Harvick wins pole in Kansas

Kevin Harvick puts his Chevy on the pole

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Kevin Harvick broke his own track record at Kansas Speedway and captured his eighth pole position of the 2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup season with a fast lap of 27.325 seconds, 197.621 mph. in his No. 4 Budweiser Chevrolet SS. Harvick also held the previous track record of 194.252 set on May 10, 2014. He will lead the 43-car field to the green in Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400 on the 1.5-mile tri-oval.

It was the 16th pole of the year for the Chevrolet SS, and ninth track qualifying record thus far this season for Team Chevy.

Harvick will start Sunday's Hollywood Casino 400 (2 p.m. ET, ESPN) from the pole a year after winning this race from that same position. He topped the final round of group qualifying with a blazing-fast speed of 197.621 mph. His speed of 197.773 was enough to top the second session, as well.

Lining up second and third are Brian Vickers and Aric Almirola, who ran laps of 196.307 and 196.150 in the final round, respectively. Almirola qualified for the initial 16-driver Chase Grid, but failed to qualify for the 12-driver Contender Round.

The next five drivers to line up are all in the Chase field. Joey Logano (196.050) qualified fourth, followed by Jeff Gordon (196.050), Brad Keselowski (196.021), Kyle Busch (195.972) and Dale Earnhardt Jr. (195.702) in eighth. Tony Stewart (195.518) and Kasey Kahne (195.362) round out the top 10.

Carl Edwards is the next Chase driver in the lineup at 12th overall, with a best speed of 194.721.

With just under five minutes remaining in the first of three qualifying rounds, defending champion Jimmie Johnson spun out and nearly lost all control of his No. 48 Chevrolet, but was able to corral it enough to avoid any damage. Still, his Hendrick Motorsports team elected to bring it into the garage area rather than get back out on track. The session was also red-flagged to clean up debris. With a best speed of 191.123, Johnson will start 32nd. It marks Johnson's lowest starting position in a Chase race since he qualified 32nd in the 2005 season finale at Homestead. He's also started 20th or worse at Kansas four times, finishing sixth, second, seventh and third.

Fellow Chasers and teammates Denny Hamlin (193.736) and Matt Kenseth (193.611) also missed the first round cut and will start 25th and 27th, respectively. Hamlin's speed actually tied that of Ryan Newman's, but Newman won the tiebreaker to advance (owners points). The Richard Childress Racing driver couldn't make the most of his opportunity, however, placing 17th in the second round with a speed of 195.016.

The Cup cars are back on track Saturday with a pair of practices that run from 11-11:50 a.m. ET (FS1) and 2-2:50 p.m. ET (FS2).

Kevin Harvick

Alan Marler/HHP for Chevy Racing

KEVIN HARVICK, NO. 4 BUDWEISER CHEVROLET SS – POLE WINNER

ON HIS YEAR THUS FAR, EARNING EIGHT POLES IN 2014 AND SETTING SIX TRACK RECORDS INCLUDING TODAY AT KANSAS SPEEDWAY:
"It's been just a phenomenal year. We have had some bad luck, but these guys continue to focus on the thing that they need to focus on and that is bringing fast cars. They are staying focused one practice at a time, one lap at a time and they are grinding away through the tests and the things that you have to do this time of year. That bad luck can't stay with us forever. You keep leading laps and qualifying well, you are going to win races. I have been in this deal before where it seems like everything is not going your way, but usually you are running bad too. Like I tell them, the problems we have are a lot better than the problems we don't have. We will just keep at it."

DO YOU FEEL PRETTY POSITIVE THIS IS THE RACE THAT IS GOING TO MOVE YOU TO THE NEXT ROUND?
"It could be anywhere. I truly feel like we can win at every style race track at any point. It's just a matter of everything going right. I have that kind of confidence in the race team that no matter where we go you don't think about how you are going to run. You know you are going to have cars that are capable of running well and if they don't you adjust on it and they always figure it out. Confidence is just a beautiful thing. Everybody has that and hasn't been deterred by the situations that we have been dealt."

THREE STRAIGHT POLES HERE AND YOU HAVE 250 LAPS OR SO THE LAST TWO RACES HERE DO YOU FEEL ANY MORE CONFIDENT ABOUT SUNDAY AFTER THIS POLE THAN SOME OF YOUR OTHER POLES THIS SEASON?
"I think at this point you just go grind it out. You just never know what the day is going to deal you. You know starting in the first pit stall that is going to be better than not starting in the first pit stall. You know starting up front is going to be better than starting in the middle of the pack. Like I say I'm confident that I can win anywhere. I feel good about the things that we did here last time. This is the same car, same stuff underneath it and still running good. I like it."

CAN YOU GET IN THE HEAD OF THESE DRIVERS THAT YOU ARE RACING AGAINST? IS THAT IMPORTANT TO BE ABLE TO DO THAT?
"Yeah, I don't know. I think for us we just have our nose down to the ground. How everybody else takes it it's probably not going to be Jeff Gordon that you deter from thinking correctly. As you run well and you continue to overcome circumstances you just become more confident in what you are doing. I have 100 percent confidence in what I'm doing and having fun with it."

HOW CLOSE IS YOUR QUALIFYING SET-UP TO WHAT YOU THINK YOU CAN BE ABLE TO RACE ON SUNDAY?
"I don't even know what they put under the thing for shocks and springs to tell you the truth. I have so much confidence in knowing that we have developed a good package I don't even ask anymore. They just told me that we were bringing the same car and I said ‘alright, can I see my throttle traces from last time.'"

DO YOU THINK YOUR SON IS GOING TO BE MAD WHEN HE SEES THIS VIDEO AND YOU ARE JOINED BY ANOTHER YOUNGSTER?
"(Following a spirited discussion with Alex Almirola (Aric Almirola's son who was joining him on stage asking if Keelan would be mad…) – There is so much going on right now. We have a lot going on at home as well. If we can win this week they can come the next two weeks and then they will have to stay home again at the races after that. That is our goal."

WE SAW JIMMIE JOHNSON SPIN OUT ON HIS OWN, WE HAVE SEEN THAT THE LAST FEW RACES HERE SINCE THE REPAVE DO YOU EXPECT TO SEE THAT ON SUNDAY? DO YOU EXPECT IT TO BE KIND OF TREACHEROUS, DANGEROUS RACE?
"Yeah, this is just a tough place to race just because the speeds are so high. You have to guard against the tires. The cars have a lot of downforce and when you get in traffic they get really loose. It's definitely a track position game. It's tough to pass in traffic, but I think the groove was widened out last time and I think it's going to widen out again. It should be a fun race."

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