Win bolsters Kahne's confidence, gives team momentum boost
By Rea White - Associate Editor
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
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Kasey Kahne briefly let his frustration show.
Things hadn’t been going so well for the Gillett Evernham Motorsports driver. Expectations had been high entering the season. A new
team majority owner in George Gillett Jr. had opened the door for Ray Evernham to take a more hands-on role with the team. The coveted Budweiser sponsorship adorned Kahne’s doors. The teams were working with a Dodge they felt more comfortable with. And team director Kenny Francis remained in place, an asset this team has never underrated.
It looked as if the setbacks that marred 2007 – the year in which Kahne failed to win a race after earning six victories and a Chase championship berth in 2006 – would be just a blip on his career resume.
This year, it was time to return back to the top of NASCAR Sprint Cup racing.
And it was happening. Things started so well, with Kahne earning top-10 finishes in the opening three races. This was how things were supposed to be.
Only they weren’t, at least not for long. After that strong start, Kahne has once more fallen into the land of unexpected setbacks. He has only one top-10 finish in the last six Cup points races and has fallen to 14th in the standings.
He has only led five laps this season, never more than one in a race, and hasn’t been challenging for wins.
So his frustration was understandable when he was asked about assessing his season on Friday, the day before the Sprint All-Star Race.
“You look at what we do as far as practice and qualifying goes, take away wrecking last week during qualifying, we usually are decent at that point,” he said. “We get into a race, and we’re a top-10 car. From there on out, the adjustments are off. The communication between myself and Kenny has been good, especially in ’06 when the cars we’re really good. I feel like he’s the right guy to make the right calls on what to do.
“And I give him the information the best that I can, so to me it’s just the cars aren’t where they need to be to go fast. It just goes back to the race car. As far as being where we are in the points, we’re just a little more consistent and other guys aren’t because we really haven’t run that great in the last month, two months. I’d say we just…the consistency is why we’re [where we are] in the points. As far as winning races, we’re a long, long way from there.”
Not anymore.
The following night, Kahne went out and won the all-star race. Certainly no points where awarded, but the value of this event to the team cannot be measured in terms of the standings or the million-dollar purse it netted. Kahne and his group needed this win. They needed it to prove to themselves, as much as anyone, that this team is that close to victory.
As he celebrated his win, Kahne saw just how much difference one race can make.
Now, instead of being caught up in a sense of frustration, he and his team head into the Coca-Cola 600 filled with confidence.
Kahne says that Evernham and Francis talked to him before the all-star race, and that, coupled with the win, had him feeling much better about things. After all, Kahne is just two points out of the 12th spot in the point standings, which would earn a spot in the Chase For The NASCAR Sprint Cup. And he does have five top-10 finishes in 11 races.
For many drivers, that would be a strong start to the season. For Kahne, it isn’t enough.
“I just get frustrated,” the 28-year-old says. “I get down. You know, we weren't running as good as we were. … I'm glad Ray and Kenny talked to me, and we got things figured out.”
His team certainly understands the origin of those comments. This group expects to not only contend each week, but to win on a regular basis. It expects to challenge for the championship. With the talent of Kahne, Francis and Evernham, the group recognizes its potential.
That just makes it more frustrating when that isn’t reached. Still, the team works to maintain its perspective.
“We've got to realize we're racing – I feel like we're racing the best drivers in the world,” Francis says.
And gaining ground.
Evernham says that he believes in the pair. He knows what they are capable of doing and thinks that they can move back into form quickly. They just need to have faith in that potential as well.
Evernham continually points out that 2007 wasn’t as bad as some people seem to think, that the team wasn’t as far off as some tend to believe. Now, with the win in the all-star race, he may have proven that point – to his own group.
“We just needed a little bit of momentum and a little something to hold on to and prove that we could do it,” Evernham said following the win. “I think this was a really big night for Gillett Evernham Motorsports – for these guys, too. People have got to believe.
“I think the biggest thing we did is we're starting to believe that we can again.”
Kahne clearly is. It would be a stretch to say that he completely lost hold of that concept, but there’s no doubt that a return trip to victory lane had him reassessing his earlier remarks.
“I guess it wasn't as far off as I thought,” he says with a smile.
Still, he’s trying to remain realistic about the program. As he prepares to return to points racing – again at Lowe’s Motor Speedway for Sunday’s Coca-Cola 600 – Kahne isn’t letting the all-star victory be a distraction to his effort.
But the frustration about his season seems to have subsided, at least for now.
“As far as us coming out and winning the 600, we've got some work to do,” he said. “We have to keep working hard and doing the right things. But it shows that our cars are not as far off as I made it sound.”
- Mentioned Drivers:
- Kasey Kahne
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