Harvick Wins 600 Pole

Kevin Harvick won the pole for Sunday's 600

(CONCORD, NC - MAY 25, 2017 – RIS) Kevin Harvick sped to the pole for this year's edition of the Coca-Cola 600, NASCAR's longest race for the Monster Energy Series. Harvick's lap of 27.918 sec/193.424 mph edged out Kyle Busch by 0.132 second or 0.911 mph. Chase Elliott was the sole Chevrolet in the top ten qualifiers, just 0.037 sec behind Busch's Toyota.

Just before qualifying, Motor Racing Outreach staged their 'High Heel Dash' for drivers' and crew members' wives and girlfriends. Running a less-than 50 yard sprint on the front straight in high-heel shoes, the contestants raised money for their designated charities, with a total of over $21,000 raised. Jenny Kelly, the girlfriend of Brad Keselowski Racing tire carrier Jacob Ray, just edged out past champion Wendy Venturini in a photo-finish for the win.

MRO will host a special event Sunday afternoon in their day care center, where the children of drivers and crew will paint outlined drawings of Sam Bass paintings. The paintings will then be auctioned to raise funds to support famed artist Bass in his need for kidney and pancreas transplant. MRO representatives commented that events such as the painting and auction just point out that "there is so much more to the organization than just preaching. We try to support the community in every way we can."

KEVIN HARVICK, No. 4 Mobil 1 Ford (Pole Winner): "Our cars have been fast. We have qualified well. We just hadn't put together the weekend. The car unloaded fast. It was very edgy to drive. It was definitely a hairy lap but the car went really well through turns three and four. That's always our goal, to get the car to turn in the middle of three and four and be able to stay in the gas. The first round, I about spun out in one and two. I had to make some adjustments in what I had to do. From the XFINITY car there is a big difference. So, I was a little bit too aggressive. I was able to find a happy medium, and the crew made the car a little bit better. We were able to capitalize on it and have a fast Ford."

KYLE BUSCH, No. 18 M&M's Red, White and Blue Toyota (Outside Pole): "We had some speed that showed up. Overall I can't say enough about the guys. We have some performance right now and put it all together. It's a long, long day Sunday. This just gives us good pit selection. We learned from last Saturday night, track position means a lot. Obviously, it's better to start up front, so we'll take that. But it doesn't matter as much about where you start but where you wind up. It's a long, grueling race. Good pit selection for us gives us the opportunity to get a good spot for Sunday."

KEVIN HARVICK – No. 4 Mobil 1 Ford Fusion – "The cars in qualifying were a lot looser than they were in practice and just based on past experience here it was a handful through one and two. I just about lost it the first run, but the car was so good in three and four I didn't want to overadjust on it and make it too tight down there because you get tighter as the lap runs, so the guys did a good job of making adjustments, but not making it so tight that I couldn't carry the throttle like I needed to in three and four. So they just did a great job on our Mobil 1 Ford."

WHAT DID YOU THINK OF THE VHT IN PRACTICE? "I never found any of it that worked. Everything is still right on the bottom. There's really no speed right now in the middle or top of the race track even in XFINITY practice."

CLINT BOWYER – No. 14 Haas Automation Ford Fusion – "It's such a big race. Practice definitely didn't go the way we anticipated and planned after getting in the wall and the guys working hard on the car. Truth be told, we should be happy with a top-10 starting spot. It's a long race. You've got to be up in clean air and have to be amongst them. We'll work hard and get it right for the race."

DANICA PATRICK – No. 10 Code 3 Associates Ford Fusion – "I feel like it's kind of been a day of hit-or-miss. We weren't great in practice and then we got going better, and then in qualifying we weren't good the first run, but then we got going better. We just have to make sure we hit it for Sunday."

RICKY STENHOUSE JR. – No. 17 Fastenal Ford Fusion – "Brad and Denny had to go out. I didn't care if one of them beat us, I didn't need both of them to beat us. That's a big improvement from practice, so that's a positive. We'll look at what we did there and apply it to our race trim for Saturday's practice. I think our car drives a little better at night, so we'll have to make sure that we can hang on during the day and get it done when the night falls."

REGAN SMITH – No. 43 U.S. Air Force Ford Fusion – "We were a little tight and just a little bit on the splitter, but we didn't really have time to get out and make a second run. We were waiting for a clean lap the first run and the way that the whole session cycled through was kind of weird. Kasey got a lap there at the end and bumped us out of this whole deal, but I felt like our car was probably gonna be good enough to be somewhere around 15th on the next round with a little adjustment and getting to work just a little bit. These guys have done a nice job all week long. I'm not their normal guy. They're adapting to me, I'm adapting to them and I feel like we're gonna have a good day on Sunday. We're gonna have fun representing the U.S. Air Force and driving the King's 43. That's pretty cool. Outside of that, it should be a fun day."

TOYOTA QUOTES

KYLE BUSCH, No. 18 M&M's Red, White, and Blue Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing; Starting Position: 2nd
It looks like you and the team have another fast car this weekend, what do you think?
"Hopefully, it sticks. Yeah, Adam (Stevens, crew chief) and the guys they did. You know once we unloaded off the truck, our M&M's Red, White, and Blue Camry was really fast. We were kind of the fastest guys there through the beginning part of practice and then everybody else kind of caught up to us there, but overall great run for us. Shows that we have the potential, we just need to put it all together. We need to have a good balance and good car for race trim, so Adam (Stevens) will all go work to that on tomorrow – go work on that all tomorrow, and make sure that we have a good piece for 600 miles here. It's going to be a long one, a grueling one. You know, where you start doesn't necessarily matter as of right now. It's just about pit selection, so that's really good for us to be able to get number two pick and hopefully that bodes well for the race."

Best qualifying effort this year by you and the team. Is there any indication if you'll have that kind of speed for 600 miles here on Sunday?
"It's certainly nice to just have the speed right now. Our M&M's Red, White, and Blue Camry's got some speed. It showed up when we unloaded it right off the truck. We were pretty quick the first session. First couple of sessions and then guys kind of caught up to us a little bit through the practice, but all in all can't say enough about the guys all at Joe Gibbs Racing, everybody at TRD. Shows that we've got performance right now, so we just got to put it all together. It's a long, long day. Starting up front doesn't necessarily mean anything right now. It's just good for pit selection obviously and hopefully Adam (Stevens) and my boys, we can get it all tuned up tomorrow and get ready for a great 600 miles."

