DOVER, DE – With the threat of rain on Friday at Dover International Speedway, there was an urgency to opening practice and a need for speed in the session. Strong runs in qualifying trim paid off for Kevin Harvick and Dale Earnhardt Jr., who will start first and second, respectively, in Sunday’s AAA 400 Drive for Autism at the Monster Mile (1 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), with positions on the grid set according to practice speeds. Starting LIneup “I think (the weather) definitely changes the approach,” said Harvick, who picked up his only Dover victory in last year’s Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup race at the 1-mile concrete track. “That’s what the forecast looked like all week, and we just decided to come in qualifying trim. “(Crew chief) Rodney (Childers) and those guys made that decision pretty early — I’d say about midweek — to practice that way.” Harvick posted a lap at 165.147 mph, which would have supplantedBrad Keselowski’s 2014 qualifying record of 164.444 mph, had it been set during time trials. Practice times, however, are not eligible for official track records. Earnhardt ran 164.707 mph despite a less-than-perfect effort through Turns 3 and 4. “It was really hooked up for that lap we had,” Earnhardt said. “And I think we were ahead of Kevin on the Dartfish (a lap-tracking computer program) going into 3. I pushed up off of 4 really bad and had to lift on that exit, but the car was really, really good. “I just didn’t drive 3 and 4 exactly right.” With crew chief Adam Stevens serving a one-race suspension for a lug nut violation,Kyle Busch, last week’s race winner at Kansas Speedway, earned the third starting position with a practice run at 164.489 mph. Carl Edwards, a two-time winner this season, will start fourth, followed by Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Denny Hamlin,Martin Truex Jr. and Ryan Newman. Jamie McMurray, Danica Patrick and Tony Stewart, all of whom went to backup cars after wrecking in the fourth minute of opening practice when the rear gear of Patrick’s car failed and dumped oil on the track, will start 24th, 31st and 34th, respectively. – by Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service
