Pole Winner Kahne Grabs Victory At Pocono 500
Jun 09, 2008
CIA Stock Photo, Inc.
The victory was the second in three Nascar Sprint Cup races for Kasey Kahne, a 28-year-old from Enumclaw, Wash. Kahne started from the pole position and led 69 of 200 laps, including the last 15. He held the lead six times.
“I could go anywhere with it, and when you can go anywhere, you could go where the car in front of you isn’t,” Kahne said of his car. “That made it a lot easier than I expected.”
Kahne’s car was so good that he scrubbed much of the drama from the end of the race. Kyle Busch, the series points leader who was many laps down, spun out with 23 laps to go, bringing out the yellow flag for the 10th time on a muggy, grueling afternoon.
Kahne didn’t just win the Pocono 500. He dominated it. If it hadn’t been for a pit road mishap in the early going things would have been even worse for the competition.
“As a driver, I don’t think my confidence was down,” Kahne said Sunday of his winless 2007. “I felt ready to win and I went to the track with a good attitude. But until I won this year, I realized I was probably leaving a little bit out there and wasn’t communicating like I should have been with (crew chief) Kenny (Francis) as well as I have in past. Since then, I’ve done a better job”
The victory was Kahne’s second of the season and the ninth of his career in 158 starts, but it wasn’t as easy as Kahne’s 3.702-second margin of victory over Brian Vickers might suggest.
After a restart on Lap 182 of the 200-lap event, Kahne passed Dale Earnhardt Jr. on Lap 183 and Vickers on Lap 185 to take the lead for the final time.
Denny Hamlin ran third, followed by Earnhardt and Jeff Burton, who trimmed the series points lead of 43rd-place finisher Kyle Busch to 21 points. Jimmie Johnson, Matt Kenseth, Kurt Busch, Carl Edwards and Mark Martin completed the top 10.
“He was still too fast, and his tires were too good,” Vickers said.
Kahne has become a driver to catch, even when his crew chief makes a mistake.
“Kenny was pretty down,” Kahne said, “but I was like, Man, that’s the way it is, and we’ll do what we can to get back up there.”
“Never. I’ve never had a car that dominant before,” Kahne said. “This one stayed the same all day long. It was so good all day long.”
“It’s pretty hot,” a red-faced Earnhardt said. “It’s going to be a little hotter the next couple months.”
Vickers concurred, sweating profusely from the podium after his finish.
“I’m exhausted, lets get this going,” he said, blaming some of the issues on rising heat in NASCAR’s new car. “It’s brutal. We’re going to the infield care center after the races and that’s ridiculous. NASCAR needs to step in and ... cool these cars down to help us. It is extremely freaking hot out there.”
Hamlin was pale white and clearly spent as he nodded in agreement.
“I saw Brian, and even Junior needed a second to breathe. It’s just tough,” Hamlin said. “We’re trying as drivers to stay hydrated, but these cars are just way too hot.”
