With Kasey Kahne 11th in the points and with two races remaining before The Chase, Kahne's goal was to win the SONY HD 500 NASCAR Nextel cup race at California Speedway. He also had to hope that one of the top ten had a bad race. That didn't quite happen but he's getting closer. Also, California is a track that usually has long green flag runs so fuel mileage can be a factor in the race. Kurt Busch won another pole.
It was obvious that Kasey Kahne-#9 UAW Dodge Dealers Dodge had the fastest car. He led most of the first part of the race with a few others taking turns. But on a pit stop during a lap 155 debris caution, Kahne is penalized for speeding on pit road and has to go to the back. Jeff Gordon-#24 Dupont Chevy leads on lap 166. A David Gilliland-#38 Pedigree Dog Food Ford spin brings out a caution on lap 173. Everyone pits but Kahne & Dale Earnhardt Jr-#8 Budweiser Chevy take two tires to get up front. Jeff Gordon has loose lug nuts so has to pit again and drops to 25th.
There's a debris caution on lap 193. Everyone pits but some guys top off the fuel just before the green. Everyone else will have to pit for fuel but some guys will try to go without pitting. Kasey Kahne leads on lap 206. By lap 240, everyone pits except the three guys who topped off, Reed Sorenson-#41 Target Dodge, JJ Yeley-#18 Imitrex Chevy & Clint Bowyer-#07 Jack Daniels Chevy. Sorenson leads and the rookie can get his first Nextel Cup win if he has enough fuel. Kahne moves up to third. Yeley runs out of fuel on lap 247 and finishes 20th. Then Sorenson runs out of fuel on lap 248 and finishes 19th. It worked out for Bowyer and he finishes 3rd. Kasey Kahne gets the lead and wins the race.
Congratulations to Kasey Kahne, crew chief Kenny Francis and car owner Ray Evernham for the win. Kahne is still 11th in the points but is now 30 points behind Jeff Burton. Next week in Richmond should be wild. Big top twen finishes for Clint Bowyer and Dale Jarrett, who has run poorly all year. Also, Kyle Petty finished 35th and dropped to 36th in owner points. He'll have to qualify on time next week. Matt Kenseth finished 7th and passed Jimmie Johnson for the points lead. But both are locked in so it doesn't matter. Here's the top ten of the race.
#/Driver/Sponsor/Make/Owner
1.9/Kasey Kahne/UAW-Dodge Dealers/Dodge/Ray Evernham
2.8/Dale Earnhardt Jr./Budweiser/Chevy/Dale Earnhardt Inc.
3.07/Clint Bowyer/Jack Daniels/Chevy/Richard Childress
4.99/Carl Edwards/Office Depot/Ford/Jack Roush
5.24/Jeff Gordon/Dupont/Chevy/Rick Hendrick
6.11/Denny Hamlin/FedEx/Chevy/Joe Gibbs
7.17/Matt Kenseth/DeWalt Tools/Ford/Jack Roush
8.5/Kyle Busch/Kellogg's/Chevy/Rick Hendrick
9.20/Tony Stewart/Home Depot/Chevy/Joe Gibbs
10.88/Dale Jarrett/UPS/Ford/Robert Yates
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