Kevin Harvick cruises to Coca-Cola 600 pole over Kyle Busch
Kevin Harvick has won the Coca-Cola 600 twice but had never won the pole – until now.
Polesitter Kevin Harvick, Stewart-Haas Racing Ford
Nigel Kinrade / NKP / Motorsport Images
Harvick easily out-dueled Kyle Busch to take the top spot in Sunday night’s 600-mile race at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
Harvick posted an average lap speed of 193.424 mph in the final, 5-minute round. Busch (192.513 mph) came closer in the second round to catching Harvick then he did in the last.
The pole is Harvick’s 20th of his Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series career, second at Charlotte but first in the 600.
“I felt like I got through (Turns) 1 and 2 pretty good, that’s where I was struggling,” Harvick said. “All in all, our car was fast. It was definitely breathtaking you could say because it was so edgy to drive.
“But they say loose is fast. I’m really proud of my guys. It will be a good start to a long night.”
Chase Elliott was third-fastest, Matt Kenseth fourth and Erik Jones fifth.
Click below to watch Harvick talk about his qualifying run at Charlotte Motor Speedway:
The rest of the Top 12: Denny Hamlin, Ryan Blaney, Martin Truex Jr., Clint Bowyer, Brad Keselowski and Jamie McMurray.
Cla | # | Driver | Manufacturer | Laps | Time | Gap | Interval | Mph |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | Ford | 1 | 27.918 | 193.424 | ||
2 | 18 | Kyle Busch | Toyota | 1 | 28.050 | 0.132 | 0.132 | 192.513 |
3 | 24 | Chase Elliott | Chevrolet | 1 | 28.087 | 0.169 | 0.037 | 192.260 |
4 | 20 | Matt Kenseth | Toyota | 1 | 28.106 | 0.188 | 0.019 | 192.130 |
5 | 77 | Erik Jones | Toyota | 1 | 28.157 | 0.239 | 0.051 | 191.782 |
6 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Toyota | 1 | 28.159 | 0.241 | 0.002 | 191.768 |
7 | 21 | Ryan Blaney | Ford | 1 | 28.164 | 0.246 | 0.005 | 191.734 |
8 | 78 | Martin Truex Jr. | Toyota | 1 | 28.236 | 0.318 | 0.072 | 191.245 |
9 | 14 | Clint Bowyer | Ford | 1 | 28.266 | 0.348 | 0.030 | 191.042 |
10 | 2 | Brad Keselowski | Ford | 1 | 28.297 | 0.379 | 0.031 | 190.833 |
11 | 1 | Jamie McMurray | Chevrolet | 1 | 28.346 | 0.428 | 0.049 | 190.503 |
12 | 41 | Kurt Busch | Ford | 1 | 28.420 | 0.502 | 0.074 | 190.007 |
Round 2
Harvick led the way in the second round, holding off Kyle Busch with an average lap speed of 193.237 mph).
Elliott was third-fastest, Bowyer was fourth and Truex was fifth.
Also advancing to the final round were Blaney, Kurt Busch, Jones, Kenseth, Keselowski, Hamlin and McMurray.
“We did everything we could there to find grip,” Kurt Busch said after his run.
Among those who failed to advance were: Jimmie Johnson, Daniel Suarez, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Joey Logano, and Kasey Kahne.
Danica Patrick went out late in the session and ended up 15th-fastest, although she appeared to scrub the wall slightly on her run.
“Little tight in (Turns) 1 and 2,” Patrick said over her team radio after her first run in the session.
