Ryan Blaney Wins Pole Position at Las Vegas

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LAS VEGAS, NV - RIS - With a strong third round, Ryan Blaney piloted the No.12 Team Penske Ford the pole for Sunday's race. Blaney earned his third career pole with a lap at 191.489 mph, easily outdistancing Kevin Harvick on a windy evening.

Blaney blazed through the final round of knockout qualifying for his first pole of the young season and his first since late last year in Phoenix. The 24-year-old is off to a solid start to the season with a seventh-place finish at Daytona, and he'll be in prime position in Vegas to record his second career victory.

"I thought our car was pretty good, but I didn't know if we had pole speed," Blaney said. "We made really good changes between practice and qualifying, and really good changes throughout qualifying. ... That's really all you can ask for. I think our team does such a good job of getting better round to round. That's so huge now with the three rounds. That's something we've been working really hard on for the last couple of years, and it's paying off."

Kevin Harvick continued his fast ways by qualifying on the front row beside Blaney.  He had had top six qualifying positions the last three races.  He qualified sixth at Daytona, third at Atlanta, and today's second place in a Stewart-Haas Ford.   Harvick earned his best starting position in 18 career races in Vegas by turning a lap at 190.248 mph.

Fords claimed the top three spots and five of the first eight. Las Vegas native Kurt Busch qualified right behind Harvick at 190.067 mph in his Stewart-Haas Racing Ford, while Martin Truex Jr. drove his Furniture Row Racing Toyota into fourth.

Pos Car Driver Team Time Speed Lap # # Laps -Fastest -Next
Qualifying Round: 3
1 12 Ryan Blaney Menards/Pennzoil Ford 28.200 191.489 1 1 0.000 0.000
2 4 Kevin Harvick Jimmy John's Ford 28.384 190.248 1 1 0.184 0.184
3 41 Kurt Busch Haas Ford 28.411 190.067 1 1 0.211 0.027
4 78 Martin Truex Jr. Bass Pro Shops/5-hour ENERGY Toyota 28.424 189.980 1 1 0.224 0.013
5 42 Kyle Larson Credit One Bank Chevrolet 28.504 189.447 1 1 0.304 0.080
6 9 Chase Elliott NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet 28.545 189.175 1 1 0.345 0.041
7 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Fastenal Ford 28.549 189.148 1 1 0.349 0.004
8 2 Brad Keselowski Discount Tire Ford 28.556 189.102 1 1 0.356 0.007
9 20 Erik Jones Sport Clips Toyota 28.614 188.719 1 1 0.414 0.058
10 22 Joey Logano Pennzoil Ford 28.626 188.640 1 1 0.426 0.012
11 14 Clint Bowyer One Cure Ford 28.652 188.469 1 1 0.452 0.026
12 21 Paul Menard Motorcraft/Quick Lane Tire & Auto Center Ford 28.656 188.442 1 1 0.456 0.004

Qualifying Round: 2
1 4 Kevin Harvick Jimmy John's Ford 28.259 191.090 1 1 0.000 0.000
2 12 Ryan Blaney Menards/Pennzoil Ford 28.271 191.008 1 1 0.012 0.012
3 20 Erik Jones Sport Clips Toyota 28.355 190.443 1 1 0.096 0.084
4 22 Joey Logano Pennzoil Ford 28.447 189.827 1 1 0.188 0.092
5 78 Martin Truex Jr. Bass Pro Shops/5-hour ENERGY Toyota 28.476 189.633 1 1 0.217 0.029
6 9 Chase Elliott NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet 28.515 189.374 1 1 0.256 0.039
7 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Fastenal Ford 28.515 189.374 1 1 0.256 0.000
8 2 Brad Keselowski Discount Tire Ford 28.530 189.274 3 3 0.271 0.015
9 14 Clint Bowyer One Cure Ford 28.533 189.255 1 1 0.274 0.003
10 42 Kyle Larson Credit One Bank Chevrolet 28.539 189.215 1 1 0.280 0.006
11 21 Paul Menard Motorcraft/Quick Lane Tire & Auto Center Ford 28.571 189.003 3 3 0.312 0.032
12 41 Kurt Busch Haas Ford 28.579 188.950 1 1 0.320 0.008
13 18 Kyle Busch M&M's Caramel Toyota 28.596 188.838 1 1 0.337 0.017
14 48 Jimmie Johnson Lowe's for Pros Chevrolet 28.615 188.712 1 1 0.356 0.019
15 34 Michael McDowell Love's Travel Stops Ford 28.631 188.607 1 1 0.372 0.016
16 3 Austin Dillon Dow SILASTIC Silicone Elastomers Chevrolet 28.656 188.442 1 1 0.397 0.025
17 24 William Byron # AXALTA Chevrolet 28.668 188.363 3 3 0.409 0.012
18 19 Daniel Suarez Coca-Cola Toyota 28.744 187.865 1 3 0.485 0.076
19 11 Denny Hamlin FedEx Office Toyota 28.747 187.846 3 3 0.488 0.003
20 88 Alex Bowman Nationwide Chevrolet 28.809 187.441 1 1 0.550 0.062
21 95 Kasey Kahne WRL General Contractors Chevrolet 28.830 187.305 1 1 0.571 0.021
22 1 Jamie McMurray Cessna/DC Solar Chevrolet 28.839 187.246 3 3 0.580 0.009
23 38 David Ragan Speedco Ford 28.852 187.162 1 1 0.593 0.013
24 6 Trevor Bayne Ford Ford 28.968 186.413 1 3 0.709 0.116

