Five can thrive

Kahne’s the man to beat

Yeah! :ohyea I can't wait for tomorrow. Too bad My sister's baby shower is tomorrow around the time of the race, so it looks like I'll be taping it and watching it later that night. But I hope he wins!! I love Atlanta!! :drive Go Kasey! :clap

Dodge Friday Quotes

Bass Pro Shops 500 - Dodge Friday Quotes



KASEY KAHNE (No. 9 Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge Charger)

NOTE: Kahne leads the circuit with six victories in 2006 and ranks second with five poles. Entering the Final Four, Kahne is seeded eighth in the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Standings, 99 points behind leader Matt Kenseth. He’s finished second, first and seventh in the past three races and has gained 174 points on the leader in those three events. He’s scored more points than any other driver in the past three week, and he won earlier this season at AMS. In five starts at the 1.54-mile track, Kahne has finished out of the top five only once.

“I’m really excited to be back at Atlanta. We’ve got the same car we won the first race with here this season. This place is always a blast to come to. It’s one of the funnest places every time we do. I don’t know if we’ll be able to qualify tonight. It’s not looking good for that, but we’ll definitely get some practice in tomorrow and be ready for Sunday’s race.”

DESCRIBE THE PRESSURE YOU’RE FEELING RIGHT NOW “I still feel pretty good. I feel like there’s definitely a lot of pressure out there. You want to win the Nextel Cup. You want to finish in the top five. We’ve had a great season up to this point, and we’ve really had some good races in the last three races. I feel good about it. I had a fun week, was pretty busy, had some good nights and I’m ready to go racing and try to gain more points.”

DO YOU FEEL LIKE YOU CAN GAIN 99 POINTS ON THE LEADER IN THE NEXT FOUR RACES BY JUST RACING AND DO YOU FEEL LIKE YOU’RE ALMOST THE LEADER CONSIDERING THE 1.5-MILE TRACKS COMING UP? “I don’t really feel like that, but I feel like we have a really good shot. To come from 284 points all the way to 99 with four to go is pretty impressive for my team. Those guys have done a great job. I think we can definitely have three out of these four tracks. We ran well at Phoenix at the start of the year, too. I feel like we’ve made some improvements with that combination, similar to Richmond. We can make up a lot of ground just by racing well and running up front, leading laps and getting those bonus points. You look at Jimmie Johnson. He’s been running pretty strong, too. It’s going to be pretty exciting. It’s going to come down to Homestead and hopefully four or five of us will be going for it at Homestead. The pressure will be on at that point.”

IT’S IT SURPRISING TO YOU THAT NINE GUYS ARE WITHIN REACH OF THE LEAD RIGHT NOW? “I think it’s a good thing because everybody has had those bad races and still have a chance to win the Cup or at least run up front in the points. That’s really nice. Usually if you had a bad race, three or four did and then you’d have two or three guys that didn’t have any problems. This year it’s been different. Everybody has had their hard luck and hard races. We’ll just have to see who does the best from here on out.”

DO YOU FEEL LIKE THE RACES WILL BECOME MORE INTENSE? “Yeah, that’s just the way it’s going to be. It’s going to be exciting, but if you’re battling with Dale Jr. or Jimmie Johnson they’re going to be battling, and that’s just the way it is at this point. Everybody has got to fight for those bonus points. They’re going to be really critical – leading laps, trying to lead the most laps and then ultimately trying to win is going to be big. I watched the race yesterday (2005 Bass Pro Shops 500) and it’s going to be a hard-fought race. It should be fun, but this is a track that it’s good to be like that because you can move around the racetrack and mess around with different situations and change things up by where you run on the track.”

DO YOU THINK ATLANTA IS HARD ON ENGINES? “I think this place and Texas (are hard on engines), but I don’t know. I feel like Evernham’s engine company is doing a real good job building us great engines with great power. If something happens it’s because of a part. At this point everybody is really looking at what they’re doing with the engines and making sure they last. It’s a tough track on engines. You run a lot of rpm and you hold it a long time. Five hundred miles is a long race. This week, next week and Homestead will be races where you see engine problems. Let’s just hope it’s nobody in the top 10 or nobody at all. Let’s just race.”

