Indianapolis NASCAR: Kevin Harvick dominates qualifying

The Stewart-Haas Chevrolet driver topped the timesheets in all three sections of qualifying, establishing an early benchmark of 47.753 seconds in the final segment that would stand for the duration.

The only other man able to break the 48s barrier was current points leader Jeff Gordon, who will start alongside Harvick on an all-Chevrolet front row after denying Brad Keselowski, winner of the previous round at New Hampshire, in the closing stages of the session.

Last year's Indianapolis winner Ryan Newman lines up in fourth place, ahead of top Toyota driver Brian Vickers, then Harvick's team-mates Tony Stewart and Kurt Busch.

Juan Pablo Montoya qualified eighth for only his second NASCAR appearance of the year.

Reigning champion Jimmie Johnson will start back on row six alongside Kyle Busch, with Matt Kenseth, Danica Patrick and Kyle Larson all just behind having narrowly missed the Q3 cut-off.

Title contender Dale Earnhardt Jr struggled during the second session and will start down in 23rd, four places ahead of Denny Hamlin, who was the biggest name of those eliminated in the opening segment.

Pos  Driver              Team/Car                 Time     Gap
 1.  Kevin Harvick       Stewart-Haas Chevrolet   47.753s
 2.  Jeff Gordon         Hendrick Chevrolet       47.931s  +0.178s
 3.  Brad Keselowski     Penske Ford              48.156s  +0.403s
 4.  Ryan Newman         Childress Chevrolet      48.189s  +0.436s
 5.  Brian Vickers       Waltrip Toyota           48.269s  +0.516s
 6.  Tony Stewart        Stewart-Haas Chevrolet   48.337s  +0.584s
 7.  Kurt Busch          Stewart-Haas Chevrolet   48.402s  +0.649s
 8.  Juan Pablo Montoya  Penske Ford              48.407s  +0.654s
 9.  Joey Logano         Penske Ford              48.432s  +0.679s
10.  Kasey Kahne         Hendrick Chevrolet       48.464s  +0.711s
11.  Jimmie Johnson      Hendrick Chevrolet       48.526s  +0.773s
12.  Kyle Busch          Joe Gibbs Toyota         48.651s  +0.898s
13.  Matt Kenseth        Joe Gibbs Toyota         48.441s  Q2
14.  Danica Patrick      Stewart-Haas Chevrolet   48.526s  Q2
15.  Kyle Larson         Ganassi Chevrolet        48.582s  Q2
16.  Clint Bowyer        Waltrip Toyota           48.615s  Q2
17.  Austin Dillon       Childress Chevrolet      48.636s  Q2
18.  Carl Edwards        Roush Fenway Ford        48.651s  Q2
19.  Greg Biffle         Roush Fenway Ford        48.675s  Q2
20.  Trevor Bayne        Wood Brothers Ford       48.683s  Q2
21.  Ricky Stenhouse Jr  Roush Fenway Ford        48.717s  Q2
22.  Marcos Ambrose      Petty Ford               48.800s  Q2
23.  Dale Earnhardt Jr   Hendrick Chevrolet       48.943s  Q2
24.  Jamie McMurray      Ganassi Chevrolet        49.017s  Q2
25.  Martin Truex Jr     Furniture Row Chevrolet  48.794s  Q1
26.  Casey Mears         Germain Chevrolet        48.986s  Q1
27.  Denny Hamlin        Joe Gibbs Toyota         48.995s  Q1
28.  Michael McDowell    Leavine Ford             49.029s  Q1
29.  Paul Menard         Childress Chevrolet      49.036s  Q1
30.  Josh Wise           Parsons Chevrolet        49.216s  Q1
31.  Justin Allgaier     HScott Chevrolet         49.273s  Q1
32.  Ryan Truex          BK Toyota                49.295s  Q1
33.  Michael Annett      Baldwin Chevrolet        49.384s  Q1
34.  David Gilliland     Front Row Ford           49.431s  Q1
35.  Alex Bowman         BK Toyota                49.487s  Q1
36.  AJ Allmendinger     JTG Daugherty Chevrolet  49.501s  Q1
37.  Landon Cassill      Hillman Chevrolet        49.511s  Q1
38.  David Ragan         Front Row Ford           49.557s  Q1
39.  Cole Whitt          BK Toyota                49.579s  Q1
40.  Travis Kvapil       FAS Lane Ford            49.594s  Q1
41.  Aric Almirola       Petty Ford               49.816s  Q1
42.  Bobby Labonte       Baldwin Chevrolet        49.852s  Q1
43.  Reed Sorensen       Baldwin Chevrolet        49.938s  Q1

Did not qualify:

     Brett Moffitt       Robinson Toyota          49.632s
     David Stremme       Circle Sport Chevrolet   50.126s
     Matt Crafton        RAB Toyota               50.542s