How much of what you did out there tonight actually transfers into the race?
"I mean your line and everything your running is about how you're going to run your lines and your fast laps when you got fresh tires when you race. Other than that, you know, that's pretty much about it. You're just trying to fine tune your groove and where you want to be and your throttle points and break points and everything like that. That's kind of it. I felt like I got beat a little bit today on my line, but I feel like my line is definitely better for racing conditions maybe than qualifying conditions showed tonight. It would've been nice to have gotten the pole. That would've been a tick better, but overall you got to look forward to just having a good solid, comfortable car for 600 miles."

Qualifying is based more on strategy now it seems, does this make the start of the race a bit more unsteady?
"Yeah, I think so. Look at it years ago back in early 2000s -- 2005, 6. How many times did you see Matt Kenseth qualify good? And then he would race good or have the potential to win a race. About never. It's a little bit more indicative, I feel like, to qualifying well, racing well, all that sort of stuff. I'd like to think that we're the fastest guys in town, but certainly I think there's guys that are behind us that are pretty fast as well too."

Is there any way to quantify how much JGR's struggles have affected how much success your team could have had this season?
"I don't know. Hard to tell. I feel as though, you know, we're kind of leading the brigade a little bit, but sometimes it's Denny (Hamlin) leading the brigade, sometimes it's Matt (Kenseth). I remember we've kind of gone in cycles just as the sport goes in cycles on who's leading our team. Overall, I feel really good about the 18 team and our car and where we're at. It shows that every week we continually work hard, just as hard, you know, that our teammates work, but our stuff's just prevailing a little bit better at the moment. Certainly that's just nice to have, you know. We're on a streak of a couple top fives here, so we'd like to keep that going and when you run top fives, the wins will come and obviously we were able to just put ourselves in the right position Saturday night. Hopefully the right position will present itself here this Sunday night."

As a driver who has left playoff points in the table, is it safe to assume you're happy there's an extra playoff point available on Sunday?
"As of right now, yes, if I'm able to collect all those playoff points, but if I'm not and somebody else that already has them is, then no. The opportunity's there and presents itself and starting up front, that should hopefully help those things, but man it's a long race and 100 laps is a long way each time in order to collect on those points, so we'll see."

MATT KENSETH, No. 20 Circle K Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing; Starting Position: 4th
How important does qualifying set the tone for this weekend? "You know what's really important everybody talks about it and you see it every weekend. Qualifying is very important, restarts, pit stops, strategy and all that stuff is important, especially with all those stage points on the line throughout the race. We had some pretty good speed in our Circle K Camry today. I'm glad we had a decent lap. We weren't near as fast as the 4 (Kevin Harvick), obviously we've got a little work to do, but we're pretty respectable."

ERIK JONES, No. 77 5-hour Energy Extra Strength Toyota Camry, Furniture Row Racing; Starting Position: 5th
Fifth-place starting spot for Sunday's Coca-Cola 600. What were your thoughts on your qualifying session? "We'll take that, we obviously were hoping for a shot at the pole after practice today. Just never quite had the car we had in practice, but we managed to get it better in every session and gave ourselves what I felt like a shot to go run for it (the pole). Needed a little bit more speed, the 4 (Kevin Harvick) was really fast every round and ended up with the pole as well. Just not quite enough speed, but the 5-Hour Energy Camry hopefully will be good in race trim and we'll be just fine."

CHEVROLET QUALIFYING NOTES: CHASE ELLIOTT IS TOP CHEVY QUALIFIER AT CHARLOTTE

With a speed of 192.260 mph around the 1.5-mile Charlotte Motor Speedway, Chase Elliott qualified his No. 24 NAPA Chevrolet SS to a third place starting position for Sunday's Coca-Cola 600 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race.

In today's knockout-style qualifying format, Jamie McMurray qualified his No. 1 GearWrench Chevrolet SS in 11th with a speed of 190.503 mph, to give Team Chevy two of the Top 12 starting spots for the longest Cup race of the year.

Jimmie Johnson, who has four Coca-Cola 600 wins to his credit, qualified 14th in his No. 48 Lowe's Chevy SS. Paul Menard qualified 16th in the No. 27 Knauf/Menards Chevy SS, Ryan Newman was 17th in the No. 31 Grainger Chevrolet SS, and Dale Earnhardt Jr., will start 19th in the No. 88 Nationwide Patriotic Chevy SS.

Series point leader and last week's pole winner, Kyle Larson, was unable to qualify his No. 42 Target Chevrolet SS because it did not pass inspection. Larson will start Sunday's race from the 39th position.

Kevin Harvick (Ford) won the pole, Kyle Busch (Toyota) qualified second, Matt Kenseth (Toyota) qualified fourth, and Erik Jones (Toyota) was fifth.

QUALIFYING NOTES & QUOTES:

CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 24 NAPA CHEVROLET SS – Qualified 3rd: WHAT WAS YOUR STRATEGY TO THE SESSIONS TONIGHT IN QUALIFYING?
"Just try to improve our ole NAPA Chevy. From the first round to the end I thought we made it better. I feel like I learned a couple of things driving. Just trying to pick up on that little bit that we are missing. I think we improved. I think that is all you can ask for. It's a long race. Third is a plenty good enough starting spot. You don't have to qualify really good if your car is driving well Sunday afternoon, Sunday night. Happy with third, this is an area we need to improve on in qualifying. I'm really happy we did that and get a great pit stall selection, which is helpful for 600 miles worth of racing."

WHAT KIND OF RACE DO YOU THINK WE WILL SEE HERE SUNDAY?
"I think it will be interesting with what NASCAR did with the track and how the groove is going to move around. I think we are all going to be paying close attention to the Xfinity race tomorrow to see how those guys attack the race track and if it does make a difference I will be curious to see how it wears along during their race which is only half the distance of ours. I know they said they are going to reapply it for the race on Sunday, so I'm curious to see if that reapplication is enough to hold up throughout the entire race. The bottom is awfully fast here at night and as the sun goes down. I will be curious to see if it's fast enough to take the long way around."