DO YOU FEEL LIKE YOU HAVE AN EDGE OR COULD JIMMIE JOHNSON TAKE THE HOT STREAK AWAY FROM YOU? “He’s right there. He can definitely come in and take it away. At Charlotte we won just off having a better racecar. He started out with the lead after the final stop and I passed him and drove away. We had really similar cars, but our Dodge Charger was just better than his. That’s the way Kenny Francis does it. He gives me the best car late in the race and he’s done it plenty times this year. I’m really confident having Kenny make that final adjustment, that final call, whatever it is. I questioned it at Charlotte He did it his way and we won the race. That’s just all team director right there.”

WHY ARE YOU SO GOOD AT THE 1.5-MILE TRACKS? “I don’t know. Since I came into Busch I’ve been better on mile and a half tracks than any other tracks, but I think the Charger is much better at mile and a half tracks this year than it was in the past. Just working with Kenny Francis, he understands what I’m looking for as a driver. I really don’t know why that is. He picked it up quick. I can complain things to him, hit the track again and it’s better – right where I wanted it to be. I think the communication is huge. We really understand each other on these types of tracks and that’s what’s going to win you the race.”

COMPARE THE CHARGER YOU WON WITH AT LMS TO THE CHARGER THAT’S WON THE OTHER FIVE RACES IN 2006 “Both cars feel really similar driving them. The only thing about the one at Charlotte is the seat is a little more comfortable for me. That’s why I’ve always thought it was my favorite car. It doesn’t have the results that 128 does, but it’s won one and it’s definitely the most comfortable car I have. We’ve done well this year. That was one of my big goals, to bring cars home in one piece. I destroyed one car this year. Other than that, we’ve had some wrecks here and there. We fixed them, and it’s nice when you can do that. Actually my favorite car (chassis No. 131) has been fixed twice this year. It was in the Dover wreck and the All-Star race wreck. We’ve got 128 here this weekend with McDonald’s and 131 at Texas. If Texas goes well we’ll probably take 131 to Homestead for the finale.”



I love how he always says that he was 284 out, but he was only 273. Obviously nobody has corrected him on that. It's not that big of a difference, but still funny. Haha

Yes. YES YES YES! I love that. Love love love.

That's great :)

there was a really good one in my local newspaper... i need to see if i can post it

Title hopes dim for Kahne, Martin at Atlanta


Title hopes dim for Kahne, Martin at Atlanta
Both looked to be favorites Sunday before separate accidents
By Dave Rodman, NASCAR.COM
October 30, 2006
11:00 AM EST (16:00 GMT)




HAMPTON, Ga. -- In an instant Sunday evening at sunset, Kasey Kahne went from being a dark horse contender in the Chase for the Nextel Cup to lights-out.

And after it had completely darkened around Atlanta Motor Speedway, a little more than 60 laps later, Mark Martin joined Kahne in Chase obscurity following a restart pileup, this one involving no less than seven cars.


It was hard to say who was more frustrated: Martin, Kahne or David Stremme, who engaged Kahne in a brief, but heated verbal exchange in Kahne's garage stall.

Kahne came into the race eighth in the championship, but only 99 points behind Kenseth. He won here in the spring, but had a legitimate hope of repeating after he led Saturday's Happy Hour.

Kahne, in a classic case of role-reversal, pinched his No. 9 Dodge, which was running 10th at the time, up into the No. 40 Dodge of the rookie Stremme, heading into Turn 1 on Lap 247.

Stremme, running two laps down in the frontstretch high line, was wiped out of the race when Kahne inexplicably disregarded spotter and brother Kale's warning that Stremme was outside him -- and turned right anyway.

"My spotter told me outside, outside -- and I ran into [Stremme]," Kasey Kahne said. "I thought I had cleared him for some reason, but I totally knew he was there. I just thought I had cleared it.

"I don't know, just a brain fade. We lost a lot of points. We lost a great finish, maybe even a win for us today. These are the races you've got to step up and perform under pressure and do everything you need to do, and we didn't do that [Sunday].

