“This Is A Race For The Fans”-- Kahne After Winning All Star Race
May 18, 2008
CIA Stock Photo, Inc.
Kasey Kahne, who only got in the event because the fans voted him in, won NASCAR’s Sprint All-Star Race on Saturday night at the 1.5-mile Lowe’s Motor Speedway. The No. 9 Evernham Dodge crossed the finish line 1.327 seconds ahead of Greg Biffle.
Kasey Kahne did not have the requisite victory in 2007 or ’08 needed to qualify for the annual Nascar Sprint All-Star race on Saturday night at Lowe’s Motor Speedway. And he came up short in the Sprint Showdown race for nonqualifiers earlier in the night, failing to finish high enough to advance to the main event.
But popularity counts on All-Star weekend, and Kahne got into the field on a vote by the fans, who picked the one driver they wanted to see in the race.
And then he went out and won it.
Already running on house money, he gambled on his final pit stop to steal the $1 million prize. And in holding off Greg Biffle in the final segment, Kahne became just the third driver in All-Star race history to advance from the preliminary race into the show and then win the main event.
“We got voted in by the fans which was really, really special, and it feels good to know that we have that many fans following our team,” said Kahne, who could have raced his way in by finishing first or second in the Sprint Showdown. He was fifth, and needed the fan vote to claim the third transfer spot in the 24-driver field.
The fan vote gave Kahne a chance to run in the 100-lap shootout, which was intermittently dominated by Kyle Busch, Biffle and Dale Earnhardt Jr. But he used the gamble on the final pit stop - not taking any tires - to put the field in his rearview mirror to become the first driver ever voted in by the fans to win.
He had no shame in winning because his fans put him in the race.
“I can’t believe we just won this,” a stunned Kahne said moments after taking the checkered flag.
“This is a race for the fans,” Kahne said in victory lane. “For us to come out and win it on the fan vote, pretty cool.”
Kyle Busch, the hottest driver in Nascar, led the first 25 laps to collect the $75,000 bonus for winning the opening segment. But his engine failed during the second segment, and he was done for the night.
Biffle finished second and was surprised his two-tire stop lost him the race.
Matt Kenseth was third and Johnson and Tony Stewart rounded out the top five.
Ryan Newman, who in 2002 was the last driver to advance from the preliminary race to win the main event, finished sixth. He was followed by teammate Sam Hornish Jr., who finished second in the Sprint Showdown to make the race.
Earnhardt faded to eighth after leading 14 laps in the third segment and was followed by Mark Martin and Carl Edwards, who was picked by track president and master prognosticator Humpy Wheeler to win the race