JAMIE MCMURRAY, NO. 1 GEARWRENCH CHEVROLET SS – Qualified 11th
ANOTHER STRONG QUALIFYING SESSION FOR YOU AND THE TEAM. CAN YOU TALK ABOUT HOW THE TRACK CHANGED THROUGHOUT THOSE ROUNDS?
"Yeah, it didn't change a lot for us and I was a little shocked. Normally, this is like a super weather sensitive track. So, it didn't change a whole lot, the track didn't really speed up a lot. It was pretty consistent. I think we were like 10th, 11th and 11th in all three rounds. We just kind of maintained what we had. I thought we would maybe be a little bit better than that in qualifying just based on practice, but it seemed like some of those guys found a little speed from stickers to scuffs and we weren't able to pick up as much as they were."

HOW IS AN 11TH PLACE QUALIFYING EFFORT GOING TO HELP YOU COME SUNDAY?
"Well, its stage 1 points. It's so weird that is what you think about in a 600-mile race, but there are a lot of points in stages. There are going to be 30 possible points in the stage racing side of it. Starting up front, this is one of those… even the All-Star race is that way, one of those tracks there is not a lot of cautions at. So, starting up front is going to be super important."

JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 LOWE'S CHEVROLET SS – Qualified 14th
YOU JUST MISSED MAKING THE FINAL ROUND. HOW WERE THE TRACK CONDITIONS AND WHAT MORE DID YOU NEED?
"They were a lot different than what we anticipated. So, we just didn't get the balance right from practice to Q (qualifying). We thought we had a good idea of what to go on based on last week and it just didn't repeat for us like we thought, so we just missed it a little bit there."

KYLE LARSON, NO. 42 TARGET CHEVROLET SS – Did not make a qualifying attempt, was unable to get through pre-qualifying inspection
YOU DIDN'T GET THE CHANCE TO QUALIFY. WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS RIGHT NOW?
"We'll start last instead of from the pole. I guess I'm upset at myself for getting into the wall in practice there because it put us behind on getting to the tech line. We still failed a couple of times. The machine wouldn't work there, late, and it cost us a minute or minute and a half, and we actually passed. But we didn't have enough time to get out there. Had the machine worked, maybe we would have made it out there for that round. I don't know. I won't speak too much on it because I don't know much about how that whole tech process works. I know all the teams hate it. The teams point at NASCAR. NASCAR points at the teams. It's confusing to me."

HOW HARD IS IT GOING TO BE COMING FROM THE BACK?
"I hope the VHT up top is nice. I don't know, it's going to be, I don't know, Charlotte is a hard place to pass at, but you've got 600 miles to do it. I typically don't qualify well here anyway, so I come from the back here a lot. So, I'm not too worried about it. I've won races from 24th in a sprint car in 30 laps. 600 miles should be okay."

WHAT WAS THE ISSUE?
"I think rear toe or something. I'm not sure. There that final time it looked like the machine I guess wasn't working. I don't know if somebody stepped over one of the lasers or triggered a reset or whatever, but we sat on there for about a minute or so and waited for it to restart and then we passed and just didn't have enough time. Maybe if the machine would have worked when we first got over it that final time maybe we would have had enough time to get out there and make a lap."

IS IT JUST ONE OF THOSE THINGS THESE DAYS YOU KNOW THAT YOU ARE GOING TO HAVE A COUPLE OF TIMES DURING THE YEAR WHERE THIS IS PROBABLY GOING TO HAPPEN?
"Yeah, it happened to us at Texas and we rebounded from that and finished second. Like I said, I'm not too worried about it. I know the teams are frustrated with the tech process. I know nothing about how it all works. I don't really have much to say about it other than I know my crew chief hates it."

KEVIN HARVICK POLE-WINNING PRESS CONFERENCE

KEVIN HARVICK – No. 4 Mobil 1 Ford Fusion – "I never thought I'd be close to anyone on that list for years, but I think as you look at our cars have been fast, we've qualified well, we've had a lot of speed and we just hadn't put together the weekend. But we've been running well and tonight is no different. The car unloaded fast and was very edgy to drive. It was definitely a hairy lap, but I think the main thing is the car went really well through turns three and four and that's always our goal – to get the car to turn through the middle of three and four and be able to stay in the gas. The first round I about spun out in one and two and had to make some adjustments in what I was doing from the XFINITY car to the Cup car is a big difference, so I was a little bit too aggressive in the first round. I was able to find a happy medium with what I needed to be doing and they made the car a little bit better and we were able to capitalize on a fast Ford."

HAVE YOU GUYS HIT ON SOMETHING HERE? THIS IS TWO POLES IN A ROW. "We did it in a Chevy too, so I think Dax (Gerringer) and Rodney (Childers) are doing a good job of getting all the speed out of the cars no matter what brand it is or tires or spoilers or rules packages. It's something that we develop trends no matter what the rules are and I think as you see those trends, whether it be qualifying or racing or setups or whatever the case may be, it's important to recognize those trends and follow those trends through your setups and things as you go through the years. No matter what the spoilers are there is still going to be balance and things that you look at in the simulation and setups and things that we do, so I feel like the communication and things that we have of what I'm looking for in the car and what they're putting in the car, I feel like that's been really good over the last two years. Obviously, with Buga going to the 14 we had a little bit of a learning curve in there, but we've long overcome that and I feel like it just keeps getting better."

IS IT HARDER TO WIN THIS RACE THAN OTHERS BECAUSE IT'S 100 MORE MILES? "They're all hard to win. I think the hardest part about this race is probably just keeping all the parts and pieces together just because of the fact we don't normally run 600 miles, which means you run the same amount of laps in practice for the most part. They do put limits on how many laps we can run on the engine during a practice, but we don't put limits on the parts and pieces and this is the one time of the year that we run 600 miles, so there's always new parts and pieces on the car and you never know. I think you see some of that show up sometimes. Mentally, it's a hard race because there's a lot to take in starting in the day it will be hot, the cars will be different than what they were in practice and you know that it's 600 miles and you go into the night. So there's a lot of things that are going on that you have to take in, whether it be a 400 or 500-mile race let alone a 600-mile race, so it's a very, very, very challenging race just for the fact that it's long, it's hot and Charlotte is a demanding race track. You carry a lot of speed, so physically and mentally you better be ready to go in order to hold the pace that you need to for four-and-a-half to five hours."

