Kevin Harvick eliminates NASCAR Cup pole in Phoenix



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AVONDALE, Arizona – The cheating scandal that pushed Kevin Harvick out of NASCAR's championship round did not slow him down on any of his favorite circuits.

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Harvick took pole in Sunday's final qualifying race for the Cup final with a solid run that briefly overshadowed the controversy created by his Stewart-Haas Racing team with an illegal party.

Harvick completed a 139.340-mph tour Friday around ISM Raceway ahead of Phoenix to prepare for the championship. His winning car last week had an illegal spoiler and the penalty had cost him his automatic seat in the last four.

Needing a trouble-free race on Friday to return to the final, Harvick placed his No. 4 Ford in first place.

"It's more people than cars, and we have a lot of good people," Harvick said. "You can not drive a slow car fast and you can not beat the right people."

Harvick is working this weekend with an interim crew chief and car chef because his family has been suspended for the last two races of the season. Rodney Childers, the usual team leader, watched the qualifiers on television in North Carolina and tweeted a simple reaction to the Harvick qualifying race: "Boom," Childers wrote.

Impressed after a penalty in Texas, Kevin Harvick won pole position for the ISM Raceway Cup series near Phoenix. Jonathan Ferrey / Getty Images

Harvick is a nine-time winner in Phoenix, most recently in March. He also won his Phoenix victory in 2014, a victory that qualified him for the Homestead-Miami Speedway final, where he won his only league title.

As for what happened with his car in Texas last week, or Childers' explanation last Friday that the manufactured spoiler had been made because the team had seen some of it. 39, other teams manipulate the room, Harvick had nothing to offer.

"I do not build cars, I can not tell you what's on the car, what's good, what's wrong," Harvick said. "It's their job and I'm driving it, I'm showing up and doing my best, and obviously you've seen the statements and testimonials of Stewart-Haas Racing and the best thing that stands out is the results on the circuit I drive and try to do the best I can and we start from there. "

Chase Elliott, a playoff contender, qualified second and was followed by Ricky Stenhouse, Ryan Blaney and Alex Bowman, none of whom ran for the remaining three spots in the Homestead-Miami Speedway final. Only Joey Logano is already locked in Homestead and he qualified ninth.

The rest of the playoff pilots are in the field. Kyle Busch has qualified sixth, the reigning champion of the series, Martin Truex Jr. took the 13th rank followed by Kurt Busch. Clint Bowyer has qualified 15th and Aric Almirola 18th, the lowest qualifying pilots.

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