HAMPTON, Ga. _ Kevin Harvick kept alive a strong early season for Stewart-Haas Racing on Friday at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
Five days after teammate Kurt Busch won the Daytona 500, Harvick won the pole for Sunday's Folds Of Honor QuikTrip 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway with a fast lap of 190.398 mph. He'll start on the front row with Chevy-driving Ryan Newman (189.870). Kyle Busch and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. will start on the second row.
Making Kurt Busch and Harvick's accomplishments most notable is what seems to be a seamless offseason switch at SHR from Chevy to Ford.
"Everybody has a chip on their shoulder, wanting to do well," Harvick said. "That's nothing against (the other teams), but we wanted to go out and not miss a beat from where we were."
Five drivers were unable to qualify their cars because they didn't make it through pre-qualifying inspection in time _ Michael McDowell, Cole Whitt, Jeffrey Earnhardt, Derrike Cope and Cody Ware.
Under new rules, cars that don't initially pass qualifying must return to the garage to make adjustments. That slowed the inspection process for those that failed at first.