DOES HAVING AN EXTRA STAGE AND PLAYOFF POINT AVAILABLE MAKE A BIGGER IMPACT? "It definitely will have an impact. I don't think you're gonna race any different because you're gonna want to lead as many laps as you can and score as many points as you can, so I think obviously for us we gained a big advantage with the pit stall. Pit stall one here is a huge advantage under caution, so I think as you look at the fourth stage and the extra 10 points and the extra bonus point you want to go out and grab those, and we've obviously had a little bit of trouble in the first 11 or 12 weeks. We've had three or four little bump ups and cost us some points, and Sunday is a good night to gain some of those back. You're not gonna gain them all back, but you can gain a good chunk of points just by having some good stage finishes and hopefully maybe winning one or two here or there."

KEVIN HARVICK CONTINUED -- SINCE YOUR COMMENTS ABOUT THE TRUCK SCHEDULE AND GOING BACK TO THE GRASSROOTS TRACKS. HAVE YOU GOTTEN ANYMORE FEEDBACK? "I can't walk anywhere and not have somebody talk to me about the Truck Series schedule. I think it's something that a lot of people want to say and haven't said, but I think it's definitely time to look at the grassroots sides of things and I think the Truck Series is a grassroots division. If you could just for example take it somewhere like Nashville Speedway and pair it up with the All-American 400 and put the All-American 400 in Nashville back on the map with a Truck Series race with some SAFER barriers, get the city of Nashville involved and that's just one race. I think it would be very interesting and I feel like that regionally is a big touring race. You go up to Oxford, Maine, but getting the TV to these cars and these local racers and these people and the enthusiasm that it brings to a local market, that's what the Truck Series does. When you look at Eldora and you look at the road race in Canada, you look at these one-off events and every one of them are well attended, every one of them are exciting and well attended. We need events and I think it's a great way to reinvest from the bottom up in different facilities and you could sit here and name a bunch of them, and what better way to show them you care than by putting soft walls up at the race track somehow and some way to get the cities involved and the race track and work on getting those sanctioning fees down and get them to places where they can knock the fenders off of each other and put on a great show, much like they do at Eldora. I mean, it's got 20-some thousand people there every time we show up and everybody loves watching on a Wednesday night."

LOOKING AT IT FROM AN OWNER'S PERSPECTIVE THESE ARE ALL GREAT IDEAS, BUT HOW DO YOU MAKE IT WORK? "TV money is still how everyone survives. That's the reason a lot of these race tracks take these Truck races now because the TV money went up, so there's a reason that they want to keep them. But there are ways to make all of this work. Everybody doesn't need to have their hand out, they need to be thinking from the bottom up and how do we make this better? You look at some of these historic, just really great short tracks across the country. I'm not saying we need to take them from Daytona or Phoenix or some of these other places, but there are some places that they don't need to be going and I think it would be interesting to revive the Copper Classic and start the season with the Trucks out there and see the sprint cars show back up and TV is gonna be there to cover it, so now you can film all these races and put these guys on TV. All of a sudden there's TV there and they can get better sponsorship, so there's a lot of things that you could do and, like you say, it has to be something that everybody buys into that is worried about making money."

DO YOU FEEL YOU'VE FOUND A PEAK IN YOUR DRIVing SINCE GOING TO SHR? THAT YOUR DRIVING HAS GOTTEN EVEN BETTER SINCE THAT MOVE? "I think it's a number of things. I think as a driver I feel like I can get better every week. I think there are a number of things to look at every week of what other people are doing. You see young people, old people, new drivers, old drivers come through that look at things differently and that's really always been my approach is to walk in the garage every week with an open mind. But I think the biggest thing for me since I've come to Stewart-Haas is just how the team has jelled, how myself and Rodney get along and, really, everybody on the team get along from the top down. You have that chemistry really throughout the whole company. Obviously, Tony and Gene are very young compared to a lot of the other owners in the garage. Management is very young and in the same generation I guess you could say that I am, and we have a lot in common. Most all of us have kids. We all want to accomplish the same goals. Nobody is arguing and fighting. On a non-productive weekend you come back and you say, 'Here's what I screwed up. Here's what I think you screwed up,' and they'll tell me, 'Here's what I screwed up and here's what you screwed up.' As long as you can have that open dialogue and communicate and be honest with each other about when things are going good and when things are going bad, and have an open mind to change, it's been great for me and it opened my mind up to when I had change to how refreshing and how exciting change can be. I think I've just been able to be more balanced, I guess you could say, from a personal standpoint in life, and I think the race track has helped my life too, just because of the fact you see how much better it is over here and they just bounce off of each other because you keep fine-tuning both sides and things continuously get better with that same open-mind approach, whether it's at home or professionally."

DID YOU NOTICE ANY DIFFERENCE WITH THE GRIP AT THE TOP OF THE TRACK? "With the Cup car, I never really went anywhere but the middle of the race track coming to the green through turns three and four. In the XFINITY car I ran up there a lot just trying to keep the temperature on where the race track was going, but it's not gonna be immediate because of the fact when you look at Bristol it took it a while to kind of get run in and I think by the time we get done with the XFINITY race I think that the track will be run in and I really do think there's gonna be multiple grooves and it's gonna be interesting because it's not going to be like it is today. There's just not enough action on it, but it definitely got better during the two XFINITY practices that we ran and by the time we got done the middle of the race track was pretty close to as fast as the bottom of the race track, which is what everybody is looking for."

