Qualifying report

NASCAR Cup Michigan II

Brad Keselowski tops Harvick for Michigan Cup pole

Brad Keselowski is one step closer to his first NASCAR Cup Series career win at his home track of Michigan International Speedway.

Jim Utter

Edited: Aug 9, 2019, 11:52 PM

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Brad Keselowski, Team Penske, Ford Mustang Discount Tire

Keselowski saved his best for last as he was the final of 38 cars to attempt a qualifying lap Friday and his average lap speed of 190.471 mph was enough to win the pole for Sunday’s Consumers Energy 400.

Keselowski was one of only two drivers to top the 190 mph barrier, as Kevin Harvick came up just short at 190.089 mph.

The pole is Keselowski’s second of the 2019 season and 16th of his career. The native of Rochester Hills, Mich., started eighth and finished sixth in the June Michigan race.

“That’s great,” Keselowski said. “The Discount Tire Ford Mustang has been incredible since we unloaded. We were really fast in practice and then everybody started picking up a bunch in qualifying and I got nervous.

“We picked up just enough to get our second pole of the year and hopefully we can turn it into a win.”

Asked how much his car will need to change for the race, Keselowski said: “This is the last non-impound race we have with this (rules) package and with that in mind, there is a lot you can do to optimize the car for today that maybe won’t carry over to Sunday.

“Still, it’s good to be starting first.”

William Byron ended up third, Alex Bowman fourth and Clint Bowyer completed the top-five.

Rounding out the top-10 starters are Chase Elliott, Austin Dillon, Ryan Blaney, Joey Logano and Paul Menard.

Austin Dillon had been fastest in Friday’s lone practice session prior to qualifying.

Read Also:

Both RCR Cup cars fail post-qualifying inspection at Michigan

Cla # Driver Manufacturer Time Gap Mph 1 2 United States Brad Keselowski Ford 37.801 190.471 2 4 Kevin Harvick Ford 37.877 0.076 190.089 3 24 William Byron Chevrolet 37.954 0.153 189.703 4 88 Alex Bowman Chevrolet 37.993 0.192 189.509 5 14 Clint Bowyer Ford 38.007 0.206 189.439 6 9 Chase Elliott Chevrolet 38.018 0.217 189.384 7 3 United States Austin Dillon Chevrolet 38.030 0.229 189.324 8 12 Ryan Blaney Ford 38.035 0.234 189.299 9 22 Joey Logano Ford 38.044 0.243 189.255 10 21 Paul Menard Ford 38.076 0.275 189.095 11 8 Daniel Hemric Chevrolet 38.087 0.286 189.041 12 48 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet 38.117 0.316 188.892 13 41 Mexico Daniel Suarez Ford 38.204 0.403 188.462 14 10 United States Aric Almirola Ford 38.219 0.418 188.388 15 1 Kurt Busch Chevrolet 38.222 0.421 188.373 16 11 Denny Hamlin Toyota 38.279 0.478 188.093 17 19 Martin Truex Jr. Toyota 38.316 0.515 187.911 18 20 Erik Jones Toyota 38.323 0.522 187.877 19 42 Kyle Larson Chevrolet 38.385 0.584 187.573 20 17 United States Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Ford 38.398 0.597 187.510 21 36 Matt Tifft Ford 38.439 0.638 187.310 22 6 Ryan Newman Ford 38.527 0.726 186.882 23 13 Ty Dillon Chevrolet 38.585 0.784 186.601 24 18 Kyle Busch Toyota 38.595 0.794 186.553 25 34 Michael McDowell Ford 38.698 0.897 186.056 26 38 United States David Ragan Ford 38.790 0.989 185.615 27 37 Chris Buescher Chevrolet 38.854 1.053 185.309 28 43 Darrell Wallace Jr. Chevrolet 38.863 1.062 185.266 29 95 Matt DiBenedetto Toyota 38.902 1.101 185.080 30 00 Landon Cassill Chevrolet 38.922 1.121 184.985 31 47 United States Ryan Preece Chevrolet 39.121 1.320 184.044 32 15 Ross Chastain Chevrolet 39.594 1.793 181.846 33 32 Corey Lajoie Ford 39.727 1.926 181.237 34 27 Quin Houff Chevrolet 40.004 2.203 179.982 35 52 Austin Theriault Ford 40.133 2.332 179.403 36 51 Cody Ware Ford 40.135 2.334 179.395 37 77 United States Garrett Smithley Chevrolet 40.319 2.518 178.576 38 53 Spencer Boyd Ford 41.477 3.676 173.590

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