Kevin Harvick Leads Team Sweep in Kansas Qualifying

Kevin Harvick notched his third pole of the season on Friday
Brian Lawdermilk/Getty Images

After Friday afternoon's Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series qualifying session at Kansas Speedway, the question "What's wrong with the Stewart-Haas cars?" may be a dead issue.

Hurtling around the 1.5-mile track in 30.131 seconds (179.217 mph), Kevin Harvick led a four-car Stewart-Haas Racing sweep of time trials for Saturday's Digital Ally 400.

Harvick was .083 seconds faster than teammate Aric Almirola (178.725 mph), who in turned topped Clint Bowyer (178.324 mph) by .068 seconds. Daniel Suarez completed the SHR monopoly at 178.247 mph.

[adinserter name="GOOGLE AD"]The Busch Pole Award was Harvick's third of the season, his fifth at Kansas and the 28th of his career. The driver of the No. 4 Ford picked up his third victory at the 1.5-mile track in this race last year, when he also started from the pole.

Harvick's performance in time trials backed up the speed he showed during Friday's final practice, when his fastest lap was fourth on the speed chart, and his consecutive averages for 10, 15 and 20 laps were fastest across the board.

"I thought we had a chance at the pole," said Harvick, who is looking for his first victory of 2019 after a banner eight-win season last year. "We didn't know exactly how fast it would run, and the guys did a great job. Really, this is a car that's been a couple months in the making.

Harvick (front) placed fourth in Friday's final practice
Brian Lawdermilk/Getty Images

"We knew we had some work to do on the mile-and-a-half race tracks with this particular package, and every department at Stewart-Haas Racing and the engine shop at Roush Yates—obviously, they've won a few races this year (with Team Penske). But they just continue to work, and the guys on this team have done a great job of detailing things out…

"I'm happy with how my car drove. It has a ton of speed, and hopefully we can capitalize on it."

Bowyer, from nearby Emporia, Kansas, held the top spot in qualifying until Almirola and Harvick surpassed him in quick succession.

"It's fun to be back at Kansas," said Bowyer, who best finish at the track (second) came in 2007. "It's fun to be in a fast car at home. That's the biggest thing. You come home and you just want to run good. I have been beat up pretty bad here.

"There are so many media members, fans, family, everybody tells me how I have to do better at home. Obviously, everybody at Stewart-Haas Racing has been working hard to get us in victory lane and I think their efforts are really starting to show."

Chase Elliott qualified fifth in the fastest Chevrolet, with Monday's Dover winner, Martin Truex Jr., claiming the sixth starting spot in the top Toyota. William Byron, Kyle Larson, Brad Keselowski and Alex Bowman completed the top 10 on the grid.

Series leader Kyle Busch will start 13th next to his brother, Kurt Busch, who ran the exact same time as his sibling (30.586 seconds at 176.551 mph).

QUALIFYING RESULTS

Pos # Driver Sponsor/Make Lap Speed
1 4 Kevin Harvick Busch Beer Ford 30.131 179.217
2 10 Aric Almirola Smithfield Ford 30.214 178.725
3 14 Clint Bowyer Rush Truck Centers/Haas Automation Ford 30.282 178.324
4 41 Daniel Suarez Haas Automation Demo Day Ford 30.295 178.247
5 9 Chase Elliott NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet 30.345 177.954
6 19 Martin Truex Jr. Auto Owners Insurance Toyota 30.447 177.357
7 24 William Byron UniFirst Chevrolet 30.483 177.148
8 42 Kyle Larson Credit One Bank Chevrolet 30.53 176.875
9 2 Brad Keselowski Wurth Ford 30.54 176.817
10 88 Alex Bowman Axalta Chevrolet 30.542 176.806
11 20 Erik Jones DeWalt Toyota 30.577 176.603
12 43 Bubba Wallace World Wide Technology Chevrolet 30.579 176.592
13 18 Kyle Busch M&M's Red Nose Day Toyota 30.586 176.551
14 1 Kurt Busch Global Poker Chevrolet 30.586 176.551
15 13 Ty Dillon GEICO Chevrolet 30.605 176.442
16 21 Paul Menard Menards/Dutch Boy Ford 30.644 176.217
17 11 Denny Hamlin FedEx Freight Toyota 30.651 176.177
18 48 Jimmie Johnson Ally Chevrolet 30.673 176.051
19 12 Ryan Blaney BodyArmor Ford 30.676 176.033
20 22 Joey Logano Shell Pennzoil Ford 30.729 175.73
21 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. SunnyD Ford 30.732 175.713
22 3 Austin Dillon American Ethanol Chevrolet 30.751 175.604
23 34 Michael McDowell Dockside Logistics Ford 30.818 175.222
24 32 Corey LaJoie Schluter Systems Ford 30.82 175.211
25 0 Landon Cassill(i) StarCom Fiber Chevrolet 30.823 175.194
26 8 Daniel Hemric # Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Boats Chevrolet 30.825 175.182
27 37 Chris Buescher Kroger Your Personal Pit Stop Chevrolet 30.889 174.82
28 6 Ryan Newman Performance Plus Motor Oil Ford 30.893 174.797
29 95 Matt DiBenedetto Digital Momentum/Hubspot Toyota 30.917 174.661
30 31 * Tyler Reddick(i) TAME the BEAST Chevrolet 30.932 174.576
31 47 Ryan Preece # Kroger Chevrolet 30.938 174.543
32 52 Bayley Currey(i) Belmont Classic Cars Ford 30.956 174.441
33 38 David Ragan Mystik Lubricants Ford 30.992 174.239
34 77 Quin Houff OilFire Rye Whiskey Chevrolet 31.123 173.505
35 36 Matt Tifft # Out West Express Ford 31.192 173.121
36 15 Ross Chastain(i) Low T Center Chevrolet 31.242 172.844
37 51 Cody Ware(i) JACOB Companies Chevrolet 31.59 170.94
38 46 * Joey Gase(i) MBM Motorsports Toyota 32.027 168.608
39 66 * Timmy Hill(i) MBM Motorsports Toyota 34.485 156.59
40 27 * Reed Sorenson Harrah's Chevrolet 0 0