NASCAR at Las Vegas 2019 Qualifying Results: Kevin Harvick Wins Pole Position

Kevin Harvick had a great run in NASCAR's first trip to Las Vegas this season, capturing the pole position for Sunday's Pennzoil 400. 

Coming into the weekend, Harvick has been the favorite to drive away with a victory. His qualifying run did nothing to change that perception, as he rounded the track in 29.914 seconds during the third and final round. 

Joining Harvick on the front row will be Denny Hamlin. His Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Kyle Busch, along with the Richard Childress Racing duo of Austin Dillon and Daniel Hemric, round out the top five. 

Here's the full lineup from Las Vegas Motor Speedway, via NASCAR.com:

Row 1: Kevin Harvick (pole winner), Denny Hamlin

Row 2: Kyle Busch, Austin Dillon

Row 3: Daniel Hemric, David Ragan

Row 4: Kyle Larson, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 

Row 5: Jimmie Johnson, Joey Logano

Row 6: Alex Bowman, Chase Elliott

Row 7: Ryan Blaney, Ty Dillon

Row 8: Paul Menard, Michael McDowell

Row 9: Clint Bowyer, Erik Jones

Row 10: Brad Keselowski, William Byron

Row 11: Bubba Wallace, Daniel Suarez

Row 12: Martin Truex Jr., Ryan Preece

Row 13: Aric Almirola, Matt DiBenedetto

Row 14: Chris Buescher, Kurt Busch

Row 15: Ryan Newman, Corey LaJoie

Row 16: Landon Cassill, Parker Kligerman

Row 17: Cody Ware, B.J. McLeod

Row 18: Matt Tifft, Joey Gase

Row 19: Reed Sorensen, Ross Chastain

While Harvick did win the pole, there was some controversy in the final round of qualifying. 

Per NASCAR reporter Jeff Gluck, Alex Bowman and Chase Elliott appeared to move to the top of the timesheets, but they weren't granted a second lap because time expired when they crossed the finish line. As a result, they will start from the sixth row. 

Harvick's status as the favorite is hardly a surprise. The driver of the No. 4 Ford won the spring race last year, leading 214 out of 400 laps, and he also won here in 2015. 

There will be plenty of competition for Harvick, particularly from the driver next to him in the front row. Hamlin scored the biggest win of the early season by taking the checkered flag at the Daytona 500. 

Per NASCAR computer model SportsLine (h/t CBSSports.com), Hamlin is projected as one of the favorites thanks in large part to his success on 1.5-mile tracks (seven career wins). This event, however, has been a problem for the Virginian, with two top-10 finishes in the past seven years. 

The news was not so good for Aric Almirola, who is coming off a pole win last week in Atlanta. He didn't make it out of the first round of qualifying after getting bumped out of the top 24 in the final seconds:

Almirola hasn't fared particularly well in the Pennzoil 400. The 34-year-old's best finish in this race was 10th place last year. It was just his third top-20 time in 10 attempts.  

Brad Keselowski, who won in Atlanta, didn't fare much better than Almirola. He made it into the second round of qualifying before a disappointing time of 30.132 forced him to settle for the 19th position. 

With the entire field set for the Pennzoil 400, all 38 drivers can turn their attention toward taking the checkered flag at 3:30 p.m. ET Sunday.