Kahne builds confidence with two solid runs
DETROIT – Dodge driver Kasey Kahne, whose 2005 season didn’t go as well as hoped, is off to a good start this season.
Kahne finished fourth at Fontana, Calif., on Sunday after an 11th-place effort in the Daytona 500 on Feb. 19. He is fourth in series points behind Chevrolet’s Jimmie Johnson.
Last year, Kahne finished 23rd in Nextel Cup standings. Although he earned his first career victory at Richmond, he missed the Chase for the Championship, got involved in a bunch of wrecks and upset several NASCAR veterans.
So far, Kahne, 26, has kept the No. 9 Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge on track and out of trouble. The Evernham Motorsports driver is pleased, especially with Sunday’s finish in the Auto Club 500.
“That’s the best we’ve run in a while for a complete race, counting the last half of last year,” Kahne said. “I feel pretty good about it. We had great pit stops, and the engine ran awesome.”
In his 2004 rookie season, Kahne captured four Cup poles and had 13 top-five finishes, for 13th in series points. He missed the Chase by only 28 points and seemed a good bet to make it in his sophomore year. But accidents, a questionable car and perhaps overdriving held him back.
Before Daytona, Dodge Motorsports boss John Fernandez predicted Kahne would have a strong season. Kahne, who comes from an open-wheel background, including USAC Midgets and Silver Crown, is going about his business with conviction this year.
“We had a good finish Sunday,” Kahne said. “We’ll take it and go on to Las Vegas. We have more work to do with the Dodge Charger. We’ll work on some more things on the car and try to make it more comfortable to drive.”
Kahne, whose fourth place in series points ties his career-best position in Cup standings, will head to Vegas for the UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400 on March 12 with renewed confidence.
“I wish we could have won (at California), but we had a top five and that’s pretty good right now,” he said.
Briscoe bounces back
Former IRL driver Ryan Briscoe will compete for General Motors in at least two V8 Supercar races in Australia this season. Briscoe, 24, drove for Target Chip Ganassi Racing in 2005 until he was seriously hurt at Chicagoland in September. Dan Wheldon, last year’s IRL champion and Indy 500 winner, has replaced Briscoe at Ganassi.
Briscoe, who spent eight weeks recuperating in Italy from his injuries, is testing for a seat with Champ Car team PKV Racing. Briscoe has, however, been signed to drive Down Under in the Sandown 500 and Bathurst 1000 for the Holden Racing Team. Briscoe, who was raised in Sydney, Australia, is a former Formula One test driver for Toyota Racing. The IRL starts its season March 26 at Homestead-Miami Speedway, while Champ Car kicks off April 9 at Long Beach, Calif.
Still no home for Hall
The race for the rights to NASCAR’s Hall of Fame is in its closing laps, and chairman Brian France insists that three cities are still in contention. In reality, the stock car racing shrine is Charlotte’s to lose.
France will never come right out and say that, though. NASCAR’s top boss instead continues to count Atlanta and Daytona Beach, Fla., among the legitimate contenders.
But for either city to actually win the rights, Charlotte would need to veer sharply off track.
Several NASCAR sources told The Associated Press that the Queen City is the leading contender to land the Hall. The sources, all of whom have firsthand knowledge of the negotiations, asked to remain anonymous because details were still being worked out.