DO YOU FEEL THESE INTERMEDIATE TRACKS HAVE BEEN WHERE YOU'VE BEEN BEST SO FAR OR HAS IT BEEN MORE CIRCUMSTANCES? "No and I think especially switching over manufacturers and switching to Ford, I mean that's got to be your first focus because that's where a majority of things happen. We ran great at Bristol and Richmond. The superspeedways have been good. Our worst race track has notoriously been Martinsville and has been Martinsville this year too, but our mile-and-a-half stuff we obviously put a lot of effort in to because that's the bread and butter of what you need to be the best on and I think that's what we've done the past few years. We've definitely had a lot of speed and put ourselves in position to have some opportunities, but you've got to remember that we're only 11 or 12 weeks into this whole thing and we're still chugging along. They've done a great job, don't get me wrong, but we've got a lot of room to make things better and a lot of things to still iron out. You guys don't see a lot of things that happen and they do a great job of doing what we need to do at the race track, but sometimes it doesn't go 100 percent smooth like you would want it to, and I'd say over the last month it's been a lot smoother, but it's still been a huge undertaking and the progression has been good. I feel like it can be better and I think everybody feels it can be better and that's the cool part about everything we have going on is that everybody knows it can be better, so they're all constantly working and thinking and pushing forward and that's been great to watch. It's been a huge project, but it's been something that, for me, it's been fun to watch because you just see all the moving parts and pieces and the people come together to do when it's fine-tuned hopefully something great."

YOUR THOUGHTS ON RON HORNADAY BEING VOTED INTO THE HALL OF FAME? "I've been fortunate to sit on that Hall panel and when I walked in I had five names written in my notebook and I walked out with four different names and one that I started with. I'm the worst fan in the world when my friends or client, and I looked at the ballot and I'm always pulling for Ron as I did, and I've been pulling for Ron the whole time, but you look at all the other names and you're like, 'Oh man, how is he gonna be Bobby Labonte or Alan Kulwicki or Roger Penske or this guy or that guy,' and I saw the voting actually this morning and I sent him a text. I know he's probably got a million texts and I haven't had my phone in six hours, but I remember, and I don't remember who exactly said it, but it was definitely one of the veterans of our sport. I remember the conversation like it was yesterday because I remember him saying, 'This is not a NASCAR Premier Series Hall of Fame, this is the NASCAR Hall of Fame.' And when you think about it that way and a guy's got four championships and came along with the start of the series and changed the complexion of a sport and drove for one of the icons in our sport in Dale Earnhardt and started the Truck Series and had his own chassis shop and raced in all the regional and late model series at every short track across the country. And then to have him drive for me and the history that Ron and I have together from a personal standpoint it's just neat to see. When you see all that come together and I saw it this morning I was like, 'Man.' That is just the ultimate compliment to a guy who has given his whole life to building and racing and being a part of it and sacrificed everything that he's had, been in debt, been upside-down and just helped half the garage get to where they are with giving them cars or letting them sleep on his couch or whatever the case may be. And it's just great to see that happen for him and I'm just proud to be a small part of it because he's earned everything that he's ever gotten his whole life. It's been neat to see."

Practice 1: Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series - 58th Annual Coca-COLA 600

Pos, Driver, Car, Time, Speed, Lap #, # Laps, -Fastest, -Next
1) Erik Jones #, No. 77 5-Hour ENERGY Extra Strength Toyota, 28.021, 192.713, 7, 9, ---.---, ---.---
2) Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Lowe's Chevrolet, 28.056, 192.472, 8, 8, -0.035, -0.035
3) Kyle Larson, No. 42 Target Chevrolet, 28.057, 192.465, 7, 8, -0.036, -0.001
4) Denny Hamlin, No. 11 FedEx Office Toyota, 28.057, 192.465, 7, 9, -0.036, -0.000
5) Kevin Harvick, No. 4 Mobil 1 Ford, 28.103, 192.150, 3, 5, -0.082, -0.046
6) Matt Kenseth, No. 20 Circle K Toyota, 28.141, 191.891, 9, 9, -0.120, -0.038
7) Brad Keselowski, No. 2 Miller Lite Ford, 28.141, 191.891, 9, 9, -0.120, -0.000
8) Ryan Blaney, No. 21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane Tire & Auto Center Ford, 28.142, 191.884, 9, 9, -0.121, -0.001
9) Kyle Busch, No. 18 M&M's Red, White, & Blue Toyota, 28.159, 191.768, 3, 8, -0.138, -0.017
10) Jamie McMurray, No. 1 GearWrench Chevrolet, 28.189, 191.564, 7, 9, -0.168, -0.030
11) Martin Truex Jr., No. 78 Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Boats Toyota, 28.194, 191.530, 7, 9, -0.173, -0.005
12) Ryan Newman, No. 31 Grainger Chevrolet, 28.197, 191.510, 7, 9, -0.176, -0.003
13) Daniel Suarez #, No. 19 Subway Toyota, 28.209, 191.428, 5, 7, -0.188, -0.012
14) Kurt Busch, No. 41 Haas Automation/Monster Energy Ford, 28.227, 191.306, 3, 7, -0.206, -0.018
15) Austin Dillon, No. 3 DOW Salutes Veterans Chevrolet, 28.244, 191.191, 7, 9, -0.223, -0.017
16) Clint Bowyer, No. 14 Haas Automation Ford, 28.257, 191.103, 2, 3, -0.236, -0.013
17) Chase Elliott, No. 24 NAPA Chevrolet, 28.286, 190.907, 7, 7, -0.265, -0.029
18) Danica Patrick, No. 10 Code 3 Associates Ford, 28.288, 190.894, 7, 9, -0.267, -0.002
19) Paul Menard, No. 27 Knauf/Menards Chevrolet, 28.290, 190.880, 1, 11, -0.269, -0.002
20) Michael McDowell, No. 95 WRL General Contractors Chevrolet, 28.303, 190.792, 7, 7, -0.282, -0.013
21) Trevor Bayne, No. 6 Ford EcoBoost Ford, 28.344, 190.517, 9, 9, -0.323, -0.041
22) Dale Earnhardt Jr., No. 88 Nationwide Patriotic Chevrolet, 28.363, 190.389, 11, 13, -0.342, -0.019
23) AJ Allmendinger, No. 47 Harris Teeter Express Lane Chevrolet, 28.373, 190.322, 1, 8, -0.352, -0.010
24) Kasey Kahne, No. 5 Liftmaster Chevrolet, 28.404, 190.114, 3, 8, -0.383, -0.031
25) Chris Buescher, No. 37 Kleenex/Cars 3 Chevrolet, 28.467, 189.693, 11, 13, -0.446, -0.063
26) Ty Dillon #, No. 13 GEICO Military Chevrolet, 28.480, 189.607, 11, 11, -0.459, -0.013
27) Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 17 Fastenal Ford, 28.500, 189.474, 7, 7, -0.479, -0.020
28) Regan Smith(i), No. 43 United States Air Force Ford, 28.504, 189.447, 8, 9, -0.483, -0.004
29) Matt DiBenedetto, No. 32 Cosmo Motors Ford, 28.677, 188.304, 7, 7, -0.656, -0.173
30) Joey Logano, No. 22 Shell Pennzoil Ford, 28.685, 188.252, 22, 22, -0.664, -0.008
31) Landon Cassill, No. 34 CSX Play It Safe Ford, 28.705, 188.121, 5, 9, -0.684, -0.020
32) David Ragan, No. 38 Jacob Companies Ford, 28.954, 186.503, 15, 16, -0.933, -0.249
33) Corey LaJoie #, No. *83 Hope For The Warriors Toyota, 29.093, 185.612, 8, 10, -1.072, -0.139
34) Cole Whitt, No. 72 RTIC Coolers Chevrolet, 29.127, 185.395, 13, 15, -1.106, -0.034
35) Gray Gaulding #, No. 23 Bubba Burger Toyota, 29.231, 184.735, 21, 22, -1.210, -0.104
36) Reed Sorenson, No. 15 Low T Center Chevrolet, 29.674, 181.977, 4, 4, -1.653, -0.443
37) JJ Yeley(i), No. 7 Accell Construction Inc./Hope For The Warriors , 29.787, 181.287, 2, 2, -1.766, -0.113
38) Jeffrey Earnhardt, No. 33 Towne Bank Chevrolet, 29.825, 181.056, 5, 5, -1.804, -0.038
39) Timmy Hill(i), No. *51 CharliesSoap.com Chevrolet, 30.443, 177.381, 5, 11, -2.422, -0.618
40) Derrike Cope, No. *55 Ckezepis Law PLLC Toyota, 30.516, 176.956, 5, 10, -2.495, -0.073
*Required to qualify on time, (i) Ineligible for driver points in this series, (#) Rookie

