AJ Allmendinger captured his second career Sprint Cup pole Saturday, turning a lap of 175.993 mph in his Penske Racing Dodge to knock Kevin Harvick off the top spot for today’s STP 400 at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City, Kan.
Joey Logano had the third-fastest time but will start at the rear after changing engines during practice Friday.
It was the first pole for Allmendinger since April 10, 2010, at Phoenix. He nearly had the pole last month at Bristol but was edged out by Vancouver, Wash., native Greg Biffle by a thousandth of a second.
Allmendinger, 31, spent his first five Sprint Cup seasons with second-tier teams and has not won a race in 159 starts.
Denny Hamlin posted the fourth-fastest lap, followed by Mark Martin and Martin Truex Jr.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. qualified seventh for Hendrick Motorsports, which is trying to an end a 13-race drought and reach milestone win No. 200. The team hasn’t reached Victory Lane since Jimmie Johnson’s win at Kansas last October.
Clint Bowyer qualified eighth, Enumclaw’s Kasey Kahne was ninth and Sam Hornish Jr. was 10th.
ELSEWHERE
James Buescher passed Brad Keselowski with 10 laps remaining and pulled away to win his first career Trucks series race at Kansas Speedway. Buescher, 22, had been winless in 75 starts in the Trucks series. Points leader Timothy Peters finished second. … Two-time world champion Sebastian Vettel claimed pole position for the first time this season, edging championship leader Lewis Hamilton by 0.98 seconds at the Bahrain Grand Prix.
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