No. 9 Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge Charger Race Facts
Auto Club 500 --- California Speedway
Driver: Kasey Kahne
Team Director: Tommy Baldwin
Team Owner: Ray Evernham
Chassis: No. 106
Info: Brand new – tested at
California, Vegas, Atlanta
KASEY KAHNE QUOTES
ON NEW QUALIFYING PROCEDURE
“It’s kind of like wait and see, but we made one run at California similar to what you can do to the car. There are a few more things you can do before qualifying and change back. It wasn’t too bad. You’re not going to be able to run that lap with the nose weight and be able to get the car down like you want to. You’re going to have to be careful with the tire and valance. There are things you’re going to have to think about, but we’ll still be able to go for poles.”
ON RACING AT CALIFORNIA
“California has been one of my favorite race tracks, and it’s one that I’m looking forward to going back to this year for sure. We had good cars in both races last year, and we would’ve liked to have had the win there in the fall. I think we’ll be strong. We’re bringing back the same car that we tested with in the off-season. Hopefully we can get up front, lead some laps and put ourselves in a position to go for the win again. I’d like to be the first team to win in the new Dodge Charger this year. That’d be pretty cool.“
SPECIAL COMMITMENTS IN CALIFORNIA
“We usually have a few things to do out there. I have a pretty good schedule when we’re in California. I’m going to go to the Lakers game Friday night, which will be pretty neat. I’ve never been to the Staples Center, so that’ll be a lot of fun to do that. I’ve watched a lot of Seattle Sonics games growing up. I went to see the Sonics, Seahawks, Mariners games. I went to a lot of sporting events.”
STATS & FACTS
KAHNE AT CALIFORNIA
In this race last year – Kahne’s first NEXTEL Cup Series race at California – he qualified on the pole and ran in the top five for nearly the entire day before his No. 9 Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge ran out of gas on the final lap. In the fall race, Kahne started fifth and earned his top race track finish of fifth.
TOP FINISHER AT CALIFORNIA
Kasey Kahne has a 7.5 average finish in his two races at California Speedway, the best of all drivers with two or more starts there.
SECOND PLACE TALLY
Kahne earned his fifth and final runner-up finish of 2004 – tying the record for second place finishes by a rookie in NASCAR’s modern-era – in the fall race at California Speedway.
