Kevin Harvick scored his first ever pole at the ‘Monster Mile’ as his debut season with Stewart-Haas continues to give him a chance at winning the title.
In fact Harvick only needs to finish 34th or better to advance to the next stage of the Chase for the Sprint Cup.
Harvick form in qualifying in 2014 has been even more impressive considering that he only had six career poles up until the start of the season.
“They just 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,” said Harvick.
“We’ve just got to keep doing what we’re doing. Obviously, track position is huge here, especially at the beginning of the race. I’ve never been in that [No. 1] stall [at Dover], so I guess it’s gonna be OK on that end of pit road.”
41 points ahead of the cut-off, Harvick is fully aware of his position to advance, but wants to win so that he has momentum on his side.
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“You just want to keep building on the momentum that we have, to try and further that as we lead into Kansas, “said Harvick.
Going into the race Denny Hamlin, Greg Biffle, Kurt Busch, and Aric Almirola are the four drivers that are outside the Top 12 in the Chase Grid. Hamlin’s weekend has started on the right note with a second row starting spot.
Australia’s Marcos Ambrose will start from 17th, but enjoys racing at Dover and feels confident that he can challenge inside the top-10.
“I think everyone was sliding around out there and looking for grip. We held on pretty good,” said Ambrose
“We wanted to advance and felt like our first run was close. We had to go out again, but we knew that was going to be tough to get a better lap.
“It’s not a bad starting spot, and our Twisted Tea Ford has been fast today. We feel good about Sunday.”
LINE-UP: AAA400 – Dover International Speedway
| POS. | CAR # | DRIVER | MANUFACTURER | SPONSOR | MPH | TIME | BEHIND |
| 1 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | Chevrolet | Budweiser | 162.933 | 22.095 | Leader |
| 2 | 18 | Kyle Busch | Toyota | Interstate Batteries | 162.404 | 22.167 | –0.072 |
| 3 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Toyota | FedEx Freight | 162.250 | 22.188 | –0.093 |
| 4 | 2 | Brad Keselowski | Ford | Wurth | 162.140 | 22.203 | –0.108 |
| 5 | 1 | Jamie McMurray | Chevrolet | McDonald’s | 161.936 | 22.231 | –0.136 |
| 6 | 24 | Jeff Gordon | Chevrolet | Drive to End Hunger | 161.573 | 22.281 | –0.186 |
| 7 | 42 | Kyle Larson | Chevrolet | Target | 161.457 | 22.297 | –0.202 |
| 8 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson | Chevrolet | Lowe’s / Kobalt Tools | 161.298 | 22.319 | –0.224 |
| 9 | 15 | Clint Bowyer | Toyota | 5-Hour Energy | 160.643 | 22.410 | –0.315 |
| 10 | 3 | Austin Dillon | Chevrolet | Dow | 160.506 | 22.429 | –0.334 |
| 11 | 55 | Brian Vickers | Toyota | Aaron’s Dream Machine | 160.492 | 22.431 | –0.336 |
| 12 | 5 | Kasey Kahne | Chevrolet | Farmer’s Insurance | 160.192 | 22.473 | –0.378 |
| 13 | 10 | Danica Patrick | Chevrolet | GoDaddy | 161.196 | 22.333 | –0.238 |
| 14 | 20 | Matt Kenseth | Toyota | Home Depot Husky | 161.132 | 22.342 | –0.247 |
| 15 | 14 | Tony Stewart | Chevrolet | Mobil 1 / Bass Pro Shops | 161.016 | 22.358 | –0.263 |
| 16 | 22 | Joey Logano | Ford | Shell Pennzoil | 160.879 | 22.377 | –0.282 |
| 17 | 9 | Marcos Ambrose | Ford | Twisted Tea | 160.808 | 22.387 | –0.292 |
| 18 | 99 | Carl Edwards | Ford | Fastenal | 160.707 | 22.401 | –0.306 |
| 19 | 27 | Paul Menard | Chevrolet | Certain Teed / Menards | 160.635 | 22.411 | –0.316 |
| 20 | 31 | Ryan Newman | Chevrolet | Quicken Loans “Design A Scheme” | 160.621 | 22.413 | –0.318 |
| 21 | 43 | Aric Almirola | Ford | Nathan’s Famous | 160.585 | 22.418 | –0.323 |
| 22 | 41 | Kurt Busch | Chevrolet | Haas Automation | 160.528 | 22.426 | –0.331 |
| 23 | 51 | Justin Allgaier | Chevrolet | BRANDT Professional Agriculture | 160.449 | 22.437 | –0.342 |
| 24 | 17 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr | Ford | Zest | 160.421 | 22.441 | –0.346 |
| 25 | 88 | Dale Earnhardt Jr | Chevrolet | National Guard | 160.399 | 22.444 | –0.349 |
| 26 | 78 | Martin Truex Jr | Chevrolet | Furniture Row | 160.142 | 22.480 | –0.385 |
| 27 | 16 | Greg Biffle | Ford | Post-it | 159.929 | 22.510 | –0.415 |
| 28 | 47 | AJ Allmendinger | Chevrolet | Hungry Jack / ACME | 159.865 | 22.519 | –0.424 |
| 29 | 26 | Cole Whitt | Toyota | Uponor Toyota | 159.716 | 22.540 | –0.445 |
| 30 | 13 | Casey Mears | Chevrolet | No. 13 GEICO Chevrolet SS | 159.200 | 22.613 | –0.518 |
| 31 | 38 | David Gilliland | Ford | Long John Silver’s | 159.123 | 22.624 | –0.529 |
| 32 | 98 | Josh Wise | Chevrolet | Phil Parsons Racing | 158.249 | 22.749 | –0.654 |
| 33 | 36 | Reed Sorenson | Chevrolet | American Muscle Driving Experience Chevrolet | 158.172 | 22.760 | –0.665 |
| 34 | 23 | Alex Bowman | Toyota | Dr. Pepper Toyota | 158.089 | 22.772 | –0.677 |
| 35 | 7 | Michael Annett | Chevrolet | Cypress HQ No. 7 Chevrolet | 157.971 | 22.789 | –0.694 |
| 36 | 40 | Landon Cassill | Chevrolet | Newtown Building Supplies | 157.137 | 22.910 | –0.815 |
| 37 | 34 | David Ragan | Ford | PLIMPTON & HILLS | 157.054 | 22.922 | –0.827 |
| 38 | 33 | David Stremme | Chevrolet | Little Joe’s Autos | 156.359 | 23.024 | –0.929 |
| 39 | 32 | J.J. Yeley | Ford | CorvetteParts.net | 156.169 | 23.052 | –0.957 |
| 40 | 37 | Mike Bliss | Chevrolet | Accell Construction Inc. | 156.040 | 23.071 | –0.976 |
| 41 | 66 | Mike Wallace | Toyota | Land Castle Title | 156.020 | 23.074 | –0.979 |
| 42 | 83 | Travis Kvapil | Toyota | Burger King Toyota | 153.479 | 23.456 | –1.361 |
| 43 | 44 | Timmy Hill | Chevrolet | Phoenix Warehouse | 152.355 | 23.629 | –1.534 |
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