Kevin Harvick tops Joey Logano for Pocono pole

Less than a week after earning his first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series win of the season, Harvick is going to remain out front after winning the pole for Sunday’s Gander RV 400 at Pocono Raceway.

Harvick was among the final three drivers to make a qualifying attempt on Saturday and his average lap speed of 174.058 mph topped Joey Logano (173.377 mph) for the top spot. Harvick’s teammate at Stewart-Haas Racing, Aric Almirola, was third (173.161 mph).

Erik Jones was fourth and Austin Dillon qualified fifth. 

The pole is the fourth this season for Harvick, 29th of his career and first at Pocono, where he is still looking for his first career victory.

"It has been a very good track for me. My guys and the whole company knows that we would love to cross this one off, one of the last two of tracks that we haven't won at," Harvick said. 

"The first race this year we had a great car and the right strategy and jacked it up and the steering box broke. So, you know, it's kind of been one thing after another like that. Tomorrow, it's going to take a fast car and it's going to take everything falling your way so you can get the strategy right.

"Restarts, and pit strategy and all the normal Pocono things that you have to battle are still going to be the things you have to overcome. Track position and starting up front are nice to have."

Prior to the June Pocono race – where Harvick suffered a broken steering box – has had finished fourth or better for five consecutive races at the triangular-shaped track.

Rounding out the top 10 were Jimmie Johnson, Kyle Busch (who has won three of the last four Pocono races), William Byron, Kurt Busch and Daniel Suarez.

Sunday’s starting positions are tentative. Cars will go through technical inspection Sunday morning and if they will lose their starting position in the race should they fail at least once.

Cla	#	Driver		Manufacturer	Time	Gap	Mph
1	4	Kevin Harvick		Ford	51.707		174.058
2	22	Joey Logano		Ford	51.910	0.203	173.377
3	10	Aric Almirola		Ford	51.974	0.267	173.164
4	20	Erik Jones		Toyota	51.990	0.283	173.110
5	3	Austin Dillon		Chevrolet	52.126	0.419	172.659
6	48	Jimmie Johnson		Chevrolet	52.148	0.441	172.586
7	18	Kyle Busch		Toyota	52.196	0.489	172.427
8	24	William Byron		Chevrolet	52.213	0.506	172.371
9	1	Kurt Busch		Chevrolet	52.321	0.614	172.015
10	41	Daniel Suarez		Ford	52.346	0.639	171.933
11	19	Martin Truex Jr.		Toyota	52.365	0.658	171.871
12	11	Denny Hamlin		Toyota	52.388	0.681	171.795
13	95	Matt DiBenedetto		Toyota	52.436	0.729	171.638
14	2	Brad Keselowski		Ford	52.482	0.775	171.487
15	88	Alex Bowman		Chevrolet	52.499	0.792	171.432
16	14	Clint Bowyer		Ford	52.545	0.838	171.282
17	34	Michael McDowell		Ford	52.597	0.890	171.112
18	17	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.		Ford	52.618	0.911	171.044
19	38	David Ragan		Ford	52.623	0.916	171.028
20	12	Ryan Blaney		Ford	52.638	0.931	170.979
21	21	Paul Menard		Ford	52.747	1.040	170.626
22	8	Daniel Hemric		Chevrolet	52.800	1.093	170.455
23	9	Chase Elliott		Chevrolet	52.848	1.141	170.300
24	6	Ryan Newman		Ford	53.002	1.295	169.805
25	47	Ryan Preece		Chevrolet	53.048	1.341	169.658
26	43	Darrell Wallace Jr.		Chevrolet	53.221	1.514	169.106
27	36	Matt Tifft		Ford	53.255	1.548	168.998
28	37	Chris Buescher		Chevrolet	53.301	1.594	168.852
29	42	Kyle Larson		Chevrolet	53.370	1.663	168.634
30	32	Corey Lajoie		Ford	53.417	1.710	168.486
31	00	Landon Cassill		Chevrolet	53.861	2.154	167.097
32	13	Ty Dillon		Chevrolet	53.979	2.272	166.732
33	53	Josh Bilicki		Chevrolet	54.800	3.093	164.234
34	51	B.J. McLeod		Ford	54.809	3.102	164.207
35	15	Ross Chastain		Chevrolet	54.890	3.183	163.964
36	27	Reed Sorenson		Chevrolet	55.423	3.716	162.387
37	77	Quin Houff		Chevrolet	55.539	3.832	162.048
38	52	Austin Theriault		Ford	56.011	4.304	160.683