PRN Radio said it best following Sunday night's Coca-Cola 600 at Lowe's Motor Speedway:
Kasey Kahne has taken a lot of money from Greg Biffle.
Kahne scored his second consecutive victory in the Sprint Cup Series in the 600 to add to his Sprint Cup All-Star Race win from a week ago -- both of which came over 2nd-place Greg Biffle. Kyle Busch was third, Jeff Gordon fourth, and Dale Earnhardt Jr. fifth.
It was a crazy night here in Concord and the race provided what we expect from 600 miles on Memorial Day weekend. What we expect, of course, is the unexpected.
Kahne was easily one of the fastest race cars all night long, but he and his team managed to pull out the win despite the event ending as a fuel mileage event after the the yellow flag didn't wave for the final 62 laps.
Kahne hit pit road on lap 384 for a splash of fuel as a few drivers -- Jeff Gordon, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Carl Edwards, and others -- stayed on track and conserved fuel. The No. 9 Dodge, though, was quite fast and combined with the fact that those drivers were saving fuel for much of the final 62 laps allowed Kahne to catch them despite the stop and drive past them.
Tony Stewart, though, seemed to have the upper hand late in the race as he had a full straightaway lead on Kahne after a quicker stop. That lead and the 600 win went up in smoke after Stewart blew a tire in Turn 2 with 3 laps left, forcing Stewart to pit road, and handing Kahne the win.
Much of the first part of the race was a green flag sprint with the first caution for Robby Gordon brushing the wall on lap 61 and the next on lap 161 when Kurt Busch slapped the wall after blowing a tire.
Many drivers looked quite strong for different parts of the race, but ultimately came up snake-bit while racing in the lead or near the front. Stewart had the tire issue, Busch had one, Earnhardt Jr. led a bunch of laps until cutting a right rear tire while in the lead, and Brian Vickers slapped the wall after losing a wheel in Turn 1 while having his strongest race of the season.
Stay tuned to the FanHouse for plenty more coverage Live From Lowes.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
5-26-2008 @ 12:28AM
Peaches said...
Congradulations to Kasey Khane And his team...
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5-26-2008 @ 1:22AM
Don Emerson said...
Nice to Kasey make a comeback, he's been long overdue. Works for me....
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5-26-2008 @ 8:19AM
CparkDan said...
Nice win Kasey
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5-26-2008 @ 9:35AM
Rusty@therustygourmet.com said...
Congratulations to Kasey.
Can we expect to hear more Goodyear bashing from Stewart?
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5-27-2008 @ 4:23PM
ruth ebert said...
great job my kids drove ten hours to charllotte hopeing he would win your the man kasey keep on winning congratulations it was overwelming
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5-26-2008 @ 12:23PM
ron said...
Goodyear bashing for sure!!!! Tony is a ball baby!! Good job Kasey.......
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5-26-2008 @ 7:40PM
Mike said...
I hope Art saw Kasey win in that Japmobile he drives. Exactly how many Toyoyos were there in the top 5 with all that HP advantage?
MBL
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5-26-2008 @ 7:54PM
Bernie said...
Very nice win Kasey! He logs two wins in the weekend, he moves into the top 12 Kasey Kahne, your in the chase Kasey, keep getting after it, make the win count.
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5-26-2008 @ 9:14PM
Kim said...
Yup, congratulations to Kasey indeed. He ran a good clean race. I did feel bad for Stewart though. He was stuggling all day & then when the sun went down, definitely had the car to beat. It was a shame to watch him cut a tire with just a couple laps left.
But you guys are right, I wonder if the tire "complaining" will start again.
And what the heck???? Jimmie was one of the dominant cars the entire race and a Hendrick motor breaks a cylynder with less than 50 laps to go? I was baffled! Lowes is Jimmie's track! As a huge fan of his, I was bummed to say the least. :-(
Kim
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5-27-2008 @ 8:48AM
gerald said...
