CHARLOTTE, NC – OCTOBER 06: Kevin Harvick, driver of the #4 Busch Hunting Chevrolet, poses with a trophy after winning the pole position during qualifying for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Bank of America 500 at Charlotte Motor Speedway on October 6, 2016 in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Photo by Brian Lawdermilk/Getty Images

Kevin Harvick may have won the pole for Saturday night’s Bank of America 500 at Charlotte Motor Speedway (7 pm ET on NBC), but Alex Bowman continued to open eyes as a substitute driver in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.

Touring the 1.5-mile speedway in 27.547 seconds (196.029 mph), Harvick knocked Bowman (196.000 mph) off the pole by a scant 0.004 seconds in the final round of Thursday evening’s knockout qualifying.

The pole was Harvick’s first at Charlotte, his first of the 2016 season and the 16th of his career.

“It was good in (turns) one and two, but I felt like I gave up a little something in (turns) three and four coming to the checkered,” Harvick said of his lap in the money round. “This has just been a fun car to drive today. Hopefully we can get it dialed in race trim.”

Where Harvick gave up speed in the final two corners, Bowman likely lost the pole in the first two turns, where he drifted up the track slightly and scrubbed off just enough speed to fall short of Harvick by the minute fraction of a second.

Nevertheless, driving in place of Dale Earnhardt Jr. in six of the last seven races of the season while Earnhardt recovers from a concussion, Bowman stole the show.

“The Showman Bowman was fast tonight,” Earnhardt tweeted after the final round. Great job @AlexBRacing and @AxaltaRacing gang. P2 @CLTMotorSpdwy.”

Bowman, the fastest of the non-Chase drivers in time trials, recently posted his career-best NASCAR Sprint Cup Series finish, a tenth at Chicagoland Speedway. Though Bowman continues to show excellent speed as a substitute, he has no definite plans for next year.

But he came tantalizingly close to a monumental achievement on Thursday night.

“Honestly, we didn’t put the greatest lap together,” said Bowman, who ran the fastest lap of the day in the second round (196.200 mph). “In (turns) one and two, we were a little free in (into the corner) and didn’t really keep it on the bottom like I needed to.

“Turns three and four were really good. It means so much for Hendrick Motorsports to take a chance on me for these races. I’m really thankful to be here. I hate that we didn’t get the pole. We were so close. It’s definitely my best starting spot by a bunch, but you’d always like that pole.”

Chase drivers claimed eight of the top-12 starting positions, with Chase Elliott qualifying third, Kyle Busch fourth, Martin Truex Jr., seventh, Carl Edwards eighth, Denny Hamlin ninth, Joey Logano tenth and Jimmie Johnson 11th.

Chase drivers Matt Kenseth (17th), Austin Dillon (19th), Brad Keselowski (20th) and Kurt Busch (23rd) failed to advance to the final round.

“I don’t think anybody knew that we could go as fast as Bowman went in that second round,” Edwards said. “That kind of raised the stakes for everyone.”

Notes: Danica Patrick will start 13th, her second-best effort this year after qualifying 11th at Sonoma in June. Patrick just missed advancing to the final round; Johnson edged her for the 12th and final position by 0.012 seconds.

Hendrick Motorsports continued to show improved speed, putting all four of its cars in the top-12 (with Kasey Kahne in 12th joining Bowman, Elliott and Johnson). Hendrick-powered cars claimed four of the top-five spots on the grid, with Harvick on the pole and Tony Stewart fifth.

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Qualifying – Bank of America 500

Charlotte Motor Speedway

Concord, North Carolina

Thursday, October 6, 2016

1. (4)  Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet, 196.029 mph.
2. (88)  Alex Bowman(i), Chevrolet, 196.000 mph.
3. (24)  Chase Elliott #, Chevrolet, 195.759 mph.
4. (18)  Kyle Busch, Toyota, 195.228 mph.
5. (14)  Tony Stewart, Chevrolet, 195.228 mph.
6. (47)  AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet, 195.087 mph.
7. (78)  Martin Truex Jr, Toyota, 194.826 mph.
8. (19)  Carl Edwards, Toyota, 194.553 mph.
9. (11)  Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 194.168 mph.
10. (22)  Joey Logano, Ford, 194.049 mph.
11. (48)  Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 192.630 mph.
12. (5)  Kasey Kahne, Chevrolet, 188.547 mph.
13. (10)  Danica Patrick, Chevrolet, 194.161 mph.
14. (16)  Greg Biffle, Ford, 194.007 mph.
15. (17)  Ricky Stenhouse Jr, Ford, 193.966 mph.
16. (1)  Jamie McMurray, Chevrolet, 193.868 mph.
17. (20)  Matt Kenseth, Toyota, 193.791 mph.
18. (21)  Ryan Blaney #, Ford, 193.736 mph.
19. (3)  Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 193.722 mph.
20. (2)  Brad Keselowski, Ford, 193.625 mph.
21. (31)  Ryan Newman, Chevrolet, 193.209 mph.
22. (95)  Michael McDowell, Chevrolet, 193.009 mph.
23. (41)  Kurt Busch, Chevrolet, 192.205 mph.
24. (83)  Matt DiBenedetto, Toyota, 191.489 mph.
25. (42)  Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, 191.980 mph.
26. (34)  Chris Buescher #, Ford, 191.829 mph.
27. (6)  Trevor Bayne, Ford, 191.544 mph.
28. (27)  Paul Menard, Chevrolet, 191.530 mph.
29. (13)  Casey Mears, Chevrolet, 191.469 mph.
30. (44)  Brian Scott #, Ford, 191.381 mph.
31. (15)  Clint Bowyer, Chevrolet, 190.954 mph.
32. (38)  Landon Cassill, Ford, 190.617 mph.
33. (43)  Aric Almirola, Ford, 190.564 mph.
34. (23)  David Ragan, Toyota, 190.054 mph.
35. (7)  Regan Smith, Chevrolet, 188.864 mph.
36. (98)  Cole Whitt, Chevrolet, 186.002 mph.
37. (46)  Michael Annett, Chevrolet, 185.976 mph.
38. (32)  Jeffrey Earnhardt #, Ford, 185.039 mph.
39. (55)  Reed Sorenson, Chevrolet, 183.673 mph.
40. (30)  Josh Wise, Chevrolet, 183.343 mph.