Harvick takes New Hampshire pole
Kevin Harvick continued his momentum from last weekend's Richmond win, taking his first pole of the Nextel Cup season for Sunday's Sylvania 300 at New Hampshire International Speedway
Harvick, third in the points standing and just 10 behind leader Matt Kenseth, lapped the 1.058-mile oval in 28.793 seconds - 132.282 mph - 0.116 faster than fellow Chase contender Jeff Gordon, who will start Sunday's race in second.
Harvick, who is almost certain to clinch the Busch title as well, with a 619-point lead over Carl Edwards with just seven races to go, believes his strong showing makes him a favourite for the title, but the American credited his Richard Childress Racing team for his performance.
"I think we are a favourite," Harvick said. "It is something that everybody feels good about. All the hard work this team has put in the last year and a half to make our cars better and do things better as we go forward.
"Everyone at RCR is confident and feels good about the performance of our cars. We look forward to coming to the track every week. Everybody feels good about themselves, but it is all about these next ten weeks."
Other Chase contenders qualified across the 43-car grid. Rookie Denny Hamlin - the first rookie to make it into the Chase for the Cup in the three years the Chase has been running - qualified fifth, with Jimmie Johnson in seventh.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. qualified 13th, Kyle Busch 16th, Jeff Burton 22nd, Matt Kenseth 25th, Mark Martin 26th, and Kasey Kahne 33rd.
Pos Driver Make Speed Time 1. Kevin Harvick Chevrolet 132.282 28.793 Chase 2. Jeff Gordon Chevrolet 131.751 28.909 + 0.116 Chase 3. Kurt Busch Dodge 131.483 28.968 + 0.175 4. Ryan Newman Dodge 131.216 29.027 + 0.234 5. Denny Hamlin Chevrolet 130.667 29.149 + 0.356 Chase 6. David Stremme Dodge 130.305 29.230 + 0.437 7. Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet 130.264 29.239 + 0.446 Chase 8. Greg Biffle Ford 130.193 29.255 + 0.462 9. Robby Gordon Chevrolet 130.086 29.279 + 0.486 10. Ken Schrader Ford 130.038 29.290 + 0.497 11. Martin Truex Jr. Chevrolet 130.007 29.297 + 0.504 12. Brian Vickers Chevrolet 129.993 29.300 + 0.507 13. Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet 129.842 29.334 + 0.541 Chase 14. Elliott Sadler Dodge 129.829 29.337 + 0.544 15. David Gilliland Ford 129.825 29.338 + 0.545 16. Kyle Busch Chevrolet 129.763 29.352 + 0.559 Chase 17. Joe Nemechek Chevrolet 129.763 29.352 + 0.559 18. Clint Bowyer Chevrolet 129.736 29.358 + 0.565 19. Carl Edwards Ford 129.652 29.377 + 0.584 20. Jeff Green Chevrolet 129.600 29.389 + 0.596 21. Dave Blaney Dodge 129.577 29.394 + 0.601 22. Jeff Burton Chevrolet 129.533 29.404 + 0.611 Chase 23. Scott Riggs Dodge 129.481 29.416 + 0.623 24. Casey Mears Dodge 129.437 29.426 + 0.633 25. Matt Kenseth Ford 129.375 29.440 + 0.647 Chase 26. Mark Martin Ford 129.322 29.452 + 0.659 Chase 27. Kyle Petty Dodge 129.300 29.457 + 0.664 28. Tony Raines Chevrolet 129.278 29.462 + 0.669 29. Bobby Labonte Dodge 129.239 29.471 + 0.678 30. Sterling Marlin Chevrolet 129.121 29.498 + 0.705 31. Reed Sorenson Dodge 129.112 29.500 + 0.707 32. Tony Stewart Chevrolet 129.072 29.509 + 0.716 33. Kasey Kahne Dodge 128.998 29.526 + 0.733 Chase 34. Travis Kvapil Chevrolet 128.789 29.574 + 0.781 35. Michael Waltrip Dodge 128.723 29.589 + 0.796 36. J.J. Yeley Chevrolet 128.632 29.610 + 0.817 37. Dale Jarrett Ford 128.602 29.617 + 0.824 38. Chad Chaffin Dodge 128.126 29.727 + 0.934 39. Scott Wimmer Chevrolet 128.023 29.751 + 0.958 40. Kevin Lepage Dodge 127.363 29.905 + 1.112 41. Morgan Shepherd Dodge 127.197 29.944 + 1.151 42. Jamie McMurray Ford 127.125 29.961 + 1.168 43. Ted Christopher Chevrolet 126.795 30.039 + 1.246
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