Kahne looking to improve standing
By SceneDaily Staff
Friday, August 08, 2008
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John Harrelson / Getty Images for NASCAR
Gillett Evernham Motorsports' Kasey Kahne (left) and team director Kenny Francis talk earlier this season.
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WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. – Kasey Kahne is feeling good about his prospects of making the Chase For The NASCAR Sprint Cup, but he knows nothing is assured with five races to go before the 12-driver field is set.
Kahne’s seventh-place performance Sunday at Pocono Raceway boosted him from ninth to seventh in the Sprint Cup standings. Yet that leaves the Gillett Evernham Motorsports Dodge driver with only a 91-point cushion on 13th-place Matt Kenseth.
“The best way for us to make the Chase is to remain consistent with our race car each and every race,” Kahne said at Watkins Glen International, which will host the Centurion Boats at the Glen Sunday. “It’s a tough battle right now. For us to come out of Pocono and gain two positions in the Chase is a credit to [team director] Kenny [Francis] and all the guys that work on this Budweiser Dodge. There’s still a lot of racing left, but last weekend was a good day for Gillett Evernham and all the guys that work on our team.”
Making the Chase is only part of the challenge for Kahne and the sport’s other top drivers at the moment. After the 26th race, the field of Chase drivers is set, with drivers seeded according to bonus points. Drivers are awarded 10 points for each win, so at the moment, Kahne, who has two victories this year (at Pocono and Charlotte) would start the Chase with 20 bonus points. That would immediately put him at a 50-point deficit to Kyle Busch, who has seven victories thus far.
It’s all hypothetical at this point, of course, but Kahne admitted it’s not too early to be thinking about those bonus points.
“The bonus points are going to be a pretty big deal,” Kahne said. “If you start 60, 70, 100 points ahead of the other guys, it will be a great way to start the Chase. Just being ahead will give you some breathing room.
“I have a few [bonus points], but I don’t have enough. …We have to focus on doing all that we can to get more bonus points – that will be pretty big heading into the Chase.”
Kahne would certainly like to collect 10 bonus points for winning at Watkins Glen this weekend, but he admits road courses have not been his strength. In nine career road-racing events, his best finish is 14th (in his first race at Watkins Glen in 2004). He has seven finishes of 22nd or worse. He did, however, win the pole at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, Calif., earlier this year in the series' only other road-course outing.
“Watkins Glen has always been a so-so track for me,” Kahne said. “We’ve had decent runs, but don’t really have the solid finishes to show for it. We had a good test at Road Atlanta a few weeks ago to prepare for this weekend. We’re taking the same car we took to Sonoma, and I think the car was pretty good out there. We just had some bad luck that day.”
- Mentioned Drivers:
- Kasey Kahne
Comments
2 responses to "Kahne looking to improve standing"
Cathy Rooks said:
Aug 8, 2008 at 1:57 PMKasey you can do it! You are the Man! GO HURRIKAHNE!
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» Confirm Abuse ReportJennifer Nelsen said:
Aug 8, 2008 at 2:16 PMKasey can make the chase. I know he can do it. GO KASEY GO!!!!!!
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