Time Trial Results: Charlotte Motor Speedway, 58th Annual Coca-Cola 600

Qualifying Round: 1
Pos, Driver, Car, Time, Speed, Lap #, # Laps, -Fastest, -Next
1) Kyle Busch, No. 18 M&M's Red, White, & Blue Toyota, 28.216, 191.381, 1, 1, 0.000, 0.000
2) Denny Hamlin, No. 11 FedEx Office Toyota, 28.271, 191.008, 1, 1, 0.055, 0.055
3) Erik Jones #, No. 77 5-Hour ENERGY Extra Strength Toyota, 28.302, 190.799, 1, 1, 0.086, 0.031
4) Matt Kenseth, No. 20 Circle K Toyota, 28.309, 190.752, 1, 1, 0.093, 0.007
5) Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 17 Fastenal Ford, 28.326, 190.638, 1, 1, 0.110, 0.017
6) Kevin Harvick, No. 4 Mobil 1 Ford, 28.335, 190.577, 1, 1, 0.119, 0.009
7) Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Lowe's Chevrolet, 28.370, 190.342, 1, 1, 0.154, 0.035
8) Ryan Blaney, No. 21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane Tire & Auto Center Ford, 28.370, 190.342, 1, 1, 0.154, 0.000
9) Paul Menard, No. 27 Knauf/Menards Chevrolet, 28.378, 190.288, 1, 1, 0.162, 0.008
10) Chase Elliott, No. 24 NAPA Chevrolet, 28.407, 190.094, 1, 1, 0.191, 0.029
11) Jamie McMurray, No. 1 GearWrench Chevrolet, 28.422, 189.994, 1, 1, 0.206, 0.015
12) Kurt Busch, No. 41 Haas Automation/Monster Energy Ford, 28.494, 189.514, 1, 1, 0.278, 0.072
13) Danica Patrick, No. 10 Code 3 Associates Ford, 28.501, 189.467, 3, 3, 0.285, 0.007
14) Daniel Suarez #, No. 19 Subway Toyota, 28.521, 189.334, 1, 1, 0.305, 0.020
15) Ryan Newman, No. 31 Grainger Chevrolet, 28.524, 189.314, 1, 1, 0.308, 0.003
16) Joey Logano, No. 22 Shell Pennzoil Ford, 28.539, 189.215, 3, 3, 0.323, 0.015
17) Martin Truex Jr., No. 78 Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Boats Toyota, 28.543, 189.188, 1, 1, 0.327, 0.004
18) Kasey Kahne, No. 5 Liftmaster Chevrolet, 28.557, 189.095, 3, 3, 0.341, 0.014
19) Clint Bowyer, No. 14 Haas Automation Ford, 28.590, 188.877, 1, 1, 0.374, 0.033
20) Brad Keselowski, No. 2 Miller Lite Ford, 28.597, 188.831, 1, 1, 0.381, 0.007
21) Trevor Bayne, No. 6 Ford EcoBoost Ford, 28.601, 188.805, 1, 1, 0.385, 0.004
22) Dale Earnhardt Jr., No. 88 Nationwide Patriotic Chevrolet, 28.612, 188.732, 1, 1, 0.396, 0.011
23) Austin Dillon, No. 3 DOW Salutes Veterans Chevrolet, 28.651, 188.475, 1, 1, 0.435, 0.039
24) Michael McDowell, No. 95 WRL General Contractors Chevrolet, 28.669, 188.357, 1, 1, 0.453, 0.018
25) Regan Smith(i), No. 43 United States Air Force Ford, 28.676, 188.311, 1, 1, 0.460, 0.007
26) AJ Allmendinger, No. 47 Harris Teeter Express Lane Chevrolet, 28.681, 188.278, 1, 1, 0.465, 0.005
27) Ty Dillon #, No. 13 GEICO Military Chevrolet, 28.697, 188.173, 3, 3, 0.481, 0.016
28) David Ragan, No. 38 Jacob Companies Ford, 28.700, 188.153, 1, 1, 0.484, 0.003
29) Chris Buescher, No. 37 Kleenex/Cars 3 Chevrolet, 28.825, 187.337, 1, 1, 0.609, 0.125
30) Matt DiBenedetto, No. 32 Cosmo Motors Ford, 28.891, 186.909, 1, 1, 0.675, 0.066
31) Landon Cassill, No. 34 CSX Play It Safe Ford, 29.062, 185.810, 3, 3, 0.846, 0.171
32) Gray Gaulding #, No. 23 Bubba Burger Toyota, 29.254, 184.590, 1, 3, 1.038, 0.192
33) JJ Yeley(i), No. 7* AccellConstInc/HopeForTheWarriors Chev, 29.325, 184.143, 1, 1, 1.109, 0.071
34) Cole Whitt, No. 72 RTIC Coolers Chevrolet, 29.556, 182.704, 3, 3, 1.340, 0.231
35) Reed Sorenson, No. 15 Low T Center Chevrolet, 29.779, 181.336, 1, 1, 1.563, 0.223
36) Timmy Hill(i), No. 51* CharliesSoap.com Chevrolet, 30.419, 177.521, 2, 2, 2.203, 0.640
37) Derrike Cope, No. 55* Ckezepis Law PLLC Toyota, 30.513, 176.974, 1, 1, 2.297, 0.094
38) Jeffrey Earnhardt, No. 33 Towne Bank Chevrolet, 30.602, 176.459, 1, 1, 2.386, 0.089
39) Kyle Larson, No. 42 Target Chevrolet, 0.000, 0.000, 0, 0, -----, -----
40) Corey LaJoie #, No. 83* Hope For The Warriors Toyota, 0.000, 0.000, 0, 0, -----, -----
*Required to qualify on time, (i) Ineligible for driver points in this series, (#) Rookie

