SPARTA, Ky. -- Storms washed out qualifying at Kentucky Speedway on Friday, putting Kevin Harvick on the pole for Saturday nights Sprint Cup Series race based on owner points.Severe weather moved over the track near midday and shortened practice to around 30 minutes. A brief sprinkle followed but cars were able to return to the track for practice.In any event, Harvicks No. 4 Chevy will lead the field to green alongside Brad Keselowski in the No. 2 Ford.It is the first Kentucky pole for Harvick, who has two top-five starts in five trips here. But he and other drivers likely will have to reboot their strategy after rain washed the 1.5 mile tri-oval clean of rubber they put down in hopes of widening grooves on the resurfaced and reconfigured track.Hopefully, being able to get some more practice will be beneficial, Harvick said. We still dont really have a good idea of exactly where we need to be as far as balance and what is going to happen the longer you run the car.Given the 2014 champions consistency this season, Harvick seems likely to figure it out.Harvick hasnt won since the fourth race at Phoenix, but has posted 13 top-10 finishes in 17 starts. He has led the points after the past eight races but has generated less buzz compared to counterparts such as Keselowski or defending champion Kyle Busch, who are tied with a series-best three wins.Harvick thinks his steady results will translate into victories.We are cleaning a lot of things up as we go from week to week, he said, and hopefully we are ready as we get into the Chase and have everything hitting on all cylinders. I feel good about the performance and good about the progress that we have made with adjusting and adapting and the things that we have been able to achieve have been OK. Hopefully we can keep making them better.The rest of the top 10: Kurt Busch (Chevy); Joey Logano (Ford); Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Carl Edwards and Kyle Busch in Toyotas; Martin Truex Jr. (Toyota); rookie Chase Elliott (Chevy); Jimmie Johnson (Chevy) and Denny Hamlin (Toyota).SECOND FIDDLEJohnson and Kurt Busch will race in backup Chevys after wrecking their primary cars. Johnsons No. 48 got loose in turn 4 in the morning session and smacked the outside wall, sustaining heavy damage after posting the second-fastest speed of 188.121 mph. Busch hit the wall in the final evening practice and went to his backup No. 41 Chevy. Both drivers will move to the back of the field per NASCAR rules.MAKERS MARKToyota and Chevy each has four spots in the top 10 with seven drivers coming from three teams. Harvick is joined by Stewart-Haas Racing teammate Kurt Busch, while Johnson has company in Hendrick Motorsports stablemate Elliott. Hamlin, Edwards and Kyle Busch will represent Joe Gibbs Racing.ON THE VERGEThough Keselowski is tied with Kyle Busch for the most Kentucky wins with two each, dont be shocked if Penske Racing teammate Logano breaks through. He was second last July and has three consecutive top-10s with 60 laps led combined the past two years.RUBBER MATCHCup cars will feature a different Goodyear tire package from last months test after the manufacturer noticed blistering afterward. The new package is harder with the right-side tire using the same construction as the one used at Michigan. Harvick crew chief Rodney Childers voiced his displeasure with the change Thursday with a tweet that said, We will never ever go test for 2 days on an off week again, on the wrong tires.Keselowski seemed to like the change, saying Friday that the tire change seems to have not only been warranted, but very successful. We havent seen any issues as of now, but of course that can always change throughout the weekend. Vans Old Skool Clearance . World champions Tatiana Volosozhar and Maxim Trankov of Russia won the gold medal with 237.71 points, Moore-Towers and Moscovitch followed at 208.45 and Ksenia Stolbova and Fedor Klimov of Russia were third at 187. Vans Old Skool White Sale . The Australian is competing in his final season in Formula One and still looking for his first win this year. He will look to end Vettels run of six straight race wins on Sunday. Webber, who is fifth in the championship, earned his second pole from the past three races and 13th of his career. http://www.vansshoesclearancesale.com/vans-old-skool-sale/white.html . Robredo, ranked No. 16, bounced back from an upset loss to Leonardo Mayer in the second round of the Royal Guard Open in Chile last week to down Carreno Busta in 1 hour, 25 minutes. On a day filled mostly with qualifying matches, fifth-seeded Marcel Granollers of Spain also entered the second with a 7-5, 3-6, 6-2 win over Aljaz Bedene of Slovenia, while Guido Pella of Argentina defeated Guillermo Garcia-Lopez of Spain 7-6 (6), 6-4 to advance. Vans Sk8 Hi Reissue . Miikka Kiprusoff had just announced his retirement after a decade-long run in Calgary and it would be up to Berra and Ramo to fill the void. Vans Shoes Clearance . During the athletes parade, the 23-strong Ukrainian team was represented by a lone flagbearer in an apparent protest at the presence of Russian troops in Ukraines Crimean peninsula. OAKLAND, Calif. -- The Seattle Mariners will try to give their wild-card playoff hopes another boost Friday night when they send veteran Hisashi Iwakuma to the mound to face the Oakland As and rookie Daniel Mengden in the opener of a three-game series at the Oakland Coliseum.Iwakuma (14-11, 4.01 ERA) has a career-high-tying four-game losing streak, but he posted quality starts in three of those defeats. In his most recent start, a 4-2 loss Sunday to the Los Angeles Angels at Safeco Field, Iwakuma gave up three runs on eight hits over seven innings, struck out five and walked one.I hate to think where wed be without him this year, Mariners manager Scott Servais said after Iwakumas last start. Hes been very valuable.Before his four-game skid, Iwakuma was 14-4 with a 3.63 ERA in his previous 19 starts, a stretch that ended with a 4-3 victory against the As in Oakland on Aug. 13. Iwakuma allowed three runs on nine hits over 5 1/3 innings with two strikeouts and no walks that day, raising his career record against the Athletics to 8-5. He is 3-0 with a 3.26 ERA in three starts against the As this season.The Mariners (72-68) are 5-11 over their past 16 games, but they ended their seven-game homestand with a 6-3 victory against the Texas Rangers on Thursday night. Seattle won three of four games from the Rangers, who lead the AL West by 8 1/2 games over the Houston Astros and 10 1/2 over the Mariners.The Mariners trail Baltimore by 4 1/2 games for the American Leagues second wild-card spot. They also trail the Detroit Tigers, Houston, the New York Yankees and the Kansas City Royals in the wild-card race.We are not done, Servais said after Thursday nights victory. I know people want to write us off, but we still have a bunch of games to play. Its going to be interesting.Seattle is 7-5 this year against the As (60-79), and two teams wiill meet seven more times, including a season-ending, four-game series at Safeco Field.ddddddddddddengden was called up Saturday from Triple-A Nashville for his second stint with the As this season. He gave up seven runs on eight hits over 2 2/3 innings that night in an 11-2 loss to the Boston Red Sox as his record fell to 1-6 and ERA rose to 6.66.This will be Mengdens first career appearance against the Mariners, but he has watched them enough to know what type of challenge he is in for.Its going to be a tough lineup, but I know if I stick to what I can do and I get ahead, Ill be able to use my stuff and hopefully get some early outs, force weak contact and try to go from there, Mengden said.Mengden started the season at Double-A Midland, jumped to Nashville and earned his first trip to the major leagues in early June. He was sent back to Nashville on July 26 after making nine starts for the As and developing a tired pitching arm. He had his work load reduced at Triple-A, and his arm strength returned.Toward the end of my (first) stint in the big leagues, I was getting a little tired, Mengden said. I feel like my arm wasnt recovering as fast, my (velocity) was down. I wasnt able to make pitches and I got a little wild. I think I was trying to do too much with what I had in the tank.I went down there and had six, seven starts, five innings max, no matter what the pitch count was. It felt really good, not throwing as much and getting a little rest every outing going into it. I feel really good right now.Mengden is 0-5 with a 7.53 ERA at the Coliseum. His career-opening, five-game losing streak at home is tied for the longest in Oakland history with Dallas Braden (2007) and Steve Ontiveros (1985-86). ' ' '
