NASCAR Cup Series: Kevin Harvick takes pole for 2019 AAA Texas 500

Kevin Harvick took his series-high sixth pole position of the 2019 NASCAR Cup Series season for the round of 8 playoff race at Texas Motor Speedway, the AAA Texas 500.

Stewart-Haas Racing Kevin Harvick took the pole position for the second of three races in the round of 8 of the four-round, 10-race 2019 NASCAR Cup Series playoffs at Texas Motor Speedway, the AAA Texas 500.

This pole position his Harvick’s series-high sixth pole position of the season, as it broke a tie with Hendrick Motorsports’ William Byron atop the poles list through the 36-race season’s first 34 races.

Harvick took the pole position for this 334-lap race around the four-turn, 1.5-mile (2.414-kilometer) Texas Motor Speedway oval in Fort Worth, Texas by recording a top lap time of 28.465 seconds (189.707 miles per hour) in his #4 Ford in the single-car qualifying session for this race.

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Set to start the race on the front row alongside Harvick in second place is Joe Gibbs Racing’s Erik Jones in his #20 Toyota. The fastest round of 8 playoff driver in this qualifying session aside of Harvick was Joe Gibbs Racing’s Denny Hamlin, who qualified in third in his #11 Toyota. Harvick and Hamlin are the only round of 8 drivers who qualified for this race in the top 10.

Chip Ganassi Racing’s Kurt Busch qualified in fourth place in his #1 Chevrolet ahead of Hendrick Motorspotrs’ Alex Bowman in fifth in his #88 Chevrolet. Stewart-Haas Racing teammates Aric Almirola and Daniel Suarez qualified in sixth and seventh in their #10 Ford and #41 Ford, respectively.

Team Penske’s Brad Keselowski, Roush Fenway Racing’s Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Leavine Family Racing’s Matt DiBenedetto rounded out the top 10 by qualifying in eighth, ninth and 10th place in their #2 Ford, #17 Ford and #95 Toyota, respectively.

Round of 8 playoff drivers took the next five and six of the next seven spots on the starting grid, as they all qualified in the top 17 despite the fact that only two of them qualified in the top 10.

Rounding out the top 15 were Team Penske’s Joey Logano, Joe Gibbs Racing’s Kyle Busch, Chip Ganassi Racing’s Kyle Larson, Hendrick Motorsports’ Chase Elliott and Team Penske’s Ryan Blaney in 11th, 12th, 13th, 14th and 15th place in their #22 Ford, #18 Toyota, #42 Chevrolet, #9 Chevrolet and #12 Ford, respectively.

Joe Gibbs Racing’s Martin Truex Jr., who is already locked into the Championship 4 after winning the round of 8 opener at Martinsville Speedway last Sunday, qualified in 17th place in his #19 Toyota. He was separated by these other five drivers only by Richard Childress Racing rookie Daniel Hemric, who qualified in 16th in his #8 Chevrolet.

Here are the full qualifying results for the 2019 AAA Texas 500 at Texas Motor Speedway.

NOTE: Round of 8 playoff drivers are listed in italics.

Qualifying Results
1st – Kevin Harvick
2nd – Erik Jones
3rd – Denny Hamlin
4th – Kurt Busch
5th – Alex Bowman
6th – Aric Almirola
7th – Daniel Suarez
8th – Brad Keselowski
9th – Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
10th – Matt DiBenedetto
11th – Joey Logano
12th – Kyle Busch
13th – Kyle Larson
14th – Chase Elliott
15th – Ryan Blaney
16th – Daniel Hemric
17th – Martin Truex Jr.
18th – William Byron
19th – Ty Dillon
20th – Chris Buescher
21st – Austin Dillon
22nd – Darrell Wallace Jr.
23rd – Jimmie Johnson
24th – Clint Bowyer
25th – Ryan Newman
26th – David Ragan
27th – Michael McDowell
28th – Ryan Preece
29th – John Hunter Nemechek
30th – Parker Kligerman
31st – Paul Menard
32nd – Landon Cassill
33rd – Corey LaJoie
34th – J.J. Yeley
35th – Ross Chastain
36th – Garrett Smithley
37th – Quin Houff
38th – Joe Nemechek
39th – Josh Bilicki
40th – Timmy Hill

Be sure not to miss NBC’s live broadcast of the AAA Texas 500 tomorrow afternoon. It is set to begin at 3:00 p.m. ET from Texas Motor Speedway, the second of three tracks in the round of 8 of the 2019 NASCAR Cup Series playoffs.