Harvick’s Cup roll extends to Kansas race pole

KANSAS CITY, Kan. — Kevin Harvick had to race onto the track after finally passing through inspection just as the first round of qualifying was beginning for Saturday night’s NASCAR Cup Series KC Masterpiece 400 at Kansas Speedway.

By the time things were settled, Harvick had raced his way to the pole.

Fresh off his fourth win of the season last week at Dover, Harvick turned a best lap of 188.811 mph Friday night to easily claim the top starting spot. Ryan Blaney was a distant second in 187.825 mph, with Las Vegas native Kyle Busch, Aric Almirola and Chase Elliott rounding out the top five.

“It really shows the experience of the race team. We’re going on our fifth year together and you look at how calm everybody stayed,” Harvick said of the prequalifying inspection. “That’s really what makes us tick week after week, and the guys are performing at a high level.

It was Harvick’s fourth pole at Kansas, his most at any track on the Cup circuit — yet the perfectionist in him was left ruing a couple of bobbles that could have made his lap even better.

“I hate when I don’t get the most out of the car. They give me really fast race cars to drive every week,” he said. “We were able to get the pole so that’s obviously a big advantage. You get that first pit stall and any advantage we can get we’ll take.”

Other drivers weren’t as fortunate getting through inspection.

There were 10 cars still trying to clear it when the first qualifying session started, and several never made it on the track by the end. That included Matt Kenseth, who is making his return this week in the No. 6 Ford for Roush Fenway Racing, and Clint Bowyer, the hometown favorite from Emporia, Kansas.

“You know, Matt’s big debut not getting on the racetrack probably isn’t very good either,” said Bowyer, who has long sought his first Cup win at Kansas. “I don’t know. It’s a pretty bad taste in my mouth right now. It’s hard not to go off because it’s pretty frustrating.”