Kevin Harvick Captures His First Pole Since 2006 at Kansas

          With a time of 28.796 seconds (187.526 mph), Kevin Harvick barely grabbed the pole at Kansas over Ricky Stenhouse Jr. It was the first pole for Harvick since New Hampshire in 2006. It may not sound like a lot of years, but put that in perspective with these facts. George Bush was still president of the United States, Kyle Busch had only raced one full year in the Cup Series, and Jimmie Johnson had not won a championship yet. Now, Barack Obama is the president, Kyle Busch is in his ninth year of competition in the Cup Series, and Jimmie Johnson is a five time champion in the highest level of our sport. It is hard to believe it has been so long since Harvick grabbed a pole, but it does not mean he did not run good as he has thirteen wins since that pole in 2006 including the race he grabbed that pole in at New Hampshire. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. came just short of his second career pole, but he will have a good starting spot come Sunday. The Chase field is also pretty spread out through the lineup. Kevin Harvick, Jimmie Johnson, and Joey Logano start in the top 5 while Ryan Newman, Kyle Busch, Kurt Busch, Clint Bowyer, and Greg Biffle start outside the top 15. It will be interesting to see how these drivers come up and go back in the field on Sunday. All in all, it was a very simple session of qualifying, but one that could have affects on the Chase and the race Sunday.

        Landon Cassill was the first driver on the track. He ran a slow lap compared to the field, but he made the race because only forty three drivers attempted the event. Early on, the pole switched back and forth between the first few drivers, but Ricky Stenhouse Jr. changed all that. He went out tenth and blistered Jimmie Johnson's provisional pole lap. It seemed like that lap would not hold up for long as Matt Kenseth went out next, but the lap stood up very well. After twenty drivers, Stenhouse continued to hold a good advantage over the rest of the field with his lap. After twenty seven drivers, Stenhouse still held the pole, but all that would change with the next driver. Kevin Harvick went out and beat Stenhouse's lap by seven thousandths of a second to take the provisional pole. Harvick looked like he was in control, but he had a few bullets to dodge. Harvick outlasted runs from Joey Logano, Paul Menard, Ryan Newman, Kurt Busch, and Jamie McMurray with only Mark Martin remaining. Martin went out and was unable to best Harvick as Kevin took the pole for Sunday's fourth Chase race at Kansas. 

        What a season it has been for Harvick. He took two wins early on in the season at Richmond and Charlotte before it was announced that he would not return to Richard Childress Racing for next season. After this announcement, he signed a contract with Stewart-Haas Racing to driver the number four next season. Since then, he has been very consistent and is the closest driver to the three drivers at the top of the standings. With this pole, Harvick could get even closer to the three at the top, but Jimmie Johnson and Matt Kenseth are going to be chasing at his heels. Johnson and Kenseth are still proving their dominance with starting positions at third and seventh, respectively. With these two running as hard as they have been in years, it will be a tough road for the rest of the Chase drivers, but it is still going to be an interesting fight for the title at Homestead. With a lot of Chase drivers starting further back, it will be a good fight on Sunday to see if these drivers can make it up through the pack. One thing is for sure: if the finish is as highly contested as it was in April, we are in for a good show on Sunday at Kansas.
(More Stats Down Below!)





Top 5 Qualifiers (With Times):
1st: Kevin Harvick     28.796 (187.526 mph)
2nd: Ricky Stenhouse Jr.     28.803 (187.480 mph)
3rd: Jimmie Johnson     28.852 (187.162 mph)
4th: Brad Keselowski     28.996 (186.233 mph)
5th: Joey Logano     29.006 (186.168 mph)

Notables Not in Top 5 (With Times):
6th: Dale Earnhardt Jr.     29.021 (186.072 mph)
7th: Matt Kenseth     29.049 (185.893 mph)
9th: Carl Edwards      29.084 (185.669 mph)
14th: Jeff Gordon     29.167 (185.141 mph)
15th: Kasey Kahne     29.192 (184.982 mph)
17th: Ryan Newman     29.248 (184.628 mph)
18th: Kyle Busch     29.252 (184.603 mph)
19th: Kurt Busch     29.272 (184.477 mph)
22nd: Clint Bowyer       29.391 (183.730 mph)
26th: Greg Biffle     29.540 (182.803 mph)

DNQs: None





Credits:
-My Own Notes
-Statistics:
http://www.nascar.com/en_us/sprint-cup-series/leaderboard/leaderboard-qualification.html
-Image:
http://www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/f1b402a6541bc173ac13159a625c3d2effd6a393/c=174-0-2832-2000&r=x404&c=534x401/local/-/media/USATODAY/test/2013/10/04/1380928323000-c04-harvick-05.jpg