Kevin Harvick first of five Fords up front at Texas

by Lisa Janine Cloud

Kevin Harvick’s No. 4 Jimmy John’s Ford Fusion delivered a freaky-fast qualifying effort on Friday afternoon, sweeping all three segments of Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series qualifying for Sunday’s O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 at Texas Motor Speedway. Harvick swept all three segments on Friday afternoon, leading a fleet of Fords in the front of the field.  

The Stewart-Haas Racing driver earned his 19th career pole, his first at Texas. “I have to say thank you to the Xfinity guys for letting me run that car this weekend because I really think the reps allowed us learn some things that I was able to apply here,” said Harvick. 

On the outside front row, Ryan Blaney came close to scoring the coveted Henry Repeating Rifle given to the Coors Light Pole Winner at Texas Motor Speedway, but he came up .053 seconds short in the No. 21 Wood Brothers Ford.

“We got better each round which is always encouraging, always what you want. You never want to get worse or make the wrong adjustments. I feel this year we've gotten better going round by round.” said Blaney. “Man, I heard that they give you a shotgun when you win the pole here. I saw my lap and thought that might do it but Kevin (Harvick) just snuck by us.”

Clint Bowyer matched Blaney’s lap time of 27.27, so he’ll roll off third because Blaney is one spot ahead in the points standings. “You go into a weekend like this with a lot of unknowns and it is the teamwork that pulls you through and makes you strong.” explained Bowyer. “Really nice day for us and the 14 team and also for Ford. Sweeping the top-five is big.” 

Team Penske’s Joey Logano and Brad Keselowski start fourth and fifth, respectively. Logano seemed as excited for the Ford sweep as he was for his starting position. “How awesome is that to have Ford sweep the top-five,” exclaimed Logano. “We aren’t first but to see the top-five as Fords is just awesome. I bet it has been a long time for that. It is neat to see. Usually if you see a manufacturer sweep the top-three it is an accomplishment. Top-five is a hell of an accomplishment”  

Keselowski agreed. “It is a good feeling to see all those blue ovals up there at the front. This track takes a lot of RPM and our engines run good with that.”

Nine teams failed to make qualifying laps because they did not pass tech in time. The Chevys of Kyle Larson, Chase Elliott, Kasey Kahne, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Chris Buescher, and Timmy Hill, along with the Toyotas of Kyle Busch and Erik Jones, and Derrike Cope did not reach the grid before time ran out on the first segment. They will all start in the rear of the field, arranged by points.

Here’s the full starting lineup:

Pos.	Driver	Car No.
1	Kevin Harvick	4
2	Ryan Blaney	21
3	Clint Bowyer	14
4	Joey Logano	22
5	Brad Keselowski	2
6	Jamie McMurray	1
7	Martin Truex, Jr.	78
8	Matt Kenseth	20
9	Ryan Newman	31
10	Kurt Busch	41
11	Ricky Stenhouse, Jr.	17
12	Trevor Bayne	6
13	Michael McDowell	95
14	Ty Dillon	13
15	Landon Cassill	34
16	A.J. Allmendinger	47
17	Denny Hamlin	11
18	Aric Almirola	43
19	Danica Patrick	10
20	Daniel Suarez	19
21	David Ragan	38
22	Paul Menard	27
23	Corey LaJoie	83
24	Jimmie Johnson	48
25	Austin Dillon	3
26	Matt DiBenedetto	32
27	J.J. Yeley	7
28	Cole Whitt	72
29	Gray Gaulding	23
30	Reed Sorenson	15
31	Jeffrey Earnhardt	33
32	Kyle Larson	42
33	Chase Elliott	24
34	Kyle Busch	18
35	Kasey Kahne	5
36	Erik Jones	77
37	Dale Earnhardt, Jr.	88
38	Chris Buescher	37
39	Timmy Hill	51
40	Derrike Cope	55