Darlington NASCAR: Kevin Harvick claims pole with last-gasp lap

The Stewart-Haas driver lapped the 1.366-mile oval in 26.802s (183.47 mph) after demoting provisional polesitter Marcos Ambrose late in the session.

The in-form Richard Petty driver then fell to fourth when Joey Logano and Aric Almirola rose up the order in the dying seconds.

The Texas race winner finished just 0.063s behind Harvick and remains the only driver to reach the final round of every qualifying session this year.

Almirola found consolation in missing out on the top spot by smashing the track record during the second round of the session with a fast lap of 26.705s (184.145mph).

Matt Kenseth and Jimmie Johnson narrowly missed out on making it through to the second segment and start 25th and 26th respectively.

The six-time champion put his poor showing down to a miscommunication over the radio.

"There was some confusion when I radioed in," said Johnson. "I wanted to do a third run, but it just didn't happen and that was that."

Pos  Driver              Team/Car                 Time     Gap
 1.  Kevin Harvick       Stewart-Haas Chevrolet   26.802s         
 2.  Joey Logano         Penske Ford              26.865s  +0.063s
 3.  Aric Almirola       Petty Ford               26.880s  +0.078s
 4.  Marcos Ambrose      Petty Ford               26.948s  +0.146s
 5.  Brad Keselowski     Penske Ford              27.011s  +0.209s
 6.  Jamie McMurray      Ganassi Chevrolet        27.017s  +0.215s
 7.  Ryan Newman         Childress Chevrolet      27.022s  +0.220s
 8.  Kyle Busch          Joe Gibbs Toyota         27.055s  +0.253s
 9.  Jeff Gordon         Hendrick Chevrolet       27.056s  +0.254s
10.  Denny Hamlin        Joe Gibbs Toyota         27.087s  +0.285s
11.  Paul Menard         Childress Chevrolet      27.097s  +0.295s
12.  Martin Truex Jr     Furniture Row Ford       27.139s  +0.337s
13.  Kurt Busch          Stewart-Haas Chevrolet            Q2     
14.  Brian Vickers       Waltrip Toyota                    Q2     
15.  Dale Earnhardt Jr   Hendrick Chevrolet                Q2     
16.  Clint Bowyer        Waltrip Toyota                    Q2     
17.  Kyle Larson         Ganassi Chevrolet                 Q2     
18.  AJ Allmendinger     JTG Daugherty Chevrolet           Q2     
19.  Greg Biffle         Roush Fenway Ford                 Q2     
20.  Austin Dillon       Childress Chevrolet               Q2     
21.  Carl Edwards        Roush Fenway Ford                 Q2     
22.  Kasey Kahne         Hendrick Chevrolet                Q2     
23.  Tony Stewart        Stewart-Haas Chevrolet            Q2     
24.  Justin Allgaier     HScott Chevrolet                  Q2     
25.  Matt Kenseth        Joe Gibbs Toyota                  Q1     
26.  Jimmie Johnson      Hendrick Chevrolet                Q1     
27.  David Gilliland     Front Row Ford                    Q1     
28.  Ricky Stenhouse Jr  Roush Fenway Ford                 Q1     
29.  Josh Wise           Parsons Chevrolet                 Q1     
30.  Michael Annett      Baldwin Chevrolet                 Q1     
31.  Casey Mears         Germain Chevrolet                 Q1     
32.  David Ragan         Front Row Ford                    Q1     
33.  Danica Patrick      Stewart-Haas Chevrolet            Q1     
34.  Alex Bowman         BK Toyota                         Q1     
35.  Landon Cassill      Hillman Chevrolet                 Q1     
36.  Dave Blaney         Humphrey Ford                     Q1     
37.  David Stremme       Circle Sport Chevrolet            Q1     
38.  Parker Kligerman    Swan Toyota                       Q1     
39.  Ryan Truex          BK Toyota                         Q1     
40.  Reed Sorenson       Baldwin Chevrolet                 Q1     
41.  Travis Kvapil       Go FAS Ford                       Q1     
42.  Cole Whitt          Swan Toyota                       Q1     
43.  Joe Nemechek        NEMCO Toyota                      Q1