Kevin Harvick scores a rare first at Phoenix

Kevin Harvick won the 15th pole of his career and his first at Phoenix Friday night. (Getty Images)
Kevin Harvick won the 15th pole of his career and his first at Phoenix Friday night. (Getty Images)
Kevin Harvick won the 15th pole of his career and his first at Phoenix Friday night. (Getty Images)

There isn’t much Kevin Harvick hasn’t done at Phoenix International Raceway. The driver who leads all active drivers with six wins at Phoenix, scored a first career pole Friday at the track and the race the Bakersfield Ca. native considers his “Daytona 500” and will lead the field to the green for SundaMORE>>>y’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series e Campingworld.com 500 (3:30 p.m. ET, FOX).

“This is a pretty special place,” Harvick said. “All these west coast races are special, but this one in particular just for the fact that we used to bring our Southwest Tour cars here and our Winston West cars.”

Harvick, who swept both races here last year, put down a lap of 25.577, 140.751 mph just under the three-minute mark of the final five minute round to score his 15th career pole and his first of the 2015 season.  Joey Logano tried to steal the top spot with under a minute to go but came up just short and will start second.  Jamie McMurray who led the early part of the final round will star third, Matt Kenseth fourth and Ryan Newman fifth. MORE>>>

Greg Engle
About Greg Engle 7421 Articles
Greg is a published award winning sportswriter who spent 23 years combined active and active reserve military service, much of that in and around the Special Operations community. Greg is the author of "The Nuts and Bolts of NASCAR: The Definitive Viewers' Guide to Big-Time Stock Car Auto Racing" and has been published in major publications across the country including the Los Angeles Times, the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He was also a contributor to Chicken Soup for the NASCAR Soul, published in 2010, and the Christmas edition in 2016. He wrote as the NASCAR, Formula 1, Auto Reviews and National Veterans Affairs Examiner for Examiner.com and has appeared on Fox News. He holds a BS degree in communications, a Masters degree in psychology and is currently a PhD candidate majoring in psychology. He is currently the weekend Motorsports Editor for Autoweek.