No. 9 Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge Charger Race Facts
Lowe’s Motor Speedway --- NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series
Driver: Kasey Kahne
Team Director: Kenny Francis
Car Director: Mike Shiplett
Engineer: Keith Rodden
Team Owner: Ray Evernham
Chassis: No. 128
Info: Ran at Atlanta and Texas.
KASEY KAHNE QUOTES
“We’ve had success at the mile-and-a-half tracks this year, so we should have a competitive car this weekend. It’s the same car we ran at Atlanta and Texas. The new surface and tire compound have certainly made a difference. The track is smooth. The tires are hard. Tire wear is not a factor, but grip will be, especially on cold tires. It’s very difficult to get a setup where you can maintain adequate grip throughout a run. We did get a little test last week during the All-Star race, but that was a sprint. Now we’re talking about 600 miles, the longest race of the year. The race starts in the late afternoon and finish at night. There a so many factors. To be successful, we have to have control of those factors.
“This is an important race for the No. 9 Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge Charger team. We’ve run up front the last three races, but haven’t been there at the finish. We will be looking to change that this weekend.”
STATS & FACTS
KASEY KAHNE AT LOWE’S MOTOR SPEEDWAY
Sunday’s race marks Kahne’s fifth start at Lowe’s Motor Speedway. He has led in all four races at LMS with his best finish of 12th coming in the Coca-Cola 600 in 2004.
After starting second in the fall race in 2004, Kahne led 207 laps of the first 267 laps and looked to be on his way to his first career victory when a blown tire send Chassis # 55 (which Kahne stills refers to as his all-time favorite car) into the outside retaining wall coming out of turn two. The car was damaged beyond repair.
Kahne started fourth in last year’s Coca-Cola 600 and finished 26th. In the fall race last year, he started 33rd and finished 23rd.
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.
The Bud Pole winner (or driver that started first) has posted a top-10 finish in only five races this season, including Kahne’s victories at Atlanta and Texas.
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 LOWE’S MOTOR SPEEDWAY?
A Dodge has won the Bud Pole at Lowe’s Motor Speedway four of the last six races.
The last five races at LMS have been won from a top-10 starting position. However, four of the last 10 races at LMS were won from outside the top 10 including one from a 37th-place starting position, the lowest starting position for a Lowe’s winner in the track’s 94-race history.
