Kasey Kahne, No. 9 Budweiser Dodge Charger
Subway Fresh Fit 500 at Phoenix International Raceway
Budweiser Racing Team Notes of Interest
This weekend’s Subway Fresh Fit 500 marks Kasey Kahne’s eighth career NASCAR Sprint Cup Series start at Phoenix International Raceway.
In seven starts at PIR, Kahne has accumulated one top-five and three top-10 finishes.
Kahne has an average start of 13th and an average finish of 19th at PIR.
In seven starts this season, Kahne has four top-10 finishes.
Kahne will celebrate his 28th birthday on Thursday, April 10th.
Kahne is currently tied for 11th in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver point standings, 191 points behind the championship leader.
Kasey Kahne Discusses Racing at Phoenix
You have mentioned that Phoenix is one of the tougher tracks on the circuit to conquer.
“I generally enjoy racing at Phoenix and we’ve had some success there in the past, but it usually seems like we’re all or nothing. We struggled with the COT at PIR last year. It wasn’t near where it needed to be, but we have come a long way since then. Hopefully this weekend we can get the Budweiser Dodge dialed in and have a chance to compete for the win. Our guys on pit road have done an excellent job this season, so if we can get the car where it needs to be, we should be there at the end.”
You have been consistent each week running in the top 10. Despite the bad luck last weekend at Texas you were on your way to your fifth top 10 this season.
“We had a great car at Texas, and that’s been the case all year. The No. 9 Budweiser Dodge was up near the front most of the race at Texas. We definitely had a top-10 car, but we ended up with some bad luck that couldn’t have been avoided. It’s disappointing, but you can’t change the results. We have to continue to work to eliminate obstacles that keep us from good finishes.”
You lost a few positions in the championship standings after Texas, how do you keep the momentum going?
“Just personally I need to do the best I can, regardless. If the car is capable of finishing 30th, I need to finish 30th. If it can run 20th, I need to finish 20th. That's all I can do. You get an attitude of -- at least I've had an attitude that I think I can win all the time. I think that's the only thing. If I don't win, I'm mad, there's something wrong. When you get to the level we're at now, it's so easy not to win races because there are so many great teams and great drivers and crew chiefs and owners and sponsors, I mean, there's so much going on. The reason that each driver is racing in the Sprint Cup Series is because they've won tons of races in other series.”
