Kahne would consider missing Chase a major disappointment
By SceneDaily Staff
Friday, September 05, 2008
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Mark Sluder / NASCAR Scene
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RICHMOND, Va. – Kasey Kahne says he likes pressure situations, and that’s a good thing considering the pressure the Gillett Evernham Motorsports driver will face in Saturday night’s Chevy Rock & Roll 400 at Richmond International Raceway.
The race is Kahne's last chance to earn a spot in this year’s Chase For The Sprint Cup, and he must do so by coming from behind if he's going to make it.
“I’ve always been a guy who likes to be part of it if there’s pressure at the end or something or pressure late in the race battling somebody for a win or that kind of stuff,” Kahne said on Friday at the .75-mile Richmond track. “I enjoy that side of it. I enjoy the pressure and enjoy just trying to step up and do the best that you can, and I think there’s other drivers in this series that enjoy it and are good at it.”
To earn a spot among the 12-driver championship-determining field, Kahne must leapfrog two drivers in the standings. He is currently 31 points behind 13th-place David Ragan and 48 behind 12th-place Clint Bowyer.
But Kahne’s main focus on Saturday will be his performance, not that of his closest competitors.
“I really don’t care where they’re at until after the race,” he said. “I’ll wonder during just because I want to make the Chase so bad. But as far as during the race, hopefully I never see them, and they’re somewhere else on the race track, and we do our thing and they do theirs, and we see where it’s at at the end.
“All we can do is go out, and we can try to lead laps and win the race and do everything possible to get our best performance, our best finish that we can and then look at the points at the end of the night. If I get to racing them or something, I don’t think that will be the key to getting that best finish.”
Kahne is no stranger to Chase battles. Two years ago, he entered the regular-season finale at Richmond still trying to secure a spot in the playoffs.
That time, he did. But he came into the event carrying the momentum of a win a week earlier at Auto Club Speedway.
This time, Kahne is coming off an eighth-place finish at the California track and consecutive 40th-place runs in the two races prior that have put him on the outside of the Chase group looking in.
“If I don’t make it in, I’m going to be really disappointed in how things have ended up this season just because of where we’ve been,” said Kahne, who has three wins this year, counting the non-points-paying Sprint All-Star Race at Charlotte. “I feel like we’ve been a top-10 team all year long, and we had two bad races as far as things that you can't control, and now we’re battling for 12th in points, and I feel like we’re better than that.
“That’s the way it is, but I feel like we’re better than that. So, yeah, I’ll be disappointed if I don’t make it regardless of what happens tomorrow night. If I win the race and don’t make it or finish last and don’t make it, I’ll be upset.”
- Mentioned Drivers:
- Kasey Kahne
Comments
5 responses to "Kahne would consider missing Chase a major disappointment"
trackdebris said:
Sep 5, 2008 at 2:39 PMIf he won more races he wouldn't have anything to worry about.
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» Confirm Abuse ReportTimothy Schultze said:
Sep 5, 2008 at 2:46 PMHe might want to sit down for this one then.!!!!!!!!!!
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» Confirm Abuse ReportTroy Hackney said:
Sep 5, 2008 at 4:48 PMWinning more races means nothing without consistancy, which has been lack luster for the Budweiser team in 2008. I suggest everyone have a seat and watch Kasey race his way into the Chase.
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» Confirm Abuse ReportChelsea said:
Sep 5, 2008 at 6:02 PMThe sucky thing is that he's out because of things he couldn't control...the engine at Michigan and the wreck at Bristol. If those two things hadn't have happened, he would probably still be 8th in the standings. But, as Kasey says, it's just racing. I really hope he can pull off a miracle and race his way in.
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» Confirm Abuse Reporttrackdebris said:
Sep 6, 2008 at 6:47 AMToo much emphasis is on points and making it into the Chase. NASCAR used to be exciting...wreckers and checkers!!!
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