Kasey Kahne roared back into victory lane at Atlanta on Sunday evening. More importantly he bounced back into contention for NASCAR’s Chase to the Sprint Cup beating Kevin Harvick in an 11-lap shootout.
Kahne’s Dodge was the car on the short runs, Harvick’s Chevrolet was the car for the long runs. Ironically, it was Harvick’s teammate’s (Clint Bowyer) spin
on lap 310 which brought out a caution setting up the final laps.
“I knew Harvick and Montoya (who finished third) were going to be tough. I hadn’t gotten through the gears all night and Reutimann (fourth) gave me a push on the front stretch and got me going.
Kahne, who moved up five spots to sixth in the standings, explained “to win on a night like tonight when the Chase and everything has been so tight for the last two months, you know, this team just stepped up.”
Harvick, who hadn’t won since the 2007 Daytona 500, had taken the lead from Montoya with around 50 laps to go and had built up a considerable lead when that final caution came out.
“I knew we were in trouble there at the end because it took our car 15 or 20 laps to get going. But, hey, that's a long ways from where we've been. We led a bunch of laps tonight, something we haven't been able to do in a while,” he said.
Kyle Busch, who led early, struggled with handling problems, finished 13th and now stands 14th, 37 points behind Matt Kenseth, who is the last driver, 12th in the standings, under playoff rules.
Brian Vickers, who finished seventh, is only 20 points out behind Kenseth as the series heads to Richmond on Saturday night for the final race in the “Race to the Chase.”
Kahne’s Dodge was the car on the short runs, Harvick’s Chevrolet was the car for the long runs. Ironically, it was Harvick’s teammate’s (Clint Bowyer) spin
on lap 310 which brought out a caution setting up the final laps.
“I knew Harvick and Montoya (who finished third) were going to be tough. I hadn’t gotten through the gears all night and Reutimann (fourth) gave me a push on the front stretch and got me going.
Kahne, who moved up five spots to sixth in the standings, explained “to win on a night like tonight when the Chase and everything has been so tight for the last two months, you know, this team just stepped up.”
Harvick, who hadn’t won since the 2007 Daytona 500, had taken the lead from Montoya with around 50 laps to go and had built up a considerable lead when that final caution came out.
“I knew we were in trouble there at the end because it took our car 15 or 20 laps to get going. But, hey, that's a long ways from where we've been. We led a bunch of laps tonight, something we haven't been able to do in a while,” he said.
Kyle Busch, who led early, struggled with handling problems, finished 13th and now stands 14th, 37 points behind Matt Kenseth, who is the last driver, 12th in the standings, under playoff rules.
Brian Vickers, who finished seventh, is only 20 points out behind Kenseth as the series heads to Richmond on Saturday night for the final race in the “Race to the Chase.”