NASCAR Texas 2014 qualifying results: Matt Kenseth captures pole; Tony Stewart hits 200 mph

Matt Kenseth began Friday by issuing an apology to Kevin Harvick for an incident last week; he ended the day by speeding to the pole in the fastest qualifying session on a mile-and-a-half track in NASCAR history.

With a lap of 199.299 miles per hour, Kenseth secured the No. 1 position for Sunday’s AAA Texas 500 at Texas Motor Speedway. Sharing the front row with Kenseth is Jeff Gordon.

On Row 2 is Jimmie Johnson -- the winner of the past two fall Texas races -- and Kurt Busch, tied with Harvick in fifth.

Kenseth was apologetic for spinning Harvick at Martinsville Speedway. Harvick finished 33rd and will need to win at either Texas or next week at Phoenix International Raceway to avoid Chase for the Sprint Cup elimination.

“It just amazes me every time you qualify here how fast you can run, especially when it cools off a little bit,” Kenseth said. “It’s incredibly fast. It’s amazing you can go around there with that much throttle in a Cup car for sure.”

Tony Stewart became the first driver to top 200 mph on a 1.5 mile track in Round 2, but couldn’t back up his time in the third and final session. He will start sixth. Rounding out the top-10 qualifiers were Ryan Newman, Martin Truex Jr., Kyle Busch and Carl Edward.

“It is always cool to be the first guy to be able to do anything,” Stewart said. “To be the first to run 200 mph average on a 1.5-mile is pretty cool.”

The high speeds proved disadvantageous to Brad Keselowski, who qualified 26th. Team Penske driver had the worst starting position of the season on a non-restrictor-plate track.

Due to a mechanical failure a week ago, Keselowski, like Harvick, is in a virtual must-win scenario. He will have to win the next two weeks if he is to advance to the championship finale Nov. 16 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

“We just didn’t have enough to get that done,” Keselowski said. “That is unfortunate but there are 25 other guys out there that worked real hard and beat us so we will continue to work hard and try to be ready for the race.”

All 43 drivers entered qualified and will race Sunday.

AAA Texas 500 Lineup