Harvick wins Charlotte pole; Cup leader Larson starts last

Losing the fall race is unfortunate for fans and the local economy in Loudon and beyond. Adding to the event lineup that day will be the K&N Pro Series East and Whelen Modified Tour, rounding out another “Tripleheader Saturday” and marking their 63rd and 72nd races at the speedway, respectively. He led the way with the only lap in excess of 186 miles per hour. Kevin Harvick will have the best view of it all to start the race, as he will lead the field to green from the pole.

And there were only two lead changes.

His climb back to the top slowed down in the second segment, though, as a lack of cautions prevented Hemric from making more adjustments to the damaged vehicle as he moved up just three spots heading into the final 110-lap segment.

Earnhardt is concerned how his team can make a dramatic turnaround at Charlotte in eight days. “We just haven’t put together the weekend, but we’ve been running well and tonight is no different”, said Harvick. “And it was real slow”.

“It felt good to get that out of the way, so now hopefully we can make it back-to-back”, Busch said Thursday. Kyle Busch won the first of four 100-lap stages, while Truex and Harvick ran second and third, respectively.

“We had the auto to be the victor”, Larson said.

Other notable qualifiers included seven time and defending NASCAR Cup Champion Jimmie Johnson in 14th and Dale Earnhardt Jr., making his final Coca-Cola 600 start in 19th.

“Last year there was a lot of pressure going into the showdown”, Larson says. “In the past couple years, the middle and middle-higher grooves were non-existent”.

Even if you’re not a member or a fan of Twitter, you can still go to twitter.com and type in #NASCARSalutes to read posts from drivers, team owners and crew members honoring our military heroes both past and present. Harvick and his SHR team will be in the best position for the start of Sunday’s race after the No.4 Mobil 1 Chevrolet easily topped the charts in the final round of qualifying.

“They want to be able to go after those races, just like we try to court a Super Bowl or any other major sporting event”, said Rep. Somebody broke in front of him and then he ran over what they broke and then he broke, so there were two cars broke in front of me and just oil everywhere.

“That was the most dominant race ever a year ago”. Lowering the rear spoiler and reducing the front bumper area were supposed to create more passing since cars are less dependent on aerodynamics. Fedora is 40-25 in five seasons at North Carolina and led the Tar Heels to the 2015 Coastal Division championship.

Coyne will likely have to find a replacement driver for the May 28 race but may not have to make the decision before the second round of qualifying is held.

Truex has led 756 of the past 1,200 laps in the 600, yet finished shy of the checker flag two of three times. If he can get to victory lane Sunday in NASCAR’s longest race he would become the first driver to sweep the All-Star race and the Coca-Cola 600 since brother Kurt did it in 2010. “It’s kind of that way”.

“Memorial Day has always been just a holiday, but after seeing my namesake on the No. 27 vehicle it makes me realize what my great uncle means to me”, Troy said.