NASCAR at Kansas 2014 Results: Race Order, Final Times and Reaction

Different track, same result.

Kevin Harvick secured a crucial pole on Friday afternoon ahead of the first-ever Contender Round race in Kansas. Harvick's best time of 27.325 seconds and speed of 197.621 mph was enough to put him atop the leaderboard and clinch his eighth pole of the season.

NASCAR reported the news following the qualifying round:

Being at the top of the pack is a familiar position for Harvick, who started from the front last weekend as well. Though he hasn't turned all of them into victories, the Stewart-Haas Racing driver has been one of the fastest cars on the track at every event.

Having the pole position at Kansas is also somewhere Harvick is comfortable, as Nate Ryan of USA Today notes:

Harvick wasn't able to earn a win in the first three Chase races, but he seems comfortable with where the team is heading into the second round. He spoke about his team's chances at a title, per NASCAR on ESPN:

"

"I feel like we're doing everything we need to do to be in contention (for the title)," says @KevinHarvick

— NASCAR on ESPN (@ESPNNASCAR) October 3, 2014"

Just behind the SHR driver were Brian Vickers and Aric Almirola, two drivers who are now outside of the Chase. Joey Logano and Jeff Gordon, two drivers who are comfortably near the top of the Chase Grid, rounded out the top five.

While Brad Keselowski was the fastest car on the track during the first round, he narrowly missed a top-five finish. Here's a look at the starting order for the Kansas race. Full results can be found at NASCAR.com.

Pos.	Driver	Behind
1	Kevin Harvick	Leader
2	Brian Vickers	-.183
3	Aric Almirola	-.205
4	Joey Logano	-.219
5	Jeff Gordon	-.219
6	Brad Keselowski	-.223
7	Kyle Busch	-.230
8	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	-.268
9	Tony Stewart	-.294
10	Kasey Kahne	-.316
11	Greg Biffle	-.371
12	Carl Edwards	-.407
13	Paul Menard	N/A
14	Jamie McMurray	N/A
15	Martin Truex Jr.	N/A
16	Austin Dillon	N/A
17	Ryan Newman	N/A
18	Kyle Larson	N/A
19	Clint Bowyer	N/A
20	AJ Allmendinger	N/A

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Friday afternoon was not a great one for one notable contender.

Jimmie Johnson, who won the championship last season, spun out during qualifying and was unable to advance into the second round. Not only did Johnson miss out on the top 24, he will also start at 32nd on Sunday in Kansas.

Team Lowe's Racing noted the incident for Johnson:

It was a rough outing for the six-time champion who even led to a surprising caution during the qualifying round. Johnson's position was also his lowest in nearly nine years, as Ryan points out:

Along with Johnson, a few other drivers in the Chase also missed out on making the second round and will be outside of the top 24 on Sunday. Denny Hamlin was one of those drivers after finishing with the same time as Ryan Newman, but he didn't advance due to a tiebreaker.

NASCAR Stats passes along a full look at the list of drivers who missed the second round:

After the myriad Chase drivers missed out on the top 24, the only other one who missed out on the final round was Newman. Kasey Kahne narrowly made the last 12 and turned that into a top-10 qualifying effort.

Just 12 drivers remain in the Chase heading into Kansas, so it's not a stretch to say positioning will be significant. As the battle for a spot in the final four races begins, the points have already been completely wiped.

A win for any Chase driver would secure a berth to the Eliminator Round, but a consistent run is also important. Despite Harvick cruising into the second round without a victory in the first four Chase races, making it into the final eight will be much tougher.

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