13 | 17 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | Ford | 1 | 28.327 | 0.382 | 0.032 | 190.631 |
14 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson | Chevrolet | 1 | 28.369 | 0.424 | 0.042 | 190.349 |
15 | 10 | Danica Patrick | Ford | 1 | 28.380 | 0.435 | 0.011 | 190.275 |
16 | 27 | Paul Menard | Chevrolet | 1 | 28.385 | 0.440 | 0.005 | 190.241 |
17 | 31 | Ryan Newman | Chevrolet | 1 | 28.410 | 0.465 | 0.025 | 190.074 |
18 | 6 | Trevor Bayne | Ford | 3 | 28.419 | 0.474 | 0.009 | 190.014 |
19 | 88 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | Chevrolet | 3 | 28.430 | 0.485 | 0.011 | 189.940 |
20 | 19 | Daniel Suarez | Toyota | 1 | 28.455 | 0.510 | 0.025 | 189.773 |
21 | 95 | Michael McDowell | Chevrolet | 1 | 28.478 | 0.533 | 0.023 | 189.620 |
22 | 3 | Austin Dillon | Chevrolet | 3 | 28.479 | 0.534 | 0.001 | 189.613 |
23 | 22 | Joey Logano | Ford | 1 | 28.501 | 0.556 | 0.022 | 189.467 |
24 | 5 | Kasey Kahne | Chevrolet | 1 | 28.656 | 0.711 | 0.155 | 188.442 |
Round 1
Despite missing part of the first 20-minute qualifying session because problems passing inspection, Kyle Busch’s one lap on the track was enough to take the stop spot.
His average lap speed of 191.381 mph easily out-paced his teammate, Hamlin (191.008 mph).
Jones was third-fastest, Kenseth fourth and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. fifth.
The first round began with at least eight cars still unable to clean pre-qualifying inspection: Kyle Larson, Timmy Hill, Corey LaJoie, Paul Menard, Hamlin, Kyle Busch, Kurt Busch and David Ragan.
Larson, the Cup series points leader, and LaJoie never cleared inspection and will line up 39th and 40th, respectively, in Sunday’s race.
“I guess it will be cooler to win from last than on the pole. It’s on myself for getting in the wall in the practice and making us late getting in (inspection) line,” Larson said. “I don’t know much about how the inspection process works so I don’t say much about it.”
With 10 minutes remaining, only two cars had even posted speeds on the track because of drivers wanting to wait for the cooler temperatures.
Among those who also failed to advance out of Round 1 were Regan Smith, A.J. Allmendinger, Chris Buescher and Ty Dillon.
25 | 43 | Regan Smith | Ford | 1 | 28.676 | 0.460 | 0.007 | 188.311 |
26 | 47 | A.J. Allmendinger | Chevrolet | 1 | 28.681 | 0.465 | 0.005 | 188.278 |
27 | 13 | Ty Dillon | Chevrolet | 3 | 28.697 | 0.481 | 0.016 | 188.173 |
28 | 38 | David Ragan | Ford | 1 | 28.700 | 0.484 | 0.003 | 188.153 |
29 | 37 | Chris Buescher | Chevrolet | 1 | 28.825 | 0.609 | 0.125 | 187.337 |
30 | 32 | Matt DiBenedetto | Ford | 1 | 28.891 | 0.675 | 0.066 | 186.909 |
31 | 34 | Landon Cassill | Ford | 3 | 29.062 | 0.846 | 0.171 | 185.810 |
32 | 23 | Gray Gaulding | Toyota | 3 | 29.254 | 1.038 | 0.192 | 184.590 |
33 | 7 | J.J. Yeley | Chevrolet | 1 | 29.325 | 1.109 | 0.071 | 184.143 |
34 | 72 | Cole Whitt | Chevrolet | 3 | 29.556 | 1.340 | 0.231 | 182.704 |
35 | 15 | Reed Sorenson | Chevrolet | 1 | 29.779 | 1.563 | 0.223 | 181.336 |
36 | 51 | Timmy Hill | Chevrolet | 2 | 30.419 | 2.203 | 0.640 | 177.521 |
37 | 55 | Derrike Cope | Chevrolet | 1 | 30.513 | 2.297 | 0.094 | 176.974 |
38 | 33 | Jeffrey Earnhardt | Chevrolet | 1 | 30.602 | 2.386 | 0.089 | 176.459 |
No time - Kyle Larson and Corey LaJoie
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