In a blistering fast lap during Friday’s qualifying session at Michigan, Kevin Harvick earned the pole position for Sunday’s race after pacing all three qualifying rounds. Harvick set a new track record in the third and final qualifying round, with a speed of 204.557 mph, the fastest qualifying lap since Bill Elliott’s lap of 212.809 mph in April of 1987 at Talladega Superspeedway.
This is Harvick’s third pole of the season and eighth of his career.
“Obviously, it was a really fast lap — really fast couple laps,” said Harvick, with son Keelan seated next to him in the media center. “The car has been really good since we unloaded it off the truck. These guys put fast cars on the track every week and we’ve been in contention for poles and wins and today it all just came together from the time we unloaded.”
Young Keelan’s presence in the media center was special for Harvick, since it is Father’s Day weekend. Keelan drew some chuckles from those in the media center as he grabbed at the microphone and squirmed in his seat.
Harvick will start on the front row alongside points leader Jeff Gordon. Dale Earnhardt, Jr. was third, followed by Aric Almirola and Paul Menard.
The green flag will wave this Sunday around 1:16 p.m. ET. Coverage begins on TNT at noon ET.
Quicken Loans 400 lineup and qualifying speeds (mph)
- (4) Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet, 204.557.
- (24) Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet, 203.776.
- (88) Dale Earnhardt Jr., Chevrolet, 203.729.
- (43) Aric Almirola, Ford, 203.2.
- (27) Paul Menard, Chevrolet, 203.04.
- (2) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 202.908.
- (48) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 202.401.
- (41) Kurt Busch, Chevrolet, 202.043.
- (22) Joey Logano, Ford, 202.032.
- (55) Brian Vickers, Toyota, 201.331.
- (1) Jamie McMurray, Chevrolet, 200.49.
- (42) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, 201.117.
- (5) Kasey Kahne, Chevrolet, 200.876.
- (18) Kyle Busch, Toyota, 200.842.
- (15) Clint Bowyer, Toyota, 200.831.
- (78) Martin Truex Jr., Chevrolet, 200.82.
- (51) Justin Allgaier, Chevrolet, 200.73.
- (16) Greg Biffle, Ford, 200.518.
- (3) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 200.457.
- (9) Marcos Ambrose, Ford, 200.128.
- (20) Matt Kenseth, Toyota, 199.967.
- (99) Carl Edwards, Ford, 199.534.
- (21) Trevor Bayne, Ford, 199.518.
- (31) Ryan Newman, Chevrolet, 199.165.
- (47) AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet, 200.837.
- (14) Tony Stewart, Chevrolet, 200.457.
- (10) Danica Patrick, Chevrolet, 200.451.
- (12) Juan Pablo Montoya, Ford, 200.217.
- (11) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 199.933.
- (17) Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Ford, 199.75.
- (13) Casey Mears, Chevrolet, 199.617.
- (38) David Gilliland, Ford, 198.593.
- (34) David Ragan, Ford, 198.571.
- (66) Brett Moffitt, Toyota, 198.347.
- (44) J.J. Yeley, Chevrolet, 197.9.
- (33) David Stremme, Chevrolet, 197.666.
- (7) Michael Annett, Chevrolet, Owner Points.
- (98) Josh Wise, Chevrolet, Owner Points.
- (40) Landon Cassill, Chevrolet, Owner Points.
- (36) Reed Sorenson, Chevrolet, Owner Points.
- (23) Alex Bowman, Toyota, Owner Points.
- (26) Cole Whitt, Toyota, Owner Points.
- (32) Travis Kvapil, Ford, Owner Points.