Kevin Harvick wins pole, but pressure on Denny Hamlin at Dover

DOVER, DE - SEPTEMBER 26: Kevin Harvick, driver of the #4 Budweiser Chevrolet, poses with wife DeLana and son Keelan after qualifying on pole for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series AAA 400 at Dover International Speedway on September 26, 2014 in Dover, Delaware. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)
DOVER, DE - SEPTEMBER 26: Kevin Harvick, driver of the #4 Budweiser Chevrolet, poses with wife DeLana and son Keelan after qualifying on pole for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series AAA 400 at Dover International Speedway on September 26, 2014 in Dover, Delaware.  (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)
DOVER, DE – SEPTEMBER 26: Kevin Harvick, driver of the #4 Budweiser Chevrolet, poses with wife DeLana and son Keelan after qualifying on pole for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series AAA 400 at Dover International Speedway on September 26, 2014 in Dover, Delaware. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)

Kevin Harvick scored his seventh NASCAR Sprint Cup series pole of the 2014 season at Dover International Speedway Friday.  The Stewart-Haas Racing driver won his series high seventh pole thanks to a lap on the one-mile concrete oval nicknamed the “Monster” of 22.095 seconds (162.933 mph).  Kyle Busch will line up beside Harvick thanks to his lap of 162.404 mph.

Harvick has been called the “Closer” thanks to his propensity for coming to the front late in a race to win.  He has two wins this season, but has not been able to close anything since his last win, that coming at Darlington Raceway in April.  He has come close scoring four second place finishes in the races since then. But, Harvick has never won a Sprint Cup race at Dover; in 27 starts, he’s had three top fives and 12 top 10 finishes for an average finish of 15.3. Harvick though said he feels no pressure to visit victory lane soon.

“Not at all,” he said Friday after winning the pole. 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.