Kahne Sweeps California
The competition knew that Kasey Kahne would be tough to beat going into California. He had always run well there and he needed a good finish for his team to have a chance to make the Chase for the Nextel Cup. They probably didn’t expect him to sweep the weekend though.
Maybe the only thing more spectacular then Kahne sweeping the weekend is how he did it. Both wins came in the final laps of the race as he watched his competition run out of fuel.
Kahne won the Busch race Saturday night after a fierce final lap battle with Paul Menard.
Menard and Kahne traded the lead several times in the final 10 laps of the 150 lap event but in the end Menard did not have enough fuel to make it to the finish. He ran out gas on the final lap of the race and that was all Kahne needed to secure his late night California victory.
The finish was eerily similar Sunday night in the Sony HD 500 at Fontana. Kahne had to battle a pit road speeding penalty half way through Sunday’s race which dropped him to 24th. After battling back to the front it was apparent that Kahne would not have enough fuel to make it to the finish. On lap 238 Kahne came to pit road for a splash of fuel surrendering the lead to Reed Sorenson.
When Kahne exited the pits he found himself in fifth place, 14 seconds behind the leader Sorenson. Kahne cut the lead to just 7 seconds by lap 247 but without a little luck he would be unable to catch Sorenson. Cue the luck. Just as Sorenson began lap 249 his car began to sputter and that was it. He was out of fuel and Kahne would run uncontested in the final lap to the victory.
The win was the sixth of Kahne’s young career. The victory also cut Kahne’s Nextel Cup points deficit from 90 points going in to Sunday’s race to just 30 points heading to Richmond where Kahne has also run well in the past.
by Michael Cash – thespread.com – Email Us
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