NASCAR Cup Series: Kevin Harvick takes pole for 2018 Can-Am 500

Kevin Harvick took the pole position for the final race of the 2018 NASCAR Cup Series round of 8, the Can-Am 500, at ISM Raceway.

Stewart-Haas Racing’s Kevin Harvick bounced back just two days after his win in the AAA Texas 500 at Texas Motor Speedway this past Sunday was vacated and he lost 40 points, dropping him into fourth place in the NASCAR Cup Series playoff picture.

As opposed to being locked into the Championship 4 along with Team Penske’s Joey Logano, Harvick entered this weekend just three points ahead of the Championship 4 cut line with only one race remaining in the three-race round of 8 as a result of this huge penalty.

But Harvick took the pole position for this third and final race of the round of 8, the Can-Am 500, at ISM Raceway, and he made a statement in the process by bouncing back from this penalty. That is not to mention the fact that the 42-year-old Bakersfield, California native is a nine-time Cup Series race winner at ISM Raceway.

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Harvick took the pole position for the 312-lap race around the four-turn, 1.022-mile (1.645-kilometer) ISM Raceway oval in Avondale, Arizona by recording a top lap time of 25.836 seconds (139.340 miles per hour) in his #4 Ford in the third and final qualifying session.

Hendrick Motorsports’ Chase Elliott is the highest qualifying Chevrolet driver of the race. He qualified in second place in his #9 Chevrolet and is set to start alongside Harvick on the outside of the front row. Roush Fenway Racing’s Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Team Penske’s Ryan Blaney and Hendrick Motorsports’ Alex Bowman are set to round out the top five on the starting grid after qualifying in third, fourth and fifth in their #17 Ford, #12 Ford and #88 Chevrolet, respectively.

Of the drivers who qualified in the top five, only Harvick and Elliott are round of 8 drivers. Joe Gibbs Racing’s Kyle Busch, one of the other two round of 8 drivers who qualified in the top 12, is the highest qualifying Toyota driver of the race. He qualified in sixth place in his #18 Toyota.

Joe Gibbs Racing’s Erik Jones and Chip Ganassi Racing’s Kyle Larson qualified in seventh and eighth place in their #20 Toyota and #42 Chevrolet, respectively. Logano, the only other round of 8 driver who qualified in the top 12, qualified in ninth in his #22 Ford. Joe Gibbs Racing’s Denny Hamlin rounded out the top 10 by qualifying in 10th in his #11 Toyota.

Wood Brothers Racing’s Paul Menard and Team Penske’s Brad Keselowski were the other two drivers who made it into the third and final round of qualifying and thus qualified in the top 12. They qualified in 11th and 12th place in their #21 Ford and #2 Ford, respectively.

The four round of 8 drivers who failed to qualify in the top 12 are Furniture Row Racing’s Martin Truex Jr. and Stewart-Haas Racing teammates Kurt Busch, Clint Bowyer and Aric Almirola. They qualified in 13th, 14th, 16th and 18th place in their #78 Toyota, #41 Ford, #14 Ford and #10 Ford, respectively.

Here are the full qualifying results for the 2018 Can-Am 500 at ISM Raceway.

Qualifying Results
1st – Kevin Harvick
2nd – Chase Elliott
3rd – Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
4th – Ryan Blaney
5th – Alex Bowman
6th – Kyle Busch
7th – Erik Jones
8th – Kyle Larson
9th – Joey Logano
10th – Denny Hamlin
11th – Paul Menard
12th – Brad Keselowski
13th – Martin Truex Jr.
14th – Kurt Busch
15th – Austin Dillon
16th – Clint Bowyer
17th – Matt Kenseth
18th – Aric Almirola
19th – William Byron
20th – Jimmie Johnson
21st – Jamie McMurray
22nd – Ryan Newman
23rd – Michael McDowell
24th – A.J. Allmendinger
25th – Chris Buescher
26th – Daniel Suarez
27th – Matt DiBenedetto
28th – Ty Dillon
29th – Regan Smith
30th – Darrell Wallace Jr.
31st – David Ragan
32nd – Landon Cassill
33rd – Ross Chastain
34th – Cole Whitt
35th – J.J. Yeley
36th – Tanner Berryhill
37th – Timmy Hill
38th – D.J. Kennington
39th – Cody Ware

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Tune in to NBC on Sunday, November 11 at 2:30 p.m. ET for the live broadcast of the Can-Am 500, the third and final race of the 2018 NASCAR Cup Series round of 8, from ISM Raceway to see which three drivers will join Joey Logano in the Championship 4 at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Sunday, November 18.

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