NASCAR Homestead: Harvick on pole as Busch heads the title chasers
Kevin Harvick has qualified on pole for the NASCAR Sprint Cup season finale at Homestead, with Kyle Busch quickest of the title-chasing quartet
Despite setting a time in the final part of qualifying only good enough for ninth, reigning champion Busch was the highest of the Chase contenders ahead of Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota team-mate Carl Edwards.
Both appeared to struggle in the final part of qualifying, but it was more than title rivals Joey Logano and Jimmie Johnson could manage as neither made it past the second stage.
Logano looked relatively safe in the first portion, but in the second part where he needed to finish 12 or higher, could only manage a time good enough for 13th, 0.02s down on the cut-off.
Johnson was clearly struggling for speed from the off and fifth in morning practice couldn't help his challenge as he languished in the bottom reaches of the first qualifying session.
His task was made more difficult by Landon Cassill spinning his Front Row Motorsports Ford with just 57 seconds left. That left Johnson with a one-lap dash, and though he scraped into the second phase of qualifying he could only finish 14th.
With all four chase contenders struggling, it was left for Stewart-Hass Ford driver Harvick to claim pole ahead of Brad Keselowski, with Ryan Newman third.
Chase Elliot was the quickest throughout the first two sessions but could only manage fifth in the final shootout behind Denny Hamlin.
Tony Stewart will line up in 11th for his final Sprint Cup race before retiring.
STARTING GRID:
Pos | Driver | Team | Car | Gap |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Kevin Harvick | Stewart-Haas Racing | Chevrolet | 30.399s |
2 | Brad Keselowski | Team Penske | Ford | 0.017s |
3 | Ryan Newman | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 0.043s |
4 | Denny Hamlin | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 0.076s |
5 | Chase Elliott | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 0.093s |
6 | Martin Truex Jr. | Furniture Row Racing | Toyota | 0.114s |
7 | Matt Kenseth | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 0.195s |
8 | Ryan Blaney | Wood Brothers Racing | Ford | 0.211s |
9 | Kyle Busch | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 0.290s |
10 | Carl Edwards | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 0.350s |
11 | Tony Stewart | Stewart-Haas Racing | Chevrolet | 0.462s |
12 | A.J. Allmendinger | JTG Daugherty Racing | Chevrolet | 0.488s |
13 | Joey Logano | Team Penske | Ford | 0.172s |
14 | Jimmie Johnson | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 0.236s |
15 | Jamie McMurray | Chip Ganassi Racing | Chevrolet | 0.237s |
16 | Kurt Busch | Stewart-Haas Racing | Chevrolet | 0.240s |
17 | Austin Dillon | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 0.262s |
18 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | Roush Fenway Racing | Ford | 0.289s |
19 | Alex Bowman | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 0.343s |
20 | Trevor Bayne | Roush Fenway Racing | Ford | 0.364s |
21 | Greg Biffle | Roush Fenway Racing | Ford | 0.455s |
22 | Brian Scott | Richard Petty Motorsports | Ford | 0.461s |
23 | Casey Mears | Germain Racing | Chevrolet | 0.463s |
24 | Kyle Larson | Chip Ganassi Racing | Chevrolet | 0.679s |
25 | Aric Almirola | Richard Petty Motorsports | Ford | 0.442s |
26 | Michael McDowell | Circle Sport-Leavine Family Racing | Chevrolet | 0.463s |
27 | Chris Buescher | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 0.464s |
28 | Paul Menard | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 0.477s |
29 | Kasey Kahne | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 0.512s |
30 | Danica Patrick | Stewart-Haas Racing | Chevrolet | 0.517s |
31 | Matt DiBenedetto | BK Racing | Toyota | 0.581s |
32 | Landon Cassill | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 0.631s |
33 | Clint Bowyer | HScott Motorsports | Chevrolet | 0.644s |
34 | Ty Dillon | Circle Sport-Leavine Family Racing | Chevrolet | 0.672s |
35 | Regan Smith | Tommy Baldwin Racing | Chevrolet | 0.688s |
36 | David Ragan | BK Racing | Toyota | 0.900s |
37 | Reed Sorenson | Premium Motorsports | Toyota | 1.258s |
38 | Jeffrey Earnhardt | BK Racing | Toyota | 1.613s |
39 | Dylan Lupton | Go FAS Racing | Ford | 2.124s |
40 | Michael Annett | HScott Motorsports | Chevrolet | 2.160s |
41 | Gray Gaulding | The Motorsports Group | Chevrolet | 1.566s |
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