NASCAR 2014 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway qualifying results: Kevin Harvick on Brickyard 400 pole

INDIANAPOLIS -- Kevin Harvick left no doubt who had the fastest car in Sprint Cup qualifying Saturday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Posting the quickest time in all three rounds, the Stewart-Haas Racing driver took the pole position for Sunday’s Brickyard 400.

Harvick’s third-round speed of 188.470 mph broke the year-old track record held by Ryan Newman.

“After the first lap I was probably more nervous then I had been in a while in qualifying,” Harvick said. “I just wasn’t expecting to have the car run that fast. Because from there, (everyone) is looking at you, ‘All right, if you screw this up it’s on you, buddy.’”

Jeff Gordon and Brad Keselowski qualified second and third, respectively. Starting fourth is Newman, the defending race-winner, followed by Brian Vickers in fifth. Tony Stewart, Kurt Busch, Juan Pablo Montoya, Joey Logano and Kasey Kahne completed the top 10.

Regarded as a poor qualifier, Harvick now has four poles in 2014. Prior to the season he had six poles in 466 starts. He attributed the difference to his new surroundings, having joined SHR in the offseason after spending the entirety of his career at Richard Childress Racing.

“Obviously, my confidence is a lot higher knowing I don’t have to overdrive the car or hit a perfect lap to qualify well,” Harvick said. “The engine department and the effort these guys put into the car is different than I had in the past.”

Starting in the No. 1 position at Indy is not an unfamiliar feeling for Harvick, whose lone Indy victory came in 2003 when he started on the pole. When Harvick does qualify strong he tends to run well in the race -- 15 of his 25 career wins have come from a top-10 starting position, a fact not lost on Keselowski.

“It’s always scary when Kevin is fast in qualifying,” Keselowski said. “When Kevin qualifies well, you know he’s probably going to be a dominant car in the race.”

Four-time Brickyard 400 champion Jimmie Johnson qualified 11th. Other notables: Danica Patrick (starts 14th), Dale Earnhardt Jr. (23rd) and Denny Hamlin (27th).

“I haven’t been real happy here all weekend,” Earnhardt said. “Qualifying has been a real problem here lately, especially the last couple of months for us. Just frustrated. We have to run better than this. We have to figure out what’s going on. I’m just really frustrated. The car is not turning.”

Hamlin was equally displeased.

“ESPN doesn’t have enough air time for me to break it all down,” Hamlin told the network about his team’s struggles. “Really we’ve been over a second off most of the weekend. Don’t know why, just slow. ... It’s a tough position for us right now because our car is handling so bad we can’t get anything to go right.”

Brett Moffitt, David Stremme and Matt Crafton all failed to qualify for Sunday’s race.