Kasey Kahne and team director Kenny Francis sat on the podium to answer questions after a dominant performance to win the Pocono 500 on Sunday and promptly were asked whether they doubted themselves and their Gillett Evernham Motorsports team before winning the All-Star race less than a month ago. Apparently not, and Francis backed it up with a rundown of how well they had done this season up until that point. There’s certainly no reason to doubt themselves after two points wins in three weeks — three wins in four counting the cash-only All-Star race — have propelled Kahne from 14th and outside the Chase cutoff up to ninth.
Kasey Kahne didn’t need the popular vote to get him into Victory Lane at Lowe’s Motor Speedway for the second time in eight days. Kahne, who won last week’s All-Star race at LMS after being voted by fans into the main event, took advantage of Tony Stewart’s misfortune with three laps remaining to capture Sunday night’s Coca-Cola 600. The victory snapped a 52-race losing streak for the 28-year-old, whose last points win was here in the 2006 fall race.
Kyle Busch felt like he gave one away Saturday night, and Carl Edwards was already stewing on how he would spend the winner’s $1 million purse. Greg Biffle was poised for a Sunday stroll to Victory Lane. But when the checkers flew over the Sprint All-Star Challenge at Lowe’s Motor Speedway, the guy who had planned to watch the race from his couch with a few cold beers was standing in the winner’s circle, drenched in a few dozen cold beers.
See, Kasey Kahne wouldn’t even have been in the main event were it not for an online fan vote, one that propels the highest vote-getter with a still-drivable car in the qualifying Showdown into the big-money game. But there he was, starting shotgun on the 24-car field. By the end of the first 25-lap segment he’d driven to 13th position. By Lap 50 he was eighth.
At the end of the third segment he was seventh. And on the final pit stop with 25 laps remaining, crew chief Kenny Francis opted for fuel only, giving Kahne crucial track position that ultimately resulted in victory, making Kahne the third driver in the event’s 24-year history to win after transitioning from the qualifying race, the first to do it via the fan vote.
