No. 9 Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge Charger Race Facts
Darlington Raceway-- NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series
Driver: Kasey Kahne
Team Director: Kenny Francis
Car Director: Mike Shiplett
Engineer: Keith Rodden
Team Owner: Ray Evernham
Chassis: No. 112
Car Info: Raced at Bristol
KASEY KAHNE QUOTES
“We had a top-five car at Richmond, but didn’t get a top-five finish. We’ve had two tough finishes in a row with the accident at Talladega and the ignition problem at Richmond. There is some consolation in the fact we had a very good car at both events. We just need to turn opportunity into results.
“Darlington is a tough track. The key is getting the car to handle. Our crew has been great on pit stops all season. The cars have been good, the engines strong. The communication with Kenny (Francis, team director), Mike (Shiplett, car director) and everyone has been good. We’re anxious to get to Darlington and get back on track with quality finishes.”
STATS & FACTS
KASEY KAHNE AT DARLINGTON RACEWAY
Saturday night’s race marks Kahne’s third start at Darlington Raceway. He has top-15 finishes in all three races. After finishing 13th in his first trip to the “Lady in Black” in the spring of 2004, he finished fifth in the fall race that year and was third last May.
Kahne has started from the Bud Pole in two of the three events at Darlington including last fall when he posted his best finish of third. He led 60 laps in the event.
Kahne has been running at the finish of all three races at Darlington.
Kahne has a 7.0 average finish at Darlington, best among active drivers.
KAHNE OFF TO GOOD START IN 2006
Kahne has two wins, four top-five and six top-10 finishes in the first 10 races this season.
KAHNE POSTS WINS AT ATLANTA AND TEXAS
Kahne posted wins at Atlanta and Texas. On both occasions, he started on the pole just as he did in his first career victory last year at Richmond.
His victory at Texas was the eighth Nextel Cup Series win for Evernham Motorsports. The organization has won at least one race each year since it’s inception in 2001.
STARTING UP FRONT IMPORTANT AT DARLINGTON?
Only 13 of the 102 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup races at Darlington have been won from a starting postion outside the top 10.
RECENT CHANGES AT DARLINGTON
The track was re-configured to 1.366-miles following the spring race in 1970.
The spring raced at Darlington became a 400-mile event in 1994.
The track configuration (pits and start-finish line) was reversed prior to the second race in 1997.
