Unique Whips • 6:00pm
tom_jensen's avatar
Author:
Rate this article:
  • 0/5 Stars
SPEEDtv.com Store
IndyCar Vintage White Logo Tee
100% washed cotton. Features Indy wings and wheel logo printed with special distressed look. Cool vintage tees!
Our Price: $22.00 ($19.80 Member)
Visit Button
Buy Button
Ferrari Red Classic Hat
Ferrari racing shield embroidered on front and Ferrari branding on back adjuster strap with shield embossed metal closure.
Our Price: $29.00 ($26.10 Member)
Visit Button
Buy Button
Formula 1 2009 Calendar
Every month is accompanied by a superb action shot from the 2008 season, with essential information about the sport.
Our Price: $16.95 ($15.26 Member)
Visit Button
Buy Button
CUP: Big Night For Kahne
Written by: Tom Jensen   
Charlotte, N.C.
 
Kasey Kahne celebrates with crew members in victory lane after winning the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race at Lowe's Motor Speedway. (John Harrelson/Getty Images Photo) ยป More Photos

Kasey Kahne had a million reasons to smile on Saturday night and two things to be grateful for: an adoring fan base and the clean air blowing across the nose of his Gillett Evernham Motorsports Dodge Charger at Lowe’s Motor Speedway.

Kahne won $1,012,975 by capturing the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race XXIV at the venerable 1.5-mile North Carolina race track. Kahne, who hasn’t won a Sprint Cup points race since 2006 and finished fifth in Saturday night’s last-chance Sprint Showdown race, made it into the big dance by winning the Sprint fan vote, making him the 24th and final car in the field. He thus became the only driver to win the race after winning the fan vote.

And he came
from last to first, in part by his driving, but largely because of a critical gamble: Between the third and fourth 25-lap segments of the All-Star race Kahne and crew chief Kenny Francis opted not to take tires, as most of the leaders did.

That put Kahne in second place for the start of the final segment, and when leader Denny Hamlin lost the motor in his Joe Gibbs Toyota on Lap 84, Kahne took the lead. And once in the lead, the brick-like aerodynamics of NASCAR’s new-design race car made it impossible for the faster Ford of Greg Biffle to get by him. Biffle closed on several occasions, getting up to Kahne’s bumper, but he could never get around him and had to settle for second place.

Page 1 of 2
1 2 >
View All Comments