Sadler Involved In Pit Road Incident Early; Kahne Runs Out Of Fuel In Closing Laps

10/01/2006

KANSAS CITY, Kan. (Sunday, Oct. 1) – Evernham Motorsports entered Sunday’s Banquet 400 at Kansas Speedway with high expectations. The Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge Chargers of Kasey Kahne and Elliott Sadler were fast in practice, qualified well and appeared ready to challenge for the win or, at least, top-five finishes in the 400-mile event.

Kahne’s No. 9 Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge Charger just happened to be chassis 128, a five-time winner this season. Sadler’s No. 19 Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge Charger picked up speed during the practice sessions and was one of the quickest racecars on the track in Saturday’s final practice session.

Expectations were high as the green flag waved. Unfortunately, misfortune would rule the day. Sadler was involved in an incident on pit road early in the race and was forced to the garage for repairs. Kahne ran in the top 10 throughout the race only to come up short on fuel at the end.

Kahne claimed his fifth Bud Pole of the season with a time of 30.273 seconds at 178.377 mph. Kahne and Kurt Busch are tied for the series lead with five each. Kahne also started from the pole at the NASCAR NEXTEL All-Star Challenge.

Kahne led early, ran in the top five throughout the first half of the race and was eighth when the 10th and final caution appeared on lap 196. All the leaders headed to pit road for tires and fuel. Some teams were ready to gamble and go the final 105 miles without another stop for fuel. Others would play it more cautiously and make a quick stop for a splash of fuel in the closing laps.

The strategy for the No. 9 team called for Kahne to conserve fuel where he could and make it to the end without a stop. Kahne restarted eighth and was riding along in fifth with seven laps to go. There was no pressure from behind for the fifth spot, but a fuel pressure problem was ready to emerge. Kahne lost power on lap 263. He was out of fuel.

He coasted down the backstretch and through the turn to the entrance to pit road before putting his racecar in gear in an effort to restart it. The car didn’t restart and the process sent Kahne’s racecar into a spin. He managed to get the No. 9 car onto pit road, but all momentum was gone. To the rescue came the No. 19 crew from their pit area near the entrance to pit road. They pushed Kahne’s racecar down pit road where it was met by the No. 10 crew of Scott Riggs which took over the task and delivered it to the No. 9 pit stall.

Kahne got enough fuel to make it the rest of the way, but the price for the stop was heavy. Kahne finished three laps down in 33rd.

“We started off good,” said Kahne. “The car felt really good, but it just kind of gave up on long runs. It got real tight. I think the track changed a ton. We just weren’t quite good enough late in the race. We were probably a seventh-12th-place car at the end, but we just missed it on fuel. There are a lot of places we have good fuel mileage. Some cars made it today. We didn’t.

“We were definitely on the conservative side, so I don’t know what happened. They were telling me to conserve, and I was conserving the whole run from start to finish. We thought we were going to have a real good day, and then an OK day. It didn’t turn out that way. That’s the way it goes.”

Kahne is 10th in the Chase for the Championship standings, 150 points out of seventh.

Sadler qualified ninth in the No. 19 Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge Charger with a time of 30.658 seconds at 176.137 mph, his third top-10 start in the Evernham Motorsports entry. He was running seventh when the first caution appeared on lap 11. Sadler headed to pit road with the rest of the leaders. Josh Browne (team director) called for a two-tire stop in an effort to move even closer to the front.

The strategy didn’t get a chance to materialize. As Sadler pulled away from his pit, another car making a stop three stalls in front of the No. 19 angled toward that pit. The two made contact. The nose of the No. 19 received extensive damage.

It took 30 laps for the No. 19 team to make the repairs to the front end. The team repaired the car, but not the air ducts that supply air to cool the driver and the seat in the racecar. Heat inside the car and the seat over the final 50 laps proved to be a challenge for Sadler.

When he had gained all the positions possible with just over 30 laps to go, Sadler and Browne discussed the possibility of parking the car. The decision to stop and take a DNF (Did Not Finish) was left up to Sadler. Despite receiving blisters on his feet and backside from the intense heat, Sadler stayed on the track and took the checkered flag. He didn’t gain a position, but his decision kept the No. 19 crew in the pit area and available to assist Kahne when he ran out of fuel. Sadler finished 40th.

“I’ve never fallen out of the seat a day in my life and that’s eight years of racing,” said Sadler. I didn’t want today to be the first one. As bad as I was hurting, I couldn’t quit. I’m blistered up pretty bad on my feet and my backside. Pride has a lot to do with it. My guys worked too hard for me to quit.

“It’s great my guys could help our teammate Kasey. That’s part of the reason I stayed out there, in case he ran out on the racetrack. I couldn’t help, but they were able to contribute.

“We had a top-10 racecar, but we didn’t get a chance to show just how good our Dodge Charger was. The crew did a good job making repairs. Evernham Motorsports came to Kansas with three good racecars, but we didn’t get the results. I guess it just wasn’t our day.”
Sadler is 19th in the series point standings and the No. 19 Dodge Charger is 32nd in the owner point standings.

Ugh, poor guy. Hope he feels better soon.

Damn, what a trooper Elliot is.

ouch...

Poor Elliott. How awful for him.

Ouch! Poor Elliott, hope he's doing better.

Aw, Elliott. I'm slightly annoyed with NBC for not mentioning any of that.

Also, that, my friends, is why I'm happy that Elliott is at EMS. What a good guy. What a great teammate.

Aww,poor Elliot! I hope he feels better soon. What a great teammate, though. Sounds like he and Kasey get along great. Poor Elliot, makes ya like him all the more!

Poor Elliott! That had to hurt like a bitch I'm sure.

All the more reason I love having him at EMS, he never gives up, even when he is in pain.

Wow, I can only imagine how much he must have been hurting. He is such a trooper for continuing on like that. Hope he is all right and that the blisters heal quickly.

Ouch! Glad he's okay.. and hope he feels better soon.

Yeouch. Poor ESad. I wonder if there was something wrong with his seat or something.. I mean... it was 90-94 degrees, but it wasn't THAT hot. They've raced in much hotter this year. That's weird.

Hope he feels better soon

Ouch.

Hope he feels better soon.

I hope Elliott gets better soon! :)

thats what i was thinking. can't imagine what they feel like after those even hotter days.

props to e sad for staying in it.

Ouch!!!!!!!!!! I hope he gets better real soon!!!!!!!

Ouch! Hope he feels better soon!

And a HUGE BOO to NBC for not mentioning that at all!! :nono

I love ESad.....

I hope he feels better and heals up soon!

He is gonna be an awesome dang teammate.........next year I think all our boys are gonna be battling for the Chase and the Championship!