Kasey Kahne scored his first NASCAR Sprint Cup pole in three years by setting the fastest time in the final round of qualifying for the Quicken Loans 400 at Michigan International Speedway.

Kahne’s first pole since 2012 edged him ahead of defending series champion and points leader, Kevin Harvick, who was fastest in the opening two rounds of qualifying and practice.

Kahne’s pole time matched what Harvick had managed in round two – 35.645-seconds.

If Harvick finishes in the top-2 this weekend at Michigan he will become the first driver in Sprint Cup history to have 11 top-2 finishes in the first 15 races of the season.

Brad Keselowski was third ahead of Carl Edwards, while Ryan Blaney was a surprise fifth for Wood Brothers Racing; which only compete part-time in the Sprint Cup these days.

Kahne’s Hendrick Motorsports team-mates Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson – the two winners at Michigan last year – had to settle for sixth and eighth respectively.

After winning last week at Pocono, Martin Truex Jr was ninth ahead of Kyle Busch, Joey Logano and Matt Kenseth.

Brendan Gaughan was the one driver from the 44-car field not to qualify for the race.

QUALIFYING: Quicken Loans 400 – Michigan International Speedway

POS.	CAR #	DRIVER	MANUFACTURER	SPONSOR	MPH	BEST TIME	BEHIND
1	5	Kasey Kahne		Great Clips	201.992	35.645	Leader
2	4	Kevin Harvick		Budweiser / Jimmy John’s	201.613	35.712	–0.067
3	2	Brad Keselowski		Miller Lite	201.449	35.741	–0.096
4	19	Carl Edwards		Arris	201.067	35.809	–0.164
5	21	Ryan Blaney		Motorcraft / Quick Lane Tire & Auto Center	201.056	35.811	–0.166
6	24	Jeff Gordon		Panasonic	200.988	35.823	–0.178
7	3	Austin Dillon		American Ethanol	200.915	35.836	–0.191
8	48	Jimmie Johnson		Kobalt Tools	200.658	35.882	–0.237
9	78	Martin Truex Jr		Furniture Row/Visser Precision	200.579	35.896	–0.251
10	18	Kyle Busch		M&M’s Crispy	200.468	35.916	–0.271
11	22	Joey Logano		Shell Pennzoil	200.418	35.925	–0.280
12	20	Matt Kenseth		Dollar General	199.579	36.076	–0.431
13	11	Denny Hamlin		FedEx Express	199.933	36.012	–0.367
14	88	Dale Earnhardt Jr		AMP ENERGY	199.928	36.013	–0.368
15	14	Tony Stewart		Bass Pro Shops / Mobil 1	199.662	36.061	–0.416
16	42	Kyle Larson		Target	199.435	36.102	–0.457
17	27	Paul Menard		Moen / Menards	199.352	36.117	–0.472
18	55	David Ragan		Aaron’s Dream Machine	198.983	36.184	–0.539
19	10	Danica Patrick		GoDaddy	198.462	36.279	–0.634
20	6	Trevor Bayne		Advocare Ford Fusion	198.380	36.294	–0.649
21	16	Greg Biffle		Safety-Kleen Ford Fusion	198.216	36.324	–0.679
22	33	Ty Dillon		Nexium 24HR	198.183	36.330	–0.685
23	31	Ryan Newman		Quicken Loans	198.129	36.340	–0.695
24	41	Kurt Busch		Haas Automation	197.585	36.440	–0.795
25	1	Jamie McMurray		McDonald’s	196.727	36.599	–0.954
26	43	Aric Almirola		Smithfield	196.694	36.605	–0.960
27	13	Casey Mears		No. 13 GEICO Chevrolet SS	196.560	36.630	–0.985
28	7	Alex Bowman		Racing-Rewards.com	196.415	36.657	–1.012
29	40	Landon Cassill		Carsforsale.com	196.399	36.660	–1.015
30	9	Sam Hornish Jr		Medallion Bank	195.716	36.788	–1.143
31	47	AJ Allmendinger		Kroger/Hungry Jack	195.588	36.812	–1.167
32	15	Clint Bowyer		Cherry 5-hour Energy benefiting Special Operations Warrior Foundation	195.578	36.814	–1.169
33	17	Ricky Stenhouse Jr		Fastenal Ford Fusion	195.578	36.814	–1.169
34	38	David Gilliland		Love’s Travel Stops	195.487	36.831	–1.186
35	46	Michael Annett		Pilot Flying J	194.679	36.984	–1.339
36	51	Justin Allgaier		Switch Hitch	194.049	37.104	–1.459
37	34	Brett Moffitt		Dockside Logistics	193.574	37.195	–1.550
38	26	Jeb Burton		Maxim	193.538	37.202	–1.557
39	98	Josh Wise		TBA	192.869	37.331	–1.686
40	35	Cole Whitt		Speed Stick	192.859	37.333	–1.688
41	23	J.J. Yeley		Dr Pepper	191.215	37.654	–2.009
42	32	Mike Bliss		Skuttle Tight/CorvetteParts.net	190.491	37.797	–2.152
43	83	Matt DiBenedetto		Burger King	189.608	37.973	–2.328

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