No. 9 Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge Charger Race Facts
NASCAR Nextel Cup Series --- Lowe’s Motor Speedway
Driver: Kasey Kahne
Team Director: Tommy Baldwin
Team Owner: Ray Evernham
Chassis: No. 106
Info: Pole at Darlington;
Finished third
KASEY KAHNE QUOTES
“It’s a long race. We’re running during the day and night. The track changes a lot. You have to keep up with the car on the pit stops. I’m looking forward to it, looking forward to running 600 miles. I feel like we learned a lot last week during practice and during the race. I think it will help us get the car a lot better this week.
“If we can lead laps and be up front at the end of this year’s race we’d have a shot at winning it, and that would make it a great night for us. Although the car we had last week for the All-Star race ran pretty good in practice and during the race up until we got caught up in the wreck, we’ll bring a different car for the 600.”
STATS & FACTS
KASEY KAHNE AT CHARLOTTE
This weekend will mark Kahne’s third NASCAR Nextel Cup Series start in a points race at Charlotte. Kahne’s highest finish during a points race came in last year’s spring race when he finished 12th.
Kahne started on the outside pole in the fall race at Charlotte last year but was relegated to a 32nd place finish after being collected in an on-track incident.
No. 9 DEW CREW EARNS TOP HONORS IN PIT CREW COMPETITION
The No. 9 Dew Crew won last week’s Nextel Pit Crew Challenge – one of two contests at Charlotte aimed at showcasing the skills of NASCAR’s behind-the-scenes players – by beating Jamie McMurray’s team in the final round. The crew serviced Kahne’s No. 9 Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge Charger with four new tires and a full tank of fuel in 16.14 seconds to pocket the $70,000 grand prize.
KAHNE CHARGES TO VICTORY AT RICHMOND!!!
Kahne claimed his first NASCAR Nextel Cup Series victory in this month’s race at. Kahne 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.
RICHMOND WIN MILESTONES
Kahne’s win was the sixth win for Evernham Motorsports, marking the fifth consecutive year that an Evernham Dodge has visited victory lane.
Kahne became the 11th driver to win from the pole position at Richmond, the last of whom was Bill Elliott who won from the top spot in spring of 1992.
Kahne also joined an exclusive club of 13 drivers to earn career wins in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck, Busch and Cup series.
KAHNE PICKS UP POLES AT RICHMOND
Kahne claimed his second consecutive pole in the month of May, driving the No. 9 Dodge Charger to a time of 20.775 seconds at 129.964 mph around the 0.75-mile Richmond oval. The time was just a tick off the track record of 20.772 seconds set during last year’s spring event.
The pole was the sixth of Kahne’s career in just 47 Cup Series starts, following his Bud Pole effort one week prior at Darlington.
Kahne made it a qualifying sweep at Richmond as he also won the pole for the NASCAR Busch Series race. The weekend sweep marked the first time that Kahne’s won the Bud Pole for both NASCAR racing events at a track on the same weekend.
ADDING UP THE POINTS
After Kahne’s win at Richmond he jumped up four spots in the Nextel Cup point standings, putting him at 15th in the standings. He’s just 83 points out of 10th place and 301 points away from the leader.
Kahne picked up the maximum number of points at Richmond (190), winning the race and leading the most laps on the day.
