Kasey Kahne, No. 9 Budweiser Dodge Charger
Aaron’s 499 at Talladega Superspeedway
Budweiser Racing Team Notes of Interest
This weekend’s Aaron’s 499 marks Kasey Kahne’s ninth career NASCAR Sprint Cup Series start at Talladega Superspeedway.
In eight starts at Talladega, Kahne has accumulated one top-five and one top-10 finish.
Kahne has an average start of 25th and an average finish of 20th at Talladega.
Kahne led seven laps and finished second in the 2006 fall race at Talladega.
Kahne is currently 11th in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver point standings, 286 points behind the championship leader.
Kahne will be available for interviews with motorsports media members at Talladega this Friday, April 25th at approximately 12:40 pm. He will be in front of the No. 9 Budweiser transporter.
Kasey Kahne Discusses Racing at Talladega
Describe racing at Talladega.
“I like racing at Talladega, but I hate wrecking there. It’s so easy to get caught up in somebody else’s mess, but that’s part of racing at Talladega. If you’re not in one of the wrecks, it’s fun running that close together for 500 miles. It’s a hectic, but exciting day. Anytime we go to Talladega I know it’s going to be a wild race. There are some things that are out of my control, but I have to make sure that I take care of what I can and get the Budweiser Dodge to the finish, hopefully with a chance to win.”
You had a great run in Daytona, finishing seventh. Does that give you more confidence going into Talladega?
“We had a great car in Daytona. I think we ran in the top 10 almost all day. Everyone at Gillett Evernham Motorsports has worked really hard to get our restrictor-plate program where it needs to be and I don’t see this weekend being any exception.”
Who has come on board to help Kenny (Francis) with the COT this year?
“You just need a lot of people. These cars are so sensitive on the front end. Kenny (Francis) is doing a great job. I think everybody at Gillett Evernham – including Mark McArdle – has done a good job. We’re still working on it. We’re just behind a little bit. We’ve been consistent. This Budweiser Team has been close to the top 10 – close to the top 15 the majority of the races. We would’ve been in the top 10 in Phoenix if we didn’t have an issue with the brakes. As a company, we’re not strong enough yet. You can tell that by looking at all the cars and teams and how we fluctuate throughout practice and the race. We just need to keep working I guess.”