Both Kahne and Stremme took their cars to the garage after the incident. Stremme got out of his car and circled it several times, observing the damage and talking to various crewmen.

He fruitlessly tried to get a drink from the team's cooler behind the No. 40 hauler, and after accepting a beverage offered by a bystander, strolled to Kahne's garage, which was on the opposite side of the building from his own.

Kahne was still in his car, with the window net up, while his crew tried to repair it. Stremme leaned on the No. 9 Dodge's windowsill and leaned down to ask Kahne what happened.

Kahne released his window net and quickly climbed out of the car, to explain to Ganassi's rookie driver that the crash was Kahne's fault. In a matter of seconds, the conversation escalated to two shouted exchanges, which were audible over the engine noise of the resumed race.

A little later, Kahne admitted he was bemused and confused by Stremme's actions, after he took full blame for the accident.

Kahne patiently fielded every question proffered by a group of about 10 reporters and TV crews, but at times appeared to almost be in a state of shock. Before he met the media and after he exited his car, Kahne laid his head on his crossed arms above the driver's window for several seconds to absorb the loss.

"I'm perfectly fine with [Stremme]," Kahne said. "I don't know what he's talking about [a dispute]. David came down and asked what happened, and I told him what happened -- I told him it was all my fault. I ran him over.

"It was completely my fault and then he went on to tell me I'd screwed up, that I'd run him over. I just told him I'd run him over, so I don't know what he was talking about. He confused me.

"I took blame for the whole wreck. It cost my team a lot of points. I screwed up. I think we had a chance to win the race. We had a really, really good [car]. That's the breaks of racing."

As painful as it was, Kahne revisited the crash; one more time so there was no mistaking its cause.

"I had passed [Stremme] off Turn 4," Kahne said. "He was out beside me. I was going down the front straightaway and my spotter said outside [but] I was looking ahead.


"I was looking at the cars I was racing with and by the time I got to the corner I had decided to go high. I thought that I had cleared him even though I knew he was there. I don't know what went thought my head. It was just an error."

Afterward he met Kahne Stremme explained his disbelief of what had happened.

"I don't know what [Kahne] was doing, but we both ended up in the wall," Stremme said. "I couldn't do nothing. I understand he was faster, and I moved up on the top side to let him by, but it was pretty blatant what happened."

Stremme said that the setting sun, entering Turn 1, was no issue by the time his wreck occurred. He also said that he understood how it was possible that a driver could disregard his spotter's warning.

"Well, yes and no, I see how it could happen," Stremme said. "But with a driver of [Kahne's] caliber, it definitely shouldn't happen."

The crash was particularly painful for Stremme, who after falling out of the top 35 in owner points earlier this year, had raced his way well into the group that automatically qualifies for races.

With the crash and a 39th place finish, Stremme is now 34th in the driver standings. His owner, Felix Sabates, is also 34th, 59 points ahead of 35th-place Sterling Marlin and owner Bobby Ginn.

More bad luck for Martin

Martin was another innocent bystander when the cars in front of him entered Turn 1 one lap after a restart in a four-wide diagonal. A chain reaction was created when Kenny Wallace squeezed down on Jeff Green, who was below him almost on the apron.

Before the melee was over, Marlin drove up into Marlin and knocked him into the wall, where Dale Jarrett drilled him. Martin's No. 6 Ford ended up on the apron and for the second time in three weeks, Martin made a premature exit from a race, and a wrecked racecar with waves to the fans in the stands.

"I don't know what happened -- I haven't seen it yet," Martin said. "The 14 car [Marlin] just veered up in front of me [and] I'm not sure what happened because you can't see through all the cars."

Martin, who came into the race 96 points behind leader Matt Kenseth in seventh position, was running 10th when he was eliminated. Martin, who'd said before the green flag that he had to win to keep his Chase hopes alive, is now unofficially eighth, 201 points out of first, with three races remaining in his final full-time season in Nextel Cup.

"I don't know about my chances," Martin said. "I'm just happy that we're running good. I'm proud of the triple-A team and I want to thank all the fans for cheering so loud.

"We've got three more races and we'll keep doing what we're doing."

Kahne said he would swallow his disappointment and head for Texas, a track at which he's also won.

