No. 9 Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge Race Facts
EA Sports 500 --- Talladega Superspeedway
Driver: Kasey Kahne
Team Director: Tommy Baldwin
Team Owner: Ray Evernham
Chassis: No. 61
Car Info: Ran 30th at Talladega (a);
25th at Daytona (b)
KASEY KAHNE QUOTES
“Actually, I love racing at that track (Talladega) because of the close racing; it’s a lot of fun and I enjoy it a ton. It’s just so unpredictable about what’s going to happen, how your car is going to be, if you’re going to be in the big wreck, there’s so much going on. For driving, I love it. It’s pretty easy to keep your focus there because you know what will happen with one little mistake. You always have to be on top of it and not make that mistake.
“The team works awfully hard to make the car go faster every time we go back to a restrictor plate track – engine, body, setup, everything. Talladega is a wide track and the cars handle a lot better than at Daytona. You can be off a little bit and still run in the pack at Talladega. At Daytona, if you’re off even a little you can’t run in the pack.”
STATS & FACTS
KASEY KAHNE AT TALLADEGA
This weekend marks Kahne’s second NASCAR Nextel Cup Series start at Talladega Superspeedway.
Kahne started 26th and finished 30th at Talladega in April. He was caught up in “the big one” on lap 82, and the No. 9 Dew Crew repaired his Dodge to run the final 28 laps and pick up seven spots.
ADDING UP THE POINTS
Kahne moves to 14th place in the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series rankings after racing at Dover. He is just 14 points out of the 12th position and 113 points out of 11th place.
KEEPING THE TOP FIVES ALIVE
Kahne is chasing NASCAR’s modern-era record for top-five finishes by a rookie driver. (See Table)
Kahne is one of only four drivers to have scored 10 or more top-five finishes this season.
Kahne has five top fives in his last eight races.
RAYBESTOS ROOKIE BESTS
Kahne’s four pole positions are two shy of Ryan Newman’s record six poles in a rookie season.
After 28 races, Kahne has a commanding 93-point lead in the Raybestos Rookie-of-the-Year race.
Kahne’s total of 425 laps led is more than three times the combined amount of laps led by the five other 2004 Raybestos Rookie-of-the-Year candidates (136). He also has more poles, top fives and top 10s than the combined amount of his Rookie-of-the-Year competitors.
FAST ON FRIDAYS
Kahne earned his fourth pole (Las Vegas, Darlington, California and Pocono) and his second track qualifying record (Las Vegas, Pocono) at Pocono in June.
Evernham Motorsports has set three track qualifying records this season (Kahne – Las Vegas and Pocono (a), Mayfield – Dover).
Kahne tied Art Watts (1957) for the quickest any driver has reached four career poles – 14 races.
