FORT WORTH, TX – 15 of the last 17 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series races at the Texas Motor Speedway have been won from a top 10 starting spot. That’s why despite the last two race winners on 1.5-mile tracks this season coming from the 24th and 23rd qualifying spots respectively, teams elected for pure speed in Saturday night’s qualifying session around the 1.5-mile track.

Kevin Harvick is trying to break that trend as he would earn his 31st career Busch Pole Award, six of which coming this season alone en route to the top starting spot for Sunday’s AAA Texas 500 (3 p.m. ET/NBCSN/PRN/SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Harvick, turned in a qualifying lap of 189.707 mph in his No. 4 Ford to give him the pole this weekend. He came into the race as the favorite with earning the race win in each of the last two Texas playoff races to go along with three top two finishes in his last four Texas starts overall.

Erik Jones has finished fourth in each of his last three Texas starts and will start second on Sunday. Jones, qualified with a speed of 188.890 mph in his No. 20 Toyota.

Denny Hamlin (188.712 mph) will start third while Kurt Busch (188.436 mph) and Alex Bowman (188.357 mph) rounded out the top five in the starting lineup.

There’s five Ford’s in the top nine of the starting spots while Chevrolet has just two drivers in the top 12.

AAA Texas 500 Starting Lineup

Row 1: Kevin Harvick, Erik Jones

Row 2: Denny Hamlin, Kurt Busch

Row 3: Alex Bowman, Aric Almirola

Row 4: Daniel Suarez, Brad Keselowski

Row 5: Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Matt DiBenedetto

Row 6: Joey Logano, Kyle Busch

Row 7: Kyle Larson, Chase Elliott

Row 8: Ryan Blaney, Daniel Hemric R

Row 9: Martin Truex Jr., William Byron

Row 10: Ty Dillon, Chris Buescher

Row 11: Austin Dillon, Darrell Wallace Jr.

Row 12: Jimmie Johnson, Clint Bowyer

Row 13: Ryan Newman, David Ragan

Row 14: Michael McDowell, Ryan Preece R

Row 15: John Hunter Nemechek, Parker Kligerman

Row 16: Paul Menard, Landon Cassill

Row 17: Corey LaJoie, JJ Yeley

Row 18: Ross Chastain, Garrett Smithley

Row 19: Quin Houff, Joe Nemechek

Row 20: Josh Bilicki, Timmy Hill