Qualifying Round: 2
Pos, Driver, Car, Time, Speed, Lap #, # Laps, -Fastest, -Next
1) Kevin Harvick, No. 4 Mobil 1 Ford, 27.945, 193.237, 1, 1, 0.000, 0.000
2) Kyle Busch, No. 18 M&M's Red, White, & Blue Toyota, 27.947, 193.223, 1, 1, 0.002, 0.002
3) Chase Elliott, No. 24 NAPA Chevrolet, 28.164, 191.734, 1, 1, 0.219, 0.217
4) Clint Bowyer, No. 14 Haas Automation Ford, 28.173, 191.673, 1, 1, 0.228, 0.009
5) Martin Truex Jr., No. 78 Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Boats Toyota, 28.183, 191.605, 1, 1, 0.238, 0.010
6) Ryan Blaney, No. 21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane Tire & Auto Center Ford, 28.199, 191.496, 1, 1, 0.254, 0.016
7) Kurt Busch, No. 41 Haas Automation/Monster Energy Ford, 28.209, 191.428, 1, 1, 0.264, 0.010
8) Erik Jones #, No. 77 5-Hour ENERGY Extra Strength Toyota, 28.253, 191.130, 1, 1, 0.308, 0.044
9) Matt Kenseth, No. 20 Circle K Toyota, 28.259, 191.090, 1, 1, 0.314, 0.006
10) Brad Keselowski, No. 2 Miller Lite Ford, 28.264, 191.056, 3, 3, 0.319, 0.005
11) Denny Hamlin, No. 11 FedEx Office Toyota, 28.275, 190.981, 3, 3, 0.330, 0.011
12) Jamie McMurray, No. 1 GearWrench Chevrolet, 28.295, 190.846, 1, 1, 0.350, 0.020
13) Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 17 Fastenal Ford, 28.327, 190.631, 1, 1, 0.382, 0.032
14) Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Lowe's Chevrolet, 28.369, 190.349, 1, 1, 0.424, 0.042
15) Danica Patrick, No. 10 Code 3 Associates Ford, 28.380, 190.275, 1, 1, 0.435, 0.011
16) Paul Menard, No. 27 Knauf/Menards Chevrolet, 28.385, 190.241, 1, 1, 0.440, 0.005
17) Ryan Newman, No. 31 Grainger Chevrolet, 28.410, 190.074, 1, 1, 0.465, 0.025
18) Trevor Bayne, No. 6 Ford EcoBoost Ford, 28.419, 190.014, 1, 3, 0.474, 0.009
19) Dale Earnhardt Jr., No. 88 Nationwide Patriotic Chevrolet, 28.430, 189.940, 1, 3, 0.485, 0.011
20) Daniel Suarez #, No. 19 Subway Toyota, 28.455, 189.773, 1, 1, 0.510, 0.025
21) Michael McDowell, No. 95 WRL General Contractors Chevrolet, 28.478, 189.620, 1, 1, 0.533, 0.023
22) Austin Dillon, No. 3 DOW Salutes Veterans Chevrolet, 28.479, 189.613, 3, 3, 0.534, 0.001
23) Joey Logano, No. 22 Shell Pennzoil Ford, 28.501, 189.467, 1, 1, 0.556, 0.022
24) Kasey Kahne, No. 5 Liftmaster Chevrolet, 28.656, 188.442, 1, 1, 0.711, 0.155