Mike, Kasey does not drive a japmobile. He drives a DODGE. And there was one japmobile in the top 5. Congrats to Kasey!! It has been a long time coming for him. I hope he can get DODGE back in the 10 points for the season.
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5-27-2008 @ 9:28AM
Kim said...
Gerald,
It's a long standing joke. You had to be there. You see, Art believes that NASCAR is rigged and continues to say that Toyotas have an advantage and "win every race." Mike's teasing Art since it was a Dodge that won the race. :-)
Kim
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5-27-2008 @ 9:42AM
gerald said...
Thanks Kim for letting me know that :)
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5-27-2008 @ 12:30PM
Mike said...
Yes, it was ONE Toyota in the top five and as usual it was Kyle Busch. Take Kyle Busch out of the numbers and there is no Toyota advantage Art. This leads me to believe that everything is just meshing good for Kyle right now.
The COT is a loose car. Kyle is not affraid to keep on the gas as the car is going out from under him at the end of the turn. It works for him.
Art, you remind me of the guy in the movie Gremlins that drove the snow plow. It destroyed him when he found out his AMERICAN made snow plow had Japanese parts in it. You do have a computer, a cell phone, a camera, don't you? Guess what buddy, good chance they are from some place in Asia. Or at least many of the parts are.
Your incessant bashing of Toyota has gotten very old. I have never been one to tell other posters on here to not contribute but it would be nice if you were going to take the time to post, you actually would have something interesting to post for a change. If you actually have some REAL evidence that Toyota has a significant HP advantage, or that NASCAR knows about it and is complicit in that knowledge, please post the source so that we may all be empowered with the knowledge. I personally like apples. Give me the apple. I want to take a bite and open my eyes. I have often said "ignorance is bliss and I know some of the happiest people on earth". Well I do not want to be one of the "happy people", Art. I want to be one of the enlightened ones. Please help me and every one else understand and bathe in the light of the knowledge you have.
Just so there is no confusion here Art I will spell it out. Either show us all your facts on the issue or please shut up and give it a rest.
MBL
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5-27-2008 @ 12:57PM
drgrcr601 said...
Well you said what many wanted to say Mike. I never considered art's posts worthy of a response but if I did, I might have said something very similar.
Ron
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5-27-2008 @ 1:24PM
Kim said...
I second that motion, Mike. :-)
Kim
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5-27-2008 @ 2:41PM
Bernie said...
Here, here...Me too Mike, well said.
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5-28-2008 @ 12:00PM
jerrythompson said...
Way to go Kasey. Great to see Tony and the other yotos how it feels to have bad luck like you did last year, and then you pick up their slack. Good luck kid and keep on smoking.
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5-27-2008 @ 6:18PM
RacinJason said...
Congratulations to KK for a second consecutive win although Kyle Busch was AWESOME as always! Kyle was awesome last year in a HMS Chevy. He's awesome this year in a JGR Toyota. Maybe the driver brings the advantage to the race car instead of the other way around, Art. Waldrip's team doesn't seem to enjoy that Toyota advantage that you're so hung up on as much as the JGR guys do. Those guys would probably be equally as awesome in a horse drawn buggy. It's called talent, Art...not advantage!
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5-27-2008 @ 7:22PM
Raine said...
Kasey Kahne should be greatful for the win.He did a fine job all day along with a number of other drivers.But, the fact is he stole it from Tony Stewart who had him beat by six seconds were it not for rotten luck two years in a row and a flat tire.
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5-27-2008 @ 9:25PM
Kari said...
Riiiiiiiight, just like Jeff Burton "stole" the win at Bristol and Clint Bowyer "stole" the win at Richmond. The fact is Tony ran too long on his tires and pushed his luck. If his car was so good, Zippy should sacrificed a bit of track position and taken the time to give him right front tires on the same pit stop as Kasey took them. Sometimes the guy who takes the checkered flag is the one whose team makes smart calls and puts him in position to win. That's racin.
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