"You just know that race is over and we had a shot at winning [and] that's all I wanted to do," Kahne said. "I was just upset and frustrated with myself. There's no one you can blame -- you just have to take it yourself.

"It's going to be tough to win [the championship] now unless everybody dropped out the last three races, which can happen. I guess we're still in it, but who knows?"

That part almost made me cry.

Kahne Ruins Nextel Cup Hopes With Boneheaded move


Kahne ruins Nextel Cup hopes with boneheaded move
By PAUL NEWBERRY, AP Sports Writer
October 29, 2006


HAMPTON, Ga. (AP) -- Kasey Kahne buried his head against his battered car while his crew worked furiously to put it back together.

It was no use. One dumb mistake at Atlanta Motor Speedway likely cost Kahne any chance of making a run at his first NASCAR Nextel Cup championship.

Kahne, who had the fastest car in practice leading up to Sunday's Bass Pro Shops 500, had overcome a rough start to work his way up to fourth when his race suddenly ended. Ignoring the advice of his spotter, the driver of the No. 9 Dodge drifted high going into turn one and got tangled up with David Stremme, taking them both out.

``You want to hurt yourself,'' a disconsolate Kahne said. ``The race is over and we had a shot at winning. That's all I wanted to do. I was just upset and frustrated with myself. There's no one else you can blame.''

He was eighth in the standings but had hopes of cutting into Matt Kenseth's 99-point advantage. Not anymore. The 38th-place finish cost Kahne another spot in the standings and left him 210 points behind the leader, surely far too much ground to make up in the final three races of the season.

``It's going to be tough to win it now unless everybody dropped out the last three races,'' Kahne said.

Stremme was furious at Kahne, confronting him in the garage. The two had an animated exchange alongside the No. 9 car before the rookie stormed back to his hauler.

``I don't know what he was doing, but we both ended up in the wall,'' said Stremme, who finished 39th. ``I couldn't do nothing. I understand he was faster, and I moved up on the top side to let him by, but it was pretty blatant what happened.''

Kahne acknowledged that it was all his fault. The spotter told him that Stremme was running on the outside, but the advice went unheeded.

``I thought I had cleared him for some reason, but I totally knew he was there,'' Kahne said. ``I don't know. Just a brain fade. We lost a lot of points. We lost a great finish, maybe even a win for us today. These are races you've got to step up and perform under pressure and do everything you need to do, and we didn't do that today.''

Actually, the team had nothing to do with it. This one totally fell on Kahne.

``The track was coming to us. Everything was working for the No. 9, and I mean everything,'' he said. ``It was all my fault.''

HERE COMES THE SUN: Jeff Gordon would normally get upset about someone plowing into the back of his No. 24 Chevrolet.

Jamie McMurray did just that Sunday, but Gordon had no complaints.

Gordon knew there was an extenuating -- if avoidable -- circumstance that caused the wreck: NASCAR's television-influenced decision to start the race late in the afternoon, making it almost impossible to see when the blinding sun was setting behind turn one.

When Gordon cut a tire and began slowing on lap 170, McMurray didn't see him until it was too late.

``We should not be racing at this track and several other tracks at the time of day we are. It's extremely dangerous,'' Gordon said.

``Most times, I would really get on somebody for running into the back of you when you're that far ahead. But I couldn't see going into turn one. I'm sure he couldn't, either. His spotter told him (that Gordon was slowing), but he had no idea where it was because it was totally blind going in there.''

McMurray, who didn't make the Chase for the Championship, confirmed that he was helpless when Gordon slowed at such a vulnerable spot on the track.

``The sun is in your eyes so bad getting into turn one that by the time my spotter said something, I could already see the 24 and I wasn't 10 feet from him,'' McMurray said. ``There's not a whole lot you can do. To be honest, I barely got to the brake pedal before I saw him.''

Gordon, who also has a brush with Joe Nemechek early in the race, fought back to finish sixth. He moved up from ninth to sixth in the points, but it will be very difficult to make up a 146-point gap on leader Matt Kenseth with just three races left.

``We had an incredible car,'' Gordon said. ``I'm really proud of all the guys bouncing back the way we