bigbadbrother
11-19-2016, 12:54 AM
Tom Jensen
With a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship on the line, 2014 series champion Kevin Harvick won the pole for Sunday’s season-ending Ford EcoBoost 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
Harvick, who was knocked out title contention last week at Phoenix, ran a lap of 177.637 miles per hour in his No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet to earn his second pole of the season and the 17th of his career.
And he wants to win, despite not being in the championship hunt. “No participation trophies,” Harvick said.
Brad Keselowski, who like Harvick is tied for the series lead with four race victories, put the No. 2. Team Penske Ford on the outside of Row 1, running 177.538 mph.
On Row 2, Ryan Newman will start on the inside, flanked by Denny Hamlin, with rookie Chase Elliott completing the top five.
In Sunday’s race, Jimmie Johnson, Kyle Busch, Carl Edwards and Joey Logano will decide the championship, but none of them qualified especially well. Busch was the best of the bunch in ninth, one position ahead of his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Carl Edwards.
The big shock was Johnson, who nearly didn’t advance to the second round of qualifying for the first time all season long. Johnson had a slow first qualifying lap in Round 1 and when he went out a second time, Landon Cassill spun out to bring out a red flag.
Finally, Johnson got a run in during the last minute of Round 1. When it was over, Johnson was 22nd fastest with more laps on his tires than the other three Chase drivers. Ultimately, Johnson qualified 14th, worst of the four Chasers and one position ahead of Logano.
Check out the complete results from Friday night's qualifying session by opening link below
https://nbcnascartalk.files.wordpress.com/2016/11/qualifying4.pdf
With a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship on the line, 2014 series champion Kevin Harvick won the pole for Sunday’s season-ending Ford EcoBoost 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
Harvick, who was knocked out title contention last week at Phoenix, ran a lap of 177.637 miles per hour in his No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet to earn his second pole of the season and the 17th of his career.
And he wants to win, despite not being in the championship hunt. “No participation trophies,” Harvick said.
Brad Keselowski, who like Harvick is tied for the series lead with four race victories, put the No. 2. Team Penske Ford on the outside of Row 1, running 177.538 mph.
On Row 2, Ryan Newman will start on the inside, flanked by Denny Hamlin, with rookie Chase Elliott completing the top five.
In Sunday’s race, Jimmie Johnson, Kyle Busch, Carl Edwards and Joey Logano will decide the championship, but none of them qualified especially well. Busch was the best of the bunch in ninth, one position ahead of his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Carl Edwards.
The big shock was Johnson, who nearly didn’t advance to the second round of qualifying for the first time all season long. Johnson had a slow first qualifying lap in Round 1 and when he went out a second time, Landon Cassill spun out to bring out a red flag.
Finally, Johnson got a run in during the last minute of Round 1. When it was over, Johnson was 22nd fastest with more laps on his tires than the other three Chase drivers. Ultimately, Johnson qualified 14th, worst of the four Chasers and one position ahead of Logano.
Check out the complete results from Friday night's qualifying session by opening link below
https://nbcnascartalk.files.wordpress.com/2016/11/qualifying4.pdf