As the sun went down over the Kansas Speedway qualifying for the fourth race of the Chase for the Sprint Cup Series began. Kevin Harvick would take the pole with a lap of 28.796 seconds or 187.526 mph.
The stories of the day were varied although the action was pretty calm with drivers fighting the new tires brought to the track by Goodyear. They included a scare for Jimmie Johnson and the 48 team when a spin and a puff of smoke took Johnson to the garage and the attention of Chad Knaus.
Mark Martin and Tony Stewart’s Bass Pro Shops number 14 team struggled to find the handle and speed. Clint Bowyer searched in vain for speed.
But there were good stories too, Ricky Stenhouse Jr would take the outside pole. Denny Hamlin would break through with a tenth place starting spot. Hometown boy Carl Edwards would take home ninth.
The pole position was Harvick’s first in 254 races. “When you when that few poles you can remember what happens to you on that day. The car was really fast right off the truck. We went back to where we started and we had a really good qualifying run.”
Starting Order for the Hollywood Casino 400: 1) Kevin Harvick 2) Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 3) Jimmie Johnson 4) Brad Keselowski 5) Joey Logano 6) Dale Earnhardt Jr. 7) Matt Kenseth 8) Paul Menard 9) Carl Edwards 10) Denny Hamlin 11) Brian Vickers 12) Juan Pablo Montoya 13) Martin Truex Jr. 14) Jeff Gordon 15) Kasey Kahne 16) Jeff Burton 17) Ryan Newman 18) Kyle Busch 19) Kurt Busch 20) Aric Almirola 21) Justin Allgaier 22) Clint Bowyer 23) Mark Martin 24) Jamie McMurray 25) Marcos Ambrose 26) Greg Biffle 27) David Reutimann 28) A.J. Allmendinger 29) Danica Patrick 30) Cole Whitt 31) Michael McDowell 32) David Ragan 33) J.J. Yeley 34) David Gilliland 35) Timmy Hill 36) Travis Kvapil 37) Casey Mears 38) Josh Wise 39) Joe Nemecheck 40) Reed Sorenson 41) Dave Blaney 42) Tony Raines 43) Landon Cassill
