Harvick Wins Toyota Owners 400 Pole at Richmond

Photo Credit: Steve Helber

RICHMOND, VA – RIS – Kevin Harvick won the Monster Energy NASCAR Series pole position for Saturday night’s Toyota Owners 400 at Richmond Speedway on Friday. Harvick turned a fast lap at 124.298 mph Friday for the 27th pole of his career and his second this season. He's the first driver with more than one pole this season.

Erik Jones will start on the outside of the front row, with Kurt Busch and Joey Logano in the second row. The top 10 also includes Kyle Busch, who will be seeking his third consecutive victory on the track, Martin Truex Jr., Chase Elliott, Austin Dillon, Daniel Suarez and Jimmie Johnson.

"For me, all three rounds went really good and we had a good race practice," Harvick said.

Two practices were schedule for Friday, but the second practice was canceled due to rain in the area. 

NASCAR set each round of qualifying at just 5 minutes, leading some drivers to worry that there would be too many cars on the 0.75-mile track at once. When qualifying was over, though, that proved not to have been much of an issue, several drivers said.

"It was really just more congestion," Harvick said.

Getting a solid starting spot, Logano was not a fan of the new format just initiated after qualifying debacles nearly every week.

"I think here it is not really a necessary thing because cars wanted to go out early and it doesn't allow teams to cool off and go back out in the same round to improve their time," Logano said. "I think you actually kind of lose a little bit of the drama of a car going back out and can that car knock the car that is on the bubble out."

It marks Harvick's 27th career pole and his third at Richmond. It is also the second pole of the season for the No. 4 Ford, which recorded the top qualifying time at Las Vegas for the Pennzoil 400 during the first weekend of March.

While Harvick has not finished higher than fourth in a race this season, he recorded six consecutive top-10 placements entering last week. The Stewart Haas Racing driver's last win came at the AAA Texas 500 in November 2018.

Defending Toyota Owners 400 champion Kyle Busch will be able to put the pressure on Harvick and the rest of the field right away as he starts in fifth. Last year, he had to work his way up from a 32nd-place start to take home the checkered flag.

Busch sits atop NASCAR's points standings, owning a 27-point lead over Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Denny Hamlin, who will start in 18th. Busch has won three of the last six races, including last week's Food City 500.

Pos Car Driver Team Time Speed Lap # # Laps -Fastest -Next
Qualifying Round: 3
1 4 Kevin Harvick Mobil 1 Ford 21.722 124.298 2 3 0.000 0.000
2 20 Erik Jones DeWalt Toyota 21.760 124.081 2 3 0.038 0.038
3 1 Kurt Busch Global Poker Chevrolet 21.797 123.870 2 3 0.075 0.037
4 22 Joey Logano Shell Pennzoil Ford 21.832 123.672 2 3 0.110 0.035
5 18 Kyle Busch M&M's Toyota 21.845 123.598 2 3 0.123 0.013
6 19 Martin Truex Jr Auto Owners Insurance Toyota 21.880 123.400 2 3 0.158 0.035
7 9 Chase Elliott NAPA AUTO PARTS Chevrolet 21.924 123.153 2 4 0.202 0.044
8 3 Austin Dillon AAA Chevrolet 21.958 122.962 3 3 0.236 0.034
9 41 Daniel Suarez Haas Automation Ford 22.021 122.610 2 3 0.299 0.063
10 48 Jimmie Johnson Ally Chevrolet 22.101 122.166 3 3 0.379 0.080
11 37 Chris Buescher Scott Comfort Plus Chevrolet 22.106 122.139 2 2 0.384 0.005
12 2 Brad Keselowski Alliance Truck Parts Ford 22.120 122.061 3 3 0.398 0.014
Qualifying Round: 2
1 18 Kyle Busch M&M's Toyota 21.640 124.769 2 2 0.000 0.000
2 4 Kevin Harvick Mobil 1 Ford 21.698 124.435 2 2 0.058 0.058
3 20 Erik Jones DeWalt Toyota 21.703 124.407 1 3 0.063 0.005
4 19 Martin Truex Jr Auto Owners Insurance Toyota 21.725 124.281 2 3 0.085 0.022
5 3 Austin Dillon AAA Chevrolet 21.730 124.252 2 3 0.090 0.005
6 2 Brad Keselowski Alliance Truck Parts Ford 21.763 124.064 2 2 0.123 0.033
7 22 Joey Logano Shell Pennzoil Ford 21.777 123.984 3 3 0.137 0.014
8 1 Kurt Busch Global Poker Chevrolet 21.782 123.956 2 3 0.142 0.005
9 9 Chase Elliott NAPA AUTO PARTS Chevrolet 21.785 123.938 2 3 0.145 0.003
10 37 Chris Buescher Scott Comfort Plus Chevrolet 21.794 123.887 2 3 0.154 0.009
11 41 Daniel Suarez Haas Automation Ford 21.834 123.660 2 3 0.194 0.040
12 48 Jimmie Johnson Ally Chevrolet 21.841 123.621 2 3 0.201 0.007
13 21 Paul Menard Menards/Maytag Ford 21.848 123.581 1 4 0.208 0.007
14 42 Kyle Larson McDonald's Chevrolet 21.855 123.542 2 3 0.215 0.007
15 10 Aric Almirola Smithfield Get Grilling Ford 21.865 123.485 1 3 0.225 0.010
16 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr Fifth Third Bank Ford 21.871 123.451 2 6 0.231 0.006
17 88 Alex Bowman Nationwide Chevrolet 21.891 123.338 1 3 0.251 0.020
18 11 Denny Hamlin FedEx Ground Toyota 21.898 123.299 4 4 0.258 0.007
19 24 William Byron Liberty University Chevrolet 21.899 123.293 1 3 0.259 0.001
20 36 Matt Tifft # The Pete Store Ford 21.900 123.288 2 4 0.260 0.001
21 14 Clint Bowyer Haas Automation Ford 21.925 123.147 1 3 0.285 0.025
22 38 David Ragan MDS Transport Ford 21.934 123.097 2 4 0.294 0.009
23 47 Ryan Preece # Kroger Chevrolet 21.951 123.001 2 3 0.311 0.017
24 8 Daniel Hemric # Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Boats Chevrolet 22.099 122.177 3 5 0.459 0.148
*Required to qualify on time, OP - Top 30 in Owner Points, PC - Past Champion,(i)Ineligible for driver points in this series
Pos Car Driver Team Time Speed Lap # # Laps -Fastest -Next
Qualifying Round: 1
1 1 Kurt Busch Global Poker Chevrolet 21.460 125.815 2 3 0.000 0.000
2 42 Kyle Larson McDonald's Chevrolet 21.511 125.517 2 3 0.051 0.051
3 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr Fifth Third Bank Ford 21.539 125.354 2 3 0.079 0.028
4 11 Denny Hamlin FedEx Ground Toyota 21.571 125.168 3 3 0.111 0.032
5 3 Austin Dillon AAA Chevrolet 21.573 125.156 3 3 0.113 0.002
6 4 Kevin Harvick Mobil 1 Ford 21.579 125.122 3 3 0.119 0.006
7 20 Erik Jones DeWalt Toyota 21.588 125.069 2 3 0.128 0.009
8 14 Clint Bowyer Haas Automation Ford 21.594 125.035 3 4 0.134 0.006
9 41 Daniel Suarez Haas Automation Ford 21.645 124.740 3 4 0.185 0.051
10 19 Martin Truex Jr Auto Owners Insurance Toyota 21.649 124.717 2 3 0.189 0.004
11 9 Chase Elliott NAPA AUTO PARTS Chevrolet 21.662 124.642 2 2 0.202 0.013
12 38 David Ragan MDS Transport Ford 21.678 124.550 4 4 0.218 0.016
13 48 Jimmie Johnson Ally Chevrolet 21.698 124.435 3 3 0.238 0.020
14 22 Joey Logano Shell Pennzoil Ford 21.699 124.430 3 3 0.239 0.001
15 88 Alex Bowman Nationwide Chevrolet 21.705 124.395 2 3 0.245 0.006
16 37 Chris Buescher Scott Comfort Plus Chevrolet 21.718 124.321 2 3 0.258 0.013
17 24 William Byron Liberty University Chevrolet 21.730 124.252 3 3 0.270 0.012
18 18 Kyle Busch M&M's Toyota 21.735 124.224 4 4 0.275 0.005
19 36 Matt Tifft # The Pete Store Ford 21.755 124.109 2 3 0.295 0.020
20 21 Paul Menard Menards/Maytag Ford 21.760 124.081 4 4 0.300 0.005
21 10 Aric Almirola Smithfield Get Grilling Ford 21.766 124.047 3 3 0.306 0.006
22 47 Ryan Preece # Kroger Chevrolet 21.770 124.024 2 3 0.310 0.004
23 2 Brad Keselowski Alliance Truck Parts Ford 21.789 123.916 2 2 0.329 0.019
24 8 Daniel Hemric # Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Boats Chevrolet 21.796 123.876 2 3 0.336 0.007
25 34 Michael McDowell Dockside Logistics Ford 21.802 123.842 4 4 0.342 0.006
26 43 Bubba Wallace World Wide Technology Chevrolet 21.821 123.734 2 3 0.361 0.019
27 95 Matt DiBenedetto ToyotaCrtfdUsedVhcls/ToyotaOwnrs Toyota 21.823 123.723 4 4 0.363 0.002
28 32 Corey LaJoie CorvetteParts.net Ford 21.843 123.609 3 3 0.383 0.020
29 12 Ryan Blaney MoneyLion Ford 21.849 123.575 2 2 0.389 0.006
30 13 Ty Dillon GEICO Chevrolet 21.873 123.440 4 5 0.413 0.024
31 6 Ryan Newman Roush Performance Ford 21.898 123.299 3 3 0.438 0.025
32 00 Landon Cassill Superior Essex Chevrolet 21.920 123.175 4 4 0.460 0.022
33 52 Bayley Currey(i) Steakhouse Elite Chevrolet 22.046 122.471 3 4 0.586 0.126
34 51 Jeb Burton(i) JACOB Companies Ford 22.211 121.561 4 5 0.751 0.165
35 77 Quin Houff FALCI Adaptive Motorsports Chevrolet 22.384 120.622 3 3 0.924 0.173
36 66 * Joey Gase(i) Eternal Fan/Sam Bass Tribute Toyota 22.652 119.195 4 4 1.192 0.268
37 15 Ross Chastain(i) Rim Ryderz Chevrolet 0.000 0.000 0 0 ----- -----
*Required to qualify on time, OP - Top 30 in Owner Points, PC - Past Champion,(i)Ineligible for driver points in this series