Qualifying Round: 3
Pos, Driver, Car, Time, Speed, Lap #, # Laps, -Fastest, -Next
1) Kevin Harvick, No. 4 Mobil 1 Ford, 27.918, 193.424, 1, 1, 0.000, 0.000
2) Kyle Busch, No. 18 M&M's Red, White, & Blue Toyota, 28.050, 192.513, 1, 1, 0.132, 0.132
3) Chase Elliott, No. 24 NAPA Chevrolet, 28.087, 192.260, 1, 1, 0.169, 0.037
4) Matt Kenseth, No. 20 Circle K Toyota, 28.106, 192.130, 1, 1, 0.188, 0.019
5) Erik Jones #, No. 77 5-Hour ENERGY Extra Strength Toyota, 28.157, 191.782, 1, 1, 0.239, 0.051
6) Denny Hamlin, No. 11 FedEx Office Toyota, 28.159, 191.768, 1, 1, 0.241, 0.002
7) Ryan Blaney, No. 21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane Tire & Auto Center Ford, 28.164, 191.734, 1, 1, 0.246, 0.005
8) Martin Truex Jr., No. 78 Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Boats Toyota, 28.236, 191.245, 1, 1, 0.318, 0.072
9) Clint Bowyer, No. 14 Haas Automation Ford, 28.266, 191.042, 1, 1, 0.348, 0.030
10) Brad Keselowski, No. 2 Miller Lite Ford, 28.297, 190.833, 1, 1, 0.379, 0.031
11) Jamie McMurray, No. 1 GearWrench Chevrolet, 28.346, 190.503, 1, 1, 0.428, 0.049
12) Kurt Busch, No. 41 Haas Automation/Monster Energy Ford, 28.420, 190.007, 1, 1, 0.502, 0.074

Starting Line Up: 58th Annual Coca-Cola 600, Charlotte Motor Speedway
Pos, Driver, Car, Time, Speed
1) Kevin Harvick, No. 4 Mobil 1 Ford, 27.918, 193.424
2) Kyle Busch, No. 18 M&M's Red, White, & Blue Toyota, 28.050, 192.513
3) Chase Elliott, No. 24 NAPA Chevrolet, 28.087, 192.260
4) Matt Kenseth, No. 20 Circle K Toyota, 28.106, 192.130
5) Erik Jones #, No. 77 5-Hour ENERGY Extra Strength Toyota, 28.157, 191.782
6) Denny Hamlin, No. 11 FedEx Office Toyota, 28.159, 191.768
7) Ryan Blaney, No. 21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane Tire & Auto Center Ford, 28.164, 191.734
8) Martin Truex Jr., No. 78 Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Boats Toyota, 28.236, 191.245
9) Clint Bowyer, No. 14 Haas Automation Ford, 28.266, 191.042
10) Brad Keselowski, No. 2 Miller Lite Ford, 28.297, 190.833
11) Jamie McMurray, No. 1 GearWrench Chevrolet, 28.346, 190.503
12) Kurt Busch, No. 41 Haas Automation/Monster Energy Ford, 28.420, 190.007
13) Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 17 Fastenal Ford, 28.327, 190.631
14) Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Lowe's Chevrolet, 28.369, 190.349
15) Danica Patrick, No. 10 Code 3 Associates Ford, 28.380, 190.275
16) Paul Menard, No. 27 Knauf/Menards Chevrolet, 28.385, 190.241
17) Ryan Newman, No. 31 Grainger Chevrolet, 28.410, 190.074
18) Trevor Bayne, No. 6 Ford EcoBoost Ford, 28.419, 190.014
19) Dale Earnhardt Jr., No. 88 Nationwide Patriotic Chevrolet, 28.430, 189.940
20) Daniel Suarez #, No. 19 Subway Toyota, 28.455, 189.773
21) Michael McDowell, No. 95 WRL General Contractors Chevrolet, 28.478, 189.620
22) Austin Dillon, No. 3 DOW Salutes Veterans Chevrolet, 28.479, 189.613
23) Joey Logano, No. 22 Shell Pennzoil Ford, 28.501, 189.467
24) Kasey Kahne, No. 5 Liftmaster Chevrolet, 28.656, 188.442
25) Regan Smith(i), No. 43 United States Air Force Ford, 28.676, 188.311
26) AJ Allmendinger, No. 47 Harris Teeter Express Lane Chevrolet, 28.681, 188.278
27) Ty Dillon #, No. 13 GEICO Military Chevrolet, 28.697, 188.173
28) David Ragan, No. 38 Jacob Companies Ford, 28.700, 188.153
29) Chris Buescher, No. 37 Kleenex/Cars 3 Chevrolet, 28.825, 187.337
30) Matt DiBenedetto, No. 32 Cosmo Motors Ford, 28.891, 186.909
31) Landon Cassill, No. 34 CSX Play It Safe Ford, 29.062, 185.810
32) Gray Gaulding #, No. 23 Bubba Burger Toyota, 29.254, 184.590
33) JJ Yeley(i), No. 7 AccellConstruction/HopeForTheWarriors Chev, 29.325, 184.143
34) Cole Whitt, No. 72 RTIC Coolers Chevrolet, 29.556, 182.704
35) Reed Sorenson, No. 15 Low T Center Chevrolet, 29.779, 181.336
36) Timmy Hill(i), No. 51 CharliesSoap.com Chevrolet, 30.419, 177.521
37) Derrike Cope, No. 55 Ckezepis Law PLLC Toyota, 30.513, 176.974
38) Jeffrey Earnhardt, No. 33 Towne Bank Chevrolet, 30.602, 176.459
39) Kyle Larson, No. 42 Target Chevrolet, 0.000, 0.000

40) Corey LaJoie #, No. 83 Hope For The Warriors Toyota, 0.000, 0.000
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series; (#) Rookie; (*) Non-charter team

Qualifying Fast Facts, Charlotte Motor Speedway 58th Annual COCA-COLA 600 - Coors Light Pole Winner: Kevin Harvick
Age: 41
Team : No. 4 - Mobil 1 Ford
Owner: Stewart-Haas Racing
Crew Chief: Rodney Childers

Kevin Harvick won the Coors Light Pole Award for the 58th Annual COCA-COLA 600 with a lap of 27.918 seconds, 193.424 mph. This is his 20th pole in 586 NASCAR Monster Energy Cup Series races. This is his third pole and 10th top-10 start in 2017. This is his second pole in 33 races at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Kyle Busch (second) posted his 10th top-10 start of 2017 and his 14th in 27 races at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Chase Elliott (third) posted his second top-10 start at Charlotte Motor Speedway. It is his seventh in 12 races this season. Erik Jones (fifth) was the fastest qualifying rookie.

John Davison

Long-time RIS staffer, beginning in the mid-80s. Charlotte, NC area local contact.

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Volume 2017, Issue 5, Posted 11:39 PM, 05.25.2017