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Qualifying report

Daniel Hemric surprises with Kansas pole; Harvick to start last

It’s front row of career and season-best starts for Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Kansas Speedway.

Daniel Hemric, Richard Childress Racing, Chevrolet Camaro

Daniel Hemric, Richard Childress Racing, Chevrolet Camaro

Russell LaBounty / NKP / Motorsport Images

Daniel Hemric’s average lap speed of 178.047 mph was set early in Saturday’s qualifying but it stood up and earned him the pole for Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400 – the first pole of his Cup series career.

“This is pretty special. It was a little crazy because I got out of the car and I thought I’d be fifth to eighth,” said Hemric, who will not return to Richard Childress Racing’s No. 8 Chevrolet next season. “Everyone on this team has done a great job all year no matter what’s thrown at them, just rising to the occasion. 

“They come to the race track every week ready to go to work. With everything going on around us, you can get lost and distracted in things but to know these guys have had my back through all of it has meant the world to me.

“Hopefully there are many more years of my Cup future down the road.”

Joining Hemric on the front row will be David Ragan (177.842 mph), which is by far his best start of the 2019 season. His previous best was sixth at Las Vegas back in March.

Last weekend’s race winner, Ryan Blaney, ended up third (177.754 mph). Blaney is also the top qualifying driver remaining in the NASCAR playoffs.

Brad Keselowski, who won this race in the spring, was fourth and Kyle Larson, completed the top-five.

Rounding out the top-10 starters are Michael McDowell, Ryan Newman, Daniel Suarez, Austin Dillon and Bubba Wallace.

Kevin Harvick was not allowed to qualify as ended up failing pre-qualifying inspection three times. He will start Sunday’s race from the rear of the field.

Harvick’s No. 4 Ford failed once and actually passed the second time but his team noticed a problem with the driveshaft they wanted to fix sto they essentially failed themselves in order to make the adjustment.

After making the adjustment, Harvick’s crew took his car through inspection again and failed a third time before eventually passing. Car chief Robert Smith was ejected from the track and the team will lose 15 minutes of practice time next week at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway.

“We just failed it at the wrong time,” Harvick said. “The driveline was dragging the tunnel at qualifying ride height and we didn’t feel comfortable sending the car out on the race track. So, we took the car out of inspection on our own and then it failed inspection at the wrong time for (rear) toe, which we didn’t think we were close on.

Cla # Driver Manufacturer Time Gap Mph
1 8 United States Daniel Hemric  Chevrolet 30.329   178.047
2 38 United States David Ragan  Ford 30.364 00.035 177.842
3 12 United States Ryan Blaney  Ford 30.379 00.050 177.754
4 2 United States Brad Keselowski  Ford 30.394 00.065 177.667
5 42 United States Kyle Larson  Chevrolet 30.399 00.070 177.637
6 34 United States Michael McDowell  Ford 30.408 00.079 177.585
7 6 United States Ryan Newman  Ford 30.423 00.094 177.497
8 41 Mexico Daniel Suarez  Ford 30.446 00.117 177.363
9 3 United States Austin Dillon  Chevrolet 30.448 00.119 177.352
10 43 United States Darrell Wallace Jr.  Chevrolet 30.452 00.123 177.328
11 19 United States Martin Truex Jr.  Toyota 30.464 00.135 177.258
12 48 United States Jimmie Johnson  Chevrolet 30.465 00.136 177.253
13 10 United States Aric Almirola  Ford 30.476 00.147 177.189
14 9 United States Chase Elliott  Chevrolet 30.497 00.168 177.067
15 1 United States Kurt Busch  Chevrolet 30.518 00.189 176.945
16 88 United States Alex Bowman  Chevrolet 30.520 00.191 176.933
17 36 United States Matt Tifft  Ford 30.544 00.215 176.794
18 18 United States Kyle Busch  Toyota 30.548 00.219 176.771
19 17 United States Ricky Stenhouse Jr.  Ford 30.573 00.244 176.626
20 20 United States Erik Jones  Toyota 30.575 00.246 176.615
21 14 United States Clint Bowyer  Ford 30.605 00.276 176.442
22 21 United States Paul Menard  Ford 30.612 00.283 176.401
23 11 United States Denny Hamlin  Toyota 30.631 00.302 176.292
24 13 United States Ty Dillon  Chevrolet 30.634 00.305 176.275
25 24 United States William Byron  Chevrolet 30.742 00.413 175.655
26 37 United States Chris Buescher  Chevrolet 30.803 00.474 175.308
27 95 United States Matt DiBenedetto  Toyota 30.879 00.550 174.876
28 47 United States Ryan Preece  Chevrolet 30.880 00.551 174.870
29 22 United States Joey Logano  Ford 30.912 00.583 174.689
30 00 United States Landon Cassill  Chevrolet 31.004 00.675 174.171
31 32 United States Corey Lajoie  Ford 31.086 00.757 173.712
32 96 United States Parker Kligerman  Toyota 31.277 00.948 172.651
33 15 United States Ross Chastain  Chevrolet 31.365 01.036 172.166
34 27 United States Reed Sorenson  Chevrolet 31.378 01.049 172.095
35 52 United States Garrett Smithley  Ford 31.386 01.057 172.051
36 51 United States J.J. Yeley  Ford 31.494 01.165 171.461
37 53 United States Josh Bilicki  Ford 31.787 01.458 169.881
38 77 United States Timmy Hill  Chevrolet 32.079 01.750 168.334
39 66 United States Joey Gase  Toyota 33.190 02.861 162.700
40 4 United States Kevin Harvick  Ford

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