building on the momentum we have to try to further that to lead into Kansas.

“It’s been an amazing year for everybody on our Budweiser Stewart-Haas Racing Team,” said Harvick. “They do a great job in preparing the race cars and put a lot of effort into qualifying, and it’s translated into a lot of good finishes. We’ve just got to keep doing what we’re doing.

POS       Car          Driver  

1                4               Kevin Harvick                   
2               18             Kyle Busch                           
3                11             Denny Hamlin                  
4               2               Brad Keselowski             
5               1                Jamie McMurray            
6               24            Jeff Gordon                         
7                42            Kyle Larson #  
8               48            Jimmie Johnson              
9               15             Clint Bowyer    
10             3                Austin Dillon #                 
11             55            Brian Vickers   
12             5               Kasey Kahne                      
13             10             Danica Patrick                  
14             20            Matt Kenseth                    
15             14             Tony Stewart  
16             22            Joey Logano                       
17             9               Marcos Ambrose            
18             99            Carl Edwards                     
19             27             Paul Menard    
20            31             Ryan Newman                 
21             43             Aric Almirola                     
22            41             Kurt Busch                           
23             51             Justin Allgaier #             
24            17             Ricky Stenhouse Jr.      
25            88            Dale Earnhardt Jr.         
26            78             Martin Truex Jr.               
27             16             Greg Biffle                           
28            47             AJ Allmendinger            
29            26            Cole Whitt #    
30             13             Casey Mears    
31             38             David Gilliland                 
32             98            Josh Wise           
33             36             Reed Sorenson                 
34             23             Alex Bowman #              
35             7                Michael Annett #           
36             40            Landon Cassill
37             34             David Ragan    
38             33             David Stremme              
39             32             JJ Yeley               
40            37             Mike Bliss          
41             66            Mike Wallace  
42            83             Travis Kvapil   
43             44            Timmy Hill