Kevin Harvick beats Kyle Busch to Pocono pole

Harvick went out early in the final five-minute session of qualifying and bolted to the top spot with an average lap speed of 177.750 mph to claim the pole for Sunday’s Gander Outdoors 400.

Pocono is one of just two tracks (Kentucky is the other) on the current Cup series schedule on which Harvick has never won a race.

The pole is his third of the 2018 season and 24th of his career.

“It was really about putting all those corners together in the first two rounds,” Harvick said. “I still didn’t get it all right in the final round but it was a lot closer than the first round.

“It’s a lot of fun driving these cars. And the guys working on these cars are so good at what they do and working on the details on a week-to-week basis and just don’t ever quit and just keep pushing ahead. That’s what it takes.

“This is the regular season but the regular season can make the postseason go a lot better if you get it right.”

Kyle Busch, who won the Camping World Truck Series race earlier in the day, ended up second (177.434 mph) and Daniel Suarez ended up a surprising third (176.988 mph). Kyle Larson and Joey Logano completed the top-five.

Rounding out the Top 12 starters are William Byron, Denny Hamlin, Erik Jones, Brad Keselowski, Jamie McMurray, Chase Elliott and Austin Dillon.

Under the impound rules for the condensed Cup weekend schedule, if any car failed its first attempt through post-qualifying inspection, it would have its qualifying speed disallowed. Additional failures would result in the loss of team members.

Round 2

Jones rocketed to the top of the leaderboard in the second round with an average lap speed of 176.672 mph.

Byron ended up a surprising second (176.571 mph) and both drivers topped Harvick (176.519 mph), who was fastest in Round 1. Larson was fourth and Keselowski completed the top-five.

Also advancing to the final round were Suarez, McMurray, Logano, Austin Dillon, Elliott, Hamlin and Kyle Busch. Dillon and Larson were the final two cars to attempt a lap in the 10-minute session.

Among those who failed to make the cut were Kurt Busch, Martin Truex Jr., Jimmie Johnson, Ryan Newman, Ryan Blaney, Aric Almirola and Alex Bowman. Truex won the June race at Pocono while Blaney had won the pole.

“I wish we were starting better for my 600th start,” Johnson said. “It’s been an honor to drive these cars for Hendrick Motorsports. Hopefully, we’re sitting on a good race set-up.”

Round 1

Even though he bobbled on his run, Harvick still easily paced the first round of qualifying, with an average lap speed of 176.170 mph.

Kurt Busch was second (175.805 mph) and Jones was third (175.552 mph). Keselowski and Truex completed the top-five.

“That was a unicorn lap,” Busch said over his team radio.

Rounding out the Top 10 were Newman, Suarez, Larson, Logano and Menard.

Among those who failed to advance were Chris Buescher, A.J. Allmendinger, Ty Dillon and Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

Stenhouse had to abort his first qualifying lap attempt as he told his team he was so loose he “was about to wreck.” He returned to pit road for adjustments. He made it out to register a lap just before the conclusion of the first round but ended up 30th.

“Car's not driving very good, and it has no speed, so we’re really just struggling,” Stenhouse said. “We came here with hopes of being better, but we’re not much different than we were the first time we were here this year.”

Buescher, who won his first series race at Pocono, said he believed his No. 37 Chevrolet was fast enough to advance.

“I didn’t get through (Turn) 2 as good as we needed to,” he said. “We didn’t get a qualifying run in during practice.”

Cla	#	Driver	Manufacturer	Time	Gap	Mph
1	4	Kevin Harvick	Ford	50.633		177.750
2	18	Kyle Busch	Toyota	50.723	0.090	177.434
3	19	Daniel Suarez	Toyota	50.851	0.218	176.988
4	42	Kyle Larson	Chevrolet	50.853	0.220	176.981
5	22	Joey Logano	Ford	50.969	0.336	176.578
6	24	William Byron	Chevrolet	50.993	0.360	176.495
7	11	Denny Hamlin	Toyota	51.012	0.379	176.429
8	20	Erik Jones	Toyota	51.023	0.390	176.391
9	2	Brad Keselowski	Ford	51.050	0.417	176.298
10	1	Jamie McMurray	Chevrolet	51.103	0.470	176.115
11	9	Chase Elliott	Chevrolet	51.112	0.479	176.084
12	3	Austin Dillon	Chevrolet	51.184	0.551	175.836
13	41	Kurt Busch	Ford	51.322	0.689	175.363
14	78	Martin Truex Jr.	Toyota	51.356	0.723	175.247
15	48	Jimmie Johnson	Chevrolet	51.398	0.765	175.104
16	31	Ryan Newman	Chevrolet	51.498	0.865	174.764
17	21	Paul Menard	Ford	51.504	0.871	174.744
18	12	Ryan Blaney	Ford	51.530	0.897	174.656
19	10	Aric Almirola	Ford	51.534	0.901	174.642
20	88	Alex Bowman	Chevrolet	51.540	0.907	174.622
21	14	Clint Bowyer	Ford	51.553	0.920	174.578
22	43	Darrell Wallace Jr.	Chevrolet	51.595	0.962	174.436
23	6	Matt Kenseth	Ford	51.654	1.021	174.236
24	95	Kasey Kahne	Chevrolet	52.168	1.535	172.520
25	37	Chris Buescher	Chevrolet	51.990	1.357	173.110
26	34	Michael McDowell	Ford	52.023	1.390	173.000
27	47	A.J. Allmendinger	Chevrolet	52.118	1.485	172.685
28	13	Ty Dillon	Chevrolet	52.174	1.541	172.500
29	38	David Ragan	Ford	52.241	1.608	172.278
30	17	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	Ford	52.319	1.686	172.022
31	32	Matt DiBenedetto	Ford	52.517	1.884	171.373
32	96	Jeffrey Earnhardt	Toyota	53.313	2.680	168.814
33	23	J.J. Yeley	Toyota	53.323	2.690	168.783
34	72	Corey Lajoie	Chevrolet	53.346	2.713	168.710
35	15	Gray Gaulding	Chevrolet	53.557	2.924	168.045
36	99	Kyle Weatherman	Chevrolet	53.767	3.134	167.389
37	00	Landon Cassill	Chevrolet	53.976	3.343	166.741
38	7	Reed Sorenson	Chevrolet	54.276	3.643	165.819
39	51	B.J. McLeod	Chevrolet	54.286	3.653	165.789
40	66	Timmy Hill	Toyota	54.652	4.019	164.678