LONG POND, Pa. – Fresh off his first victory of the season last weekend at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Kevin Harvick kept the momentum going Saturday at Pocono Raceway.
Harvick took the top spot in Gander RV 400 qualifying aboard his No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford, circulating the 2.5-mile triangular speedway in 51.707 seconds at 174.058 mph. Harvick was the only driver to average more than 174 mph during his qualifying attempt.
The No. 4 team did not make a mock qualifying run in practice, so Harvick was unsure just how fast his Ford Mustang would be prior to qualifying Saturday afternoon.
“I want to thank Rodney Childers and Dax and Billy and everybody that works on this No. 4 Busch Beer Ford Mustang,” Harvick said after his fourth pole of the season. “We didn’t do a qualifying run because we were scrambling a little bit in race trim and trying to get our car right in race trim. Our teammates did some qualifying runs and we tried to match some of the things that they did and adapt and adjust from there.
“In the end sometimes it’s better to just wing it and these guys do a great job when you’re scrambling and winging it.”
Harvick will be joined on the front row by reigning series champion Joey Logano, who was .203 seconds behind Harvick. Harvick’s teammate Aric Almirola qualified third to give Ford a sweep of the top-three positions.
Erik Jones was the fastest Toyota, qualifying fourth. Austin Dillon qualified firth aboard his No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet.
Jimmie Johnson, Kyle Busch, William Byron, Kurt Busch and Daniel Suarez completed the top-10 in qualifying.
Qualifying results are unofficial until all cars clear pre-race inspection on Sunday morning prior to the Gander RV 400. Sunday’s Gander RV 400 is scheduled to begin shortly after 3 p.m. EST at Pocono Raceway.
Gander RV 400 Starting Lineup
1. Kevin Harvick
2. Joey Logano
3. Aric Almirola
4. Erik Jones
5. Austin Dillon
6. Jimmie Johnson
7. Kyle Busch
8. William Byron
9. Kurt Busch
10. Daniel Suarez
11. Martin Truex Jr.
12. Denny Hamlin
13. Matt DiBenedetto
14. Brad Keselowski
15. Alex Bowman
16. Clint Bowyer
17. Michael McDowell
18. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
19. David Ragan
20. Ryan Blaney
21. Paul Menard
22. Daniel Hemric
23. Chase Elliott
24. Ryan Newman
25. Ryan Preece
26. Bubba Wallace
27. Matt Tifft
28. Chris Buescher
29. Kyle Larson
30. Corey LaJoie
31. Landon Cassill
32. Ty Dillon
33. Josh Bilicki
34. B.J. McLeod
35. Ross Chastain
36. Reed Sorenson
37. Quin Houff
38. Austin Theriault