NASCAR Texas 2017 qualifying results: Kevin Harvick wins pole; 9 drivers fail to pass inspection

Kevin Harvick sped to the pole for Sunday’s O’Reilly Auto Parts 500, but it was the drivers who failed to post laps that were in the spotlight during qualifying Friday at Texas Motor Speedway.

The cars of Chris Buescher, Kyle Busch, Derrike Cope, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Chase Elliott, Timmy Hill, Erik Jones, Kasey Kahne, and Kyle Larson were unable to pass technical inspection and therefore were not permitted to make a qualifying lap. The nine drivers will have to start at the rear of the 40-car field on Sunday.

The group who never got onto the track includes some of NASCAR’s biggest stars. Busch is the defending race winner, Earnhardt is the Cup Series’ 14-time most popular driver, and Larson and Elliot entered Texas first and second, respectively, in points through six races this season.

“I don’t know what was wrong with our car going through tech, but if you don’t make it you don’t get out there and I like that,” Earnhardt said. “I like the rules being the same for everybody.

“I ain’t too worried about it, the race is pretty long.”

Teams struggling to pass pre-qualifying inspection is an issue that’s occurred several times since NASCAR changed its procedures prior to the season. Previously, a team that failed one of the four inspection stations could make the necessary modifications to its car, then resume the process at the station it failed. The new rule now requires a team to restart the entire process from the beginning.

“I don’t know exactly what happened, we just didn’t make it through tech,” Larson said. “This is not the place you want to not make it through tech. It will be really hard to pass.”

Harvick swept all three qualifying rounds to score his second pole of the season, with his 198.405 mph lap besting Ryan Blaney (198.020 mph) in the final session. Clint Bowyer qualified third, Joey Logano fourth, and Brad Keselowski fifth to give Ford a top-five sweep.

Completing the top 10 were Jamie McMurray, Martin Truex Jr., Matt Kenseth, Ryan Newman, and Kurt Busch.

“My guys did a good job of having a good car when we got here,” Harvick said. “It was about me getting in a rhythm. The car was a lot faster than me and I didn’t want to make a mistake and tear it up. They did a great job.”

Defending Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson posted the ninth-fastest time in Round 1, but on the subsequent lap spun out. Because of the incident, the tires on the No. 48 car went flat and Johnson couldn’t make a run in the second session. He will be credited with qualifying 24th, but on Sunday he will have to drop to the rear of the grid at the start because of the tire change.

Friday was the first time drivers turned laps on the 1.5-mile oval since TMS was repaved following last November’s playoff race. In addition to a complete resurfacing, track officials also lowered the banking in Turns 1 and 2 from 24 degrees to 20, and widened the track in that section from 60 feet to 80. The 24-degree banking remained unchanged in Turns 3 and 4.

Drivers struggled to adopt to the reconfiguration during Friday’s lone practice, with Busch, Elliott, Jones and Denny Hamlin involved in separate incidents. Hamlin and Busch sustained minor damage and continued in their primary cars. The accidents involving Elliott and Jones were more significant, requiring both to switch to backup cars for the remainder of the weekend.

“I think the new reconfigured turns are the most difficult part of the race track,” Harvick said. “… It is very hard when you get into Turn 1 because you are so used to where the corner used to be. It is hard to pick up your reference points because the bottom is so far down there and you are so far out.

“It is hard to get situated in a couple hours. Hopefully that gets better as the weekend goes. The treacherous part right now is getting out of the groove.”