Kahne expects to contend for a win at Bristol
By SceneDaily Staff
Thursday, March 13, 2008
Marc Serota / Getty Images for NASCAR
HAMPTON, GA - MARCH 07: Kasey Kahne, driver of the #9 Budweiser Dodge, stands on pit road during qualifying for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Kobalt Tools 500 at the Atlanta Motor Speedway on March 7, 2008 in Hampton, Georgia. (Photo by Marc Serota/Getty Images for NASCAR)
Kasey Kahne’s fast start to the 2008 season took a bit of a wrong turn last weekend at Atlanta Motor Speedway, where he spun during the Kobalt Tools 500 and later finished 28th.
That was easily his worst finish of the year, as he posted top-10 finishes in his first three races. But Kahne and the No. 9 Gillett Evernham Motorsports team are headed to Bristol Motor Speedway for this weekend’s Food City 500, and that should be good news for them.
Kahne had the best race of his 2007 season at Bristol last August, leading 305 laps before finishing second.
“Ideally we are contending for the win at Bristol this week,” Kahne said. “We had our best Bristol race there last fall and hopefully, we’ll see more of that this week. I’d say we’d be disappointed if we aren’t competing for the win or at least be in position to do that.”
Kahne and team director Kenny Francis seemed to get a good handle on the repaved Bristol track with NASCAR’s new car. Kahne led only 374 laps all season, so most of them came that night in Bristol.
Still, Kahne isn’t sure whether to classify the 0.533-mile track as a “question mark” or a “gamble.”
“It’s a tough track obviously just because a lot of times what happens there is out of your hands as a driver,” Kahen said. “I’ve gotten involved in accidents running in the back and I’ve gotten into accidents while running in the top 10.
“Trouble can find you anywhere on that track so that’s probably the biggest unknown when you go into a race at a place like Bristol.”
