KEVIN HARVICK’S CHEVROLET SS WILL LEAD THE FIELD TO GREEN AT DARLINGTON
HARVICK EARNS HIS FIRST CAREER POLE AWARD AT ‘THE LADY IN BLACK’
DARLINGTON, SC – For the second consecutive week a Chevrolet SS driver will lead the field down to the green flag for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race. Kevin Harvick put his No. 4 Budweiser Chevrolet SS on the pole for Saturday night’s Bojangles Southern 500 NASCAR Sprint at Darlington Raceway. He circled the 1.33-mile track with a fast lap of 26.802 seconds, 183.479 mph. It marked Harvick’s first pole at the track dubbed ‘Too Tough to Tame’ and seventh career pole in the sport.
The afternoon session at Darlington followed the new 2014 knockout qualifying format for intermediate sized tracks, which consisted of one 25-minute session, one 10-minute session, and a final five-minute session for the fastest 12 cars. Five Chevrolet SS drivers earned spots in the top 12 starting positions for the 367-lap race.
“I was on the bottom all day in practice and Rodney (Childers, crew chief) felt like in order to get the pole you were going to need to run the top after we ran our first run, Harvick said following the qualifying session. “That is the driver in him that is why he is good to have sitting there watching because he knows what is going on and he can relay. Also having Tim Fedewa up on top as former drivers knowing what is going on to relay what you need to do. We moved up and picked up in the second one felt like I didn’t roll through there fast enough and in the last one felt like I rolled through there pretty good. It all worked out. Knockout qualifying paid off for us today. We were able to save the best for last.”
Jamie McMurray drove his No. 1 Cessna Chevrolet SS into the sixth qualifying position. Ryan Newman who was fastest in the final practice session will start the Bojangles Southern 500 from the seventh starting position in the No. 31 Caterpillar Chevrolet SS. Jeff Gordon, No. 24 Drive To End Hunger Chevrolet SS, a seven-time winner at ‘The Lady in Black’ qualified in the ninth position rounding out the Chevrolet power in the top-10.
Joey Logano (Ford) qualified 2nd, Aric Almirola (Ford) qualified 3rd, Marcos Ambrose (Ford) qualified 4th, and Brad Keselowski (Ford) qualified 5th to round out the top five starting spots.
Saturday night’s race will air on FOX beginning at 6:30 pm ET. The Bojangles Southern 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup race will be 367 laps making up 501.3 miles.
KEVIN HARVICK, NO. 4 BUDWEISER CHEVROLET SS – POLE WINNER
WHAT WOULD IT MEAN TO WIN HERE AT DARLINGTON?
“This is one of those I guess what we would refer to as a crown jewel race. The one that is not sitting in our trophy case, so not only that but it’s just Darlington and this is what NASCAR racing is all about. To win here would mean a lot. Hopefully we can keep it together for 500 miles. I believe we have a really fast car and everything has gone well all weekend.”
DOES THIS QUALIFYING FORMAT WILL THAT LEAD TO MORE POLES FOR YOU THAN THE OLD FORMAT WOULD HAVE?
“I think we just have faster cars to drive in qualifying. They do a good job of detailing out the race cars. Our cars always have speed and the first four weeks we didn’t do a very good job on Friday and I think over the last four weeks we have done a lot better job. I think you just have faster race cars on qualifying day.”
YOU’VE HAD A LOT OF CRAZY THINGS HAPPEN TO YOUR CAR ON RACE DAYS ARE YOU LAUGHING ABOUT IT? ARE YOU FRUSTRATED? WHAT IS YOUR MINDSET?
“The cars are running really good. The guys are doing what they are supposed to do. We have been fast every week. You just have to battle through it. There is nothing that you can change about it. I think if we were in the previous points format you would probably be in a whole lot worse mood about it. But since we have already won and obviously we feel like we have given away some wins with the failures, but you just keep going about your business. I think today is good medicine for everybody and proof that everybody just works week to week on what they need to work on and last week is over.”
FOR THAT GOOD LAP DID YOU CHANGE YOUR LINE THROUGH TURNS THREE AND FOUR? HOW MUCH CAN YOU CHANGE YOUR LINE?
“I was on the bottom all day in practice and Rodney (Childers, crew chief) felt like in order to get the pole you were going to need to run the top after we ran our first run. That is the driver in him that is why he is good to have sitting there watching because he knows what is going on and he can relay. Also having Tim Fedewa up on top as former drivers knowing what is going on to relay what you need to do. We moved up and picked up in the second one felt like I didn’t roll through there fast enough and in the last one felt like I rolled through there pretty good. It all worked out. Knockout qualifying paid off for us today. We were able to save the best for last.”
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