Kahne Victorious At Charlotte Again

Sunday’s motorsport bonanza ended with the Coke 600 from Charlotte.

NASCAR prepared for its toughest test. The race started in daytime before transforming as the sun went down before finishing under the lights. As if that wasn’t challenging enough, drivers had to contend with an extra one hundred miles.

The race was a test of how a team could adapt to the changing conditions. Some faired well and ran good all night while others waited for their time to pounce. One such person was Tony Stewart. The #20 struggled to keep on the lead lap early on. But as the night wore on the orange Toyota powered it’s way to the front. His chance of a first victory at Charlotte went up in smoke with a tire blow late into the race.
One more his team-mate Kyle Busch was the man at the front. However the #18 team was beset with issues. It is something the team will have to deal with if they intend to win the Chase. Any lesser driver wouldn’t have pulled off the sterling finishes the Las Vegas native has. Dale Earnhardt Junior was top dog at Hendricks. His own chances of victory suffered when he hit the wall and was rear-ended by JJ Yeley. Despite this he still game home with a top-five along with team-mate Jeff Gordon. Both men got good fuel mileage from their Chevy’s to limit the damage of their misfortunes.

All this allowed All-Star winner Kasey Kahne to pick up his second win in two weeks. As the old saying goes, when it rains, it pours. Kahne snapped a long-running winless streak last week and the confidence it has instilled in the GEM Dodge team is showing. Kahne is showing signs that he could recapture is 2006 form. Time will tell, but the team is off to an excellent start. The result seems him sneak into the top-12, ahead of the ever impressive David Ragan in the #6 Roush Ford. Ragan, who endured a crash-fest rookie year, is proving that Jack Roush was right to back him for a second year. Seeing the #6 running back at the front brings back memories of what Mark Martin did with the car.

The NASCAR circuit heads to Dover this weekend. A return to day-time racing is a welcome change with the time zone difference! It will also be the last race broadcast by Fox. I’ve grown to enjoy the Fox team commentating and will be interesting to see how it is handled from here on out. I think Darrell Waltrip will be missed most of all.

So we’ll have to tighten those belts one more time at Dover!