NASCAR : Kasey Kahne holds off Kenseth to win Atlanta shootout Kasey Kahnes downer year received a vital boost when he overcame his struggles with restarts with an enormous power move when he needed it the foremost. Kahne charged past Matt Kenseth and Denny Hamlin inside a two-lap shootout to succeed the NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Atlanta Motor Speedway on Sunday night. Kahnes first win in the season earned him a spot inside the Chase to the Sprint Cup. I have a problem with restarts plenty that is certainly big, Kahne said. That is perhaps one of the things you need to be good at. It worked really well tonight. Meanwhile, Tony Stewarts much-anticipated come back to racing ended a tad bit more than halfway with the race. Stewart hit the wall for the next time after his right front tire blew on Lap 172, ending his night having a 41st-place finish. Kahne took his third career win in Atlanta and his first win in the season. We have had type of a downer year sometimes, Kahne said. Kenseth, who finished second, also qualified to the Chase on points. He began the next restart in first place, but couldnt stop the charge from Kahne. Id been in a position to get alongside him and obtain a good run through back stretch, Kenseth said. ... I got returning to the gas when I can. I simply did not have enough muscle to clear him. Hamlin was third, followed by Jimmie Johnson, Carl Edwards and Danica Patrick. It was actually Stewarts first race because the sprint car he was driving struck and killed 20-year-old Kevin Ward Jr. inside an Aug. 9 race with a dirt track in upstate New York. The fatal wreck remains under investigation. With only two laps remaining and Kahne holding a solid lead over Kevin Harvick, Martin Truex Jr. and Kyle Busch collided, forcing a caution flag and also the first shootout. Harvick, who led 195 laps, had connection with Joey Logano in heavy traffic striking the wall upon the restart, bringing another caution flag and also a second shootout. Kahne, who had four fresh tires, started behind Kenseth and Hamlin on a final restart. I felt better relating to the first restart because the skin lane was really slick and I hardly spun the tires, Kenseth said. I felt really good about this. The next one I did not feel nearly as good about. (Kahne) was behind me. That Theyd most speed. They drove right up between me and Denny. Harvick, who also won the Nationwide Series race on Saturday night, started coming from the pole and led the very first 80 laps, but was denied his attempt for any weekend sweep. Logano, who won last week at Bristol, finished 14th. Stewarts problems started when he went directly into wall earlier inside the race participating in a collision with Kyle Busch. Kenseth began the night fifth inside the points race, but wasnt yet locked directly into Chase because he no wins. Kenseth were required to finish seventh or far better to secure his place inside the playoffs. After leading a final 159 laps of his dominant Nationwide series win on Saturday night, Harvick resumed his mastery in the Atlanta Motor Speedway track. Starting from his series-leading sixth pole in the season, Harvick led the very first 80 laps, giving him a combined 239 consecutive laps led in the track over two races. Hamlin passed Harvick to the lead after Jeff Gordon, who were second, blew a tire and slid directly into wall on turn 3 upon the 78th lap, forcing a yellow flag. Stewart started 12th and opened strong, moving as much as sixth to begin with five laps. Driving high upon the track, three-wide sometimes, he made two more passes to go fourth many laps later. He fell returning to 12th before his first big setback. Busch, setting about to go the highest in the track, cut in front of Stewart, forcing Stewart directly into wall. After two visits to pit row for repairs, Stewart did not last long. Only 50 laps later, he hit the wall on turn 2 after his right front tire blew. Now he drove his more heavily damaged car in the garage, and his race was over. Brad Keselowski was fourth each time a collision with Josh Wise ended his night with 28 laps remaining. Ty Dillon, making his Sprint Cup debut, finished 25th. Harvick experienced a scare early inside the race when a little animal ran through the track in front of his car. He told his crew a cat ran through the track, but later it was actually discovered to become a squirrel, that has been found hiding near turn 3. youtube/watch?v=6d4eFElsKjo
Posted on: Tue, 02 Sep 2014 11:11:49 +0000
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