No. 9 Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge Charger Race Facts
NASCAR Nextel Cup Series --- California Speedway
Driver: Kasey Kahne
Team Director: Tommy Baldwin
Team Owner: Ray Evernham
Chassis: No. 119
Car Info: Started 4th, finished
2nd at Indianapolis
and raced at Michigan
in the fall
KASEY KAHNE QUOTES
“Our objective for the rest of the season is to win races. That will be our objective in California. Although we’ll miss the Chase this year, these next 12 races are very important for our team. If we can win races, we’ll continue to improve our race cars and be ready to start next season strong. It’s much easier to figure things out on the track now than trying to figure them out during the off season. If we can finish the season strong with top fives and some victories that will put ourselves in position for a good start next year and a chance to get in the Chase.
“We’re definitely getting things sorted out. We’re still not where we want to be, but we're definitely on the upward climb and headed in the right direction. That's big. We have 12 races to see how the season ends up. I think we can get another victory, maybe two, and finish the season really strong for Evernham Motorsports and everybody at Dodge.
“This year has been an experience, much different than last year. Things haven’t gone exactly as we had expected. We got that first win at Richmond, but there have been disappointments, especially the DNF’s. Tommy (Baldwin) told us “this will make us a better team…a stronger team in the future’. I agree.”
STATS & FACTS
KAHNE’S CAREER AT CALIFORNIA
This weekend’s race will mark Kahne’s fourth career NASCAR Nextel Cup Series start at California Speedway. Prior to this weekends start, Kahne has a total of one pole and one top-five finish.
He earned his best career California finish of second in his second career start at the speedway in fall of 2004. He qualified fifth and never dropped out of the top-seven throughout the race, finishing second after leading for 39 laps.
GETTING OUT FRONT
After competing in only three races at California, Kahne has tallied up a total of 116 laps led out of a possible 750. That’s 15.5% of the time Kahne has been at the top of the board.
POINTS STANDINGS
After racing at Bristol, Kahne moved to the 21st position of the NASCAR Nextel Cup points standings. His points total of 2,442, is 240 points out of the top-15.
ON THE FLIP SIDE IN CALIFORNIA--‘REVERSE’ PIT CAP SCHEME
As a thank-you for the sea of red Kasey Kahne Dodge pit caps seen in the grandstands each weekend, Kahne’s No. 9 Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge Charger will sport the ‘reverse’ pit cap paint scheme that Kahne raced to a second place finish at Indianapolis this month. The special scheme features a predominantly white design with two red racing stripes across the entire length of the car top – a ‘reverse’ color design based upon the popular hat.
STARTING GRID
Kasey Kahne has a 7.7 average start in his three races at California Speedway, which ranks him third overall in drivers with two or more starts there.
KAHNE CHARGES TO VICTORY AT RICHMOND!!!
Kahne claimed his first NASCAR Nextel Cup Series victory at Richmond. He started from the pole position, led seven times for 242 laps, and never fell out of the top ten, en route to his first career victory.
Kahne’s win was also the first of the season for the new Dodge Charger, which returned this year after a 27-year hiatus from NASCAR’s premier series.
EVERNHAM MOTORSPORTS MILESTONES
Kahne’s win, in addition to teammate Jeremy Mayfield’s victory at Michigan, marked the first time that Evernham Motorsports teammates had each won a NASCAR Nextel Cup Series race in the same season.