Pos Car Driver Team Time Speed Lap # # Laps -Fastest -Next
Qualifying Round: 1
1 21 Paul Menard Motorcraft/Quick Lane Tire & Auto Center Ford 28.394 190.181 1 1 0.000 0.000
2 2 Brad Keselowski Discount Tire Ford 28.396 190.168 1 1 0.002 0.002
3 12 Ryan Blaney Menards/Pennzoil Ford 28.419 190.014 1 1 0.025 0.023
4 24 William Byron # AXALTA Chevrolet 28.421 190.000 1 1 0.027 0.002
5 9 Chase Elliott NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet 28.422 189.994 1 1 0.028 0.001
6 19 Daniel Suarez Coca-Cola Toyota 28.427 189.960 1 1 0.033 0.005
7 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Fastenal Ford 28.477 189.627 1 1 0.083 0.050
8 18 Kyle Busch M&M's Caramel Toyota 28.505 189.440 1 1 0.111 0.028
9 20 Erik Jones Sport Clips Toyota 28.510 189.407 1 1 0.116 0.005
10 78 Martin Truex Jr. Bass Pro Shops/5-hour ENERGY Toyota 28.515 189.374 1 1 0.121 0.005
11 11 Denny Hamlin FedEx Office Toyota 28.534 189.248 1 1 0.140 0.019
12 4 Kevin Harvick Jimmy John's Ford 28.540 189.208 1 1 0.146 0.006
13 14 Clint Bowyer One Cure Ford 28.545 189.175 1 1 0.151 0.005
14 48 Jimmie Johnson Lowe's for Pros Chevrolet 28.551 189.135 1 1 0.157 0.006
15 41 Kurt Busch Haas Ford 28.569 189.016 1 1 0.175 0.018
16 42 Kyle Larson Credit One Bank Chevrolet 28.570 189.009 1 1 0.176 0.001
17 38 David Ragan Speedco Ford 28.578 188.957 1 1 0.184 0.008
18 34 Michael McDowell Love's Travel Stops Ford 28.634 188.587 1 1 0.240 0.056
19 22 Joey Logano Pennzoil Ford 28.644 188.521 1 1 0.250 0.010
20 88 Alex Bowman Nationwide Chevrolet 28.660 188.416 1 1 0.266 0.016
21 6 Trevor Bayne Ford Ford 28.693 188.199 1 1 0.299 0.033
22 1 Jamie McMurray Cessna/DC Solar Chevrolet 28.703 188.134 1 1 0.309 0.010
23 95 Kasey Kahne WRL General Contractors Chevrolet 28.705 188.121 1 1 0.311 0.002
24 3 Austin Dillon Dow SILASTIC Silicone Elastomers Chevrolet 28.706 188.114 3 3 0.312 0.001
25 31 Ryan Newman Caterpillar Chevrolet 28.777 187.650 1 3 0.383 0.071
26 43 Darrell Wallace Jr. # The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas Chevrolet 28.793 187.546 1 1 0.399 0.016
27 47 AJ Allmendinger Kroger ClickList Chevrolet 28.890 186.916 1 1 0.496 0.097
28 37 Chris Buescher Natural Light Chevrolet 28.980 186.335 3 3 0.586 0.090
29 10 Aric Almirola Smithfield Ford 29.013 186.123 1 1 0.619 0.033
30 51 Cole Custer(i) Haas Automation Ford 29.035 185.982 3 3 0.641 0.022
31 13 Ty Dillon GEICO Chevrolet 29.140 185.312 3 3 0.746 0.105
32 32 Matt DiBenedetto Can-Am/Wholey Ford 29.185 185.027 1 1 0.791 0.045
33 15 Ross Chastain(i) LowT Center Chevrolet 29.441 183.418 1 1 1.047 0.256
34 72 Cole Whitt Chevrolet 29.626 182.272 1 1 1.232 0.185
35 23 Gray Gaulding Earthwater Toyota 30.127 179.241 1 1 1.733 0.501
36 00 Jeffrey Earnhardt VRX Simulators Chevrolet 30.631 176.292 3 3 2.237 0.504
37 * 55 Joey Gase(i) Nevada Donor Network Chevrolet 31.101 173.628 4 5 2.707 0.470