KANSAS CITY, Kan. — Kevin Harvick is the one to beat once again at Kansas Speedway.
Harvick shattered his own track record and won the pole to start the second round of the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship Sunday.
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SPRINT CUP UP NEXT
WHAT: Hollywood Casino 400
WHEN: 2 p.m., Sunday
WHERE: Kansas Speedway, Kansas City, Kansas
TELEVISION: ESPN
After setting the mark at 197.773 mph in his second round of qualifying, he turned a lap of 197.621 in the final round to earn the pole.
The previous record of 194.658 was set by Harvick in the spring.
“For whatever reason this fits everything I have going on with my driving style,” said Harvick, who won his third straight pole at Kansas and also won last year’s Chase race.
“In the end it comes down to having a fast car. We have a fast car.”
He has had that most of the season, too. The pole was Harvick’s eighth this year.
“With a little bit of good luck we can beat every car on the race track any given week at any style of race track, and that’s really positive feeling to have as a driver,” he said.
“If the chips fall right we have the cars and the speed to do what we need to do.”
Brian Vickers qualified second with a lap of 196.307. Aric Almirola was third.
Joey Logano began a run of five Chase contenders by qualifying fourth. Jeff Gordon was next, followed by Brad Keselowski, Kyle Busch and Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Tony Stewart qualified ninth, his best effort since returning to the track following the sprint car accident that killed Kevin Ward Jr. at a track in upstate New York.
Chase contenders Ryan Newman and Denny Hamlin were tied to the thousandth of a second for the final transfer spot in the first round of qualifying, each turning a lap of 193.736 mph.
NATIONWIDE: Regan Smith still dreams of driving for a Sprint Cup team again. He just isn’t in such a hurry that he was willing to give up a pretty sweet gig.
Smith has agreed to a one-year extension with JR Motorsports to continue driving in the Nationwide Series, which will be rebranded the Xfinity Series next season.
IMSA TUDOR UNITED SPORTSCAR CHAMPIONSHIP: Christian Fittipaldi won the pole Friday for the IMSA TUDOR United SportsCar Championship’s Petit Le Mans on Saturday at Road Atlanta.
Fittipaldi, teaming with Joao Barbosa and Sebastien Bourdais in the No. 5 Action Express Racing Corvette DP, had a fast lap of 122.725 mph. Fittipaldi and Barbosa lead the Prototype season standings.
Ricky Taylor was second, 0.289 seconds back in the No. 10 Konica Minolta Corvette DP also driven by brother Jordan Taylor and Max Angelelli.
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