Kevin Harvick takes the pole in AAA Texas 500 qualifying

credit: Lisa Janine Cloud/Skirts and Scuffs 

Defending AAA Texas 500 race winner Kevin Harvick scored a custom Henry repeating rifle for his pole-winning lap on Salute to Veterans Qualifying Day Saturday at Texas Motor Speedway. His qualifying lap of 189.707 mph (28.465 sec.) topped Erik Jones’ (188.890 mph 28.588 sec.) by .123 seconds.

Harvick previously won a pole at the track in the spring of 2017. This makes his 30th career first-place start.

If you were wondering what difference the 2019 rules package makes in speed, consider that the track record at Texas Motor Speedway was set by Kurt Busch on November 5, 2017, at 200.915 mph or 26.877 sec., a full 11.208 mph faster than Harvick’s lap Saturday.

Denny Hamlin’s lap of 188.712 (28.615) puts him starting third, while Kurt Busch’s 188.436 (28.657) puts him starting fourth. Busch's run came fresh off the announcement of his contract extension with Ganassi Racing and Monster Energy. 

Alex Bowman rounded out the top five with a fast lap of 188.357 (28.669).

Fords fill the next four spots with Aric Almirola, Daniel Suarez, Brad Keselowski, and Ricky Stenhouse Jr., giving them half of the top ten starting positions. Matt DiBenedetto nosed into tenth by .006 seconds.

Tune in to NBCSN or SiriusXM NASCAR radio on Sunday, November 3, at 2:00 PM Central Standard Time. The green flag is scheduled for 2:18 PM CST.
 

Full qualifying results:
Rank	Driver	Speed
1	Kevin Harvick	189.707
2	Erik Jones	188.890
3	Denny Hamlin	188.712
4	Kurt Busch	188.436
5	Alex Bowman	188.357
6	Aric Almirola	188.317
7	Daniel Suarez	188.003
8	Brad Keselowski	187.976
9	Ricky Stenhouse, Jr.	187.931
10	Matt DiBenedetto	187.891
11	Joey Logano	187.793
12	Kyle Busch	187.735
13	Kyle Larson	187.617
14	Chase Elliott	187.389
15	Ryan Blaney	187.233
16	Daniel Hemric	187.201
17	Martin Truex, Jr.	187.091
18	William Byron	186.845
19	Ty Dillon	186.845
20	Chris Buescher	186.761
21	Austin Dillon	186.754
22	Bubba Wallace	186.651
23	Jimmie Johnson	186.619
24	Clint Bowyer	186.606
25	Ryan Newman	186.522
26	David Ragan	186.316
27	Michael McDowell	186.181
28	Ryan Preece	186.091
29	John Hunter Nemechek	185.586
30	Parker Kligerman	185.420	*
31	Paul Menard	185.344
32	Landon Cassill	184.970
33	Corey LaJoie	184.231
34	J.J. Yeley	182.840	*
35	Ross Chastain	182.229	*
36	Garrett Smithley	181.026
37	Quin Houff	181.020
38	Joe Nemechek	179.850
39	Josh Bilicki	178.347
40	Timmy Hill	176.200	*
* had to qualify on time