Kevin Harvick fastest in Michigan qualifying

Kevin Harvick has scored his third pole position of the season with a new qualifying record at Michigan.

Harvick’s lap of 329.203 km/h (204.557 mph) is the fastest qualifying speed in the sport since prior to restrictor plates being introduced for Daytona and Talladega in 1988.

“Every week the cars are fast, and you’re able to be competitive,” said Harvick.

“You can leave with your head up knowing you’ve got the speed to contend for wins and poles. Monday morning, you have to forget about winning or losing.”

In a good sign for Chevrolet, five Hendrick-powered cars featured in the top 10 with Jeff Gordon set to line-up alongside and Dale Earnhardt Jr. in third.

The first non Chevy is the Ford of Aric Almirola who will start from fourth, while his Australian team-mate Marcos Ambrose will take the green flag from 20th.

“I feel really good about our car, but we just got a little tight during that second round and just couldn’t quite put a lap down,” said Ambrose.

“I certainly feel more comfortable than I have the last few weeks, so I think we’re in for a decent race.

“The track is wide and it’s really smooth.  They’ve done a fantastic job with the facility and I know on the clock we’re 215-plus into turn one but it doesn’t feel like it.”

After switching back to IndyCars this year, Juan Pablo Montoya is making selected appearances in NASCAR with Penske. He will start from 28th.

“For me it’s more of an opportunity to maybe win a race or two here (Penske),” said Montoya.

“They always excel here and have a car that can win, and the way Team Penske is running right now, if it clicks from the beginning, and we hope it does, we might have a shot at winning this.

“And then going to the Brickyard is a place that I run really well. When we ran bad we were always in the top 10, so going there in a car like this you’re definitely looking at a shot at a win as well.”

44 cars turned up to qualify with Ryan Truex the driver who was not fast enough to make the race.

VIDEO: Kevin Harvick goes fastest in Michigan

QUALIFYING: Quicken Loans 400 – Michigan International Speedway

POS.	CAR #	DRIVER	MANUFACTURER	SPONSOR	MPH	BEST TIME	BEHIND
1	4	Kevin Harvick	Chevrolet	Budweiser	204.557	35.198	Leader
2	24	Jeff Gordon	Chevrolet	Drive to End Hunger	203.776	35.333	–0.135
3	88	Dale Earnhardt Jr	Chevrolet	National Guard/Superman	203.729	35.341	–0.143
4	43	Aric Almirola	Ford	Smithfield	203.200	35.433	–0.235
5	27	Paul Menard	Chevrolet	Pittsburgh Paints / Menards	203.040	35.461	–0.263
6	2	Brad Keselowski	Ford	Miller Lite	202.908	35.484	–0.286
7	48	Jimmie Johnson	Chevrolet	Lowe’s / Kobalt Tools	202.401	35.573	–0.375
8	41	Kurt Busch	Chevrolet	Haas Automation	202.043	35.636	–0.438
9	22	Joey Logano	Ford	Shell Pennzoil	202.032	35.638	–0.440
10	55	Brian Vickers	Toyota	Aaron’s Dream Machine	201.331	35.762	–0.564
11	1	Jamie McMurray	Chevrolet	McDonald’s	200.490	35.912	–0.714
12	42	Kyle Larson	Chevrolet	Target	201.117	35.800	–0.602
13	5	Kasey Kahne	Chevrolet	Farmers Insurance	200.876	35.843	–0.645
14	18	Kyle Busch	Toyota	M&M’s	200.842	35.849	–0.651
15	15	Clint Bowyer	Toyota	5-Hour Energy	200.831	35.851	–0.653
16	78	Martin Truex Jr	Chevrolet	Furniture Row	200.820	35.853	–0.655
17	51	Justin Allgaier	Chevrolet	CSS USA Airflow Systems	200.730	35.869	–0.671
18	16	Greg Biffle	Ford	3M Military Salute Ford Fusion	200.518	35.907	–0.709
19	3	Austin Dillon	Chevrolet	Dow	200.457	35.918	–0.720
20	9	Marcos Ambrose	Ford	DeWalt	200.128	35.977	–0.779
21	20	Matt Kenseth	Toyota	Dollar General	199.967	36.006	–0.808
22	99	Carl Edwards	Ford	Fastenal	199.534	36.084	–0.886
23	21	Trevor Bayne	Ford	Motorcraft / Quick Lane Tire & Auto Center	199.518	36.087	–0.889
24	31	Ryan Newman	Chevrolet	Quicken Loans	199.165	36.151	–0.953
25	47	AJ Allmendinger	Chevrolet	Charter	200.837	35.850	–0.652
26	14	Tony Stewart	Chevrolet	Bass Pro Shops / Mobil 1 Chevrolet	200.457	35.918	–0.720
27	10	Danica Patrick	Chevrolet	GoDaddy	200.451	35.919	–0.721
28	12	Juan Pablo Montoya	Ford	SKF	200.217	35.961	–0.763
29	11	Denny Hamlin	Toyota	FedEx Express	199.933	36.012	–0.814
30	17	Ricky Stenhouse Jr	Ford	EcoPower Oil	199.750	36.045	–0.847
31	13	Casey Mears	Chevrolet	No. 13 GEICO Chevrolet SS	199.617	36.069	–0.871
32	38	David Gilliland	Ford	Long John Silver’s	198.593	36.255	–1.057
33	34	David Ragan	Ford	Taco Bell	198.571	36.259	–1.061
34	66	Brett Moffitt	Toyota	Toyota Let’s Go Places	198.347	36.300	–1.102
35	44	J.J. Yeley	Chevrolet	All City Leasing & Warehousing	197.900	36.382	–1.184
36	33	David Stremme	Chevrolet	Little Joe’s Autos	197.666	36.425	–1.227
37	7	Michael Annett	Chevrolet	Pilot Flying J Chevrolet	197.390	36.476	–1.278
38	98	Josh Wise	Chevrolet	Phil Parsons Racing	196.969	36.554	–1.356
39	40	Landon Cassill	Chevrolet	CRC Brakleen	196.566	36.629	–1.431
40	36	Reed Sorenson	Chevrolet	Theme Park Connection Chevrolet	196.266	36.685	–1.487
41	23	Alex Bowman	Toyota	Dr. Pepper Toyota Camry	195.434	36.841	–1.643
42	26	Cole Whitt	Toyota	Speed Stick GEAR Toyota	195.127	36.899	–1.701
43	32	Travis Kvapil	Ford	Keenparts.com-Corvetteparts.net	194.963	36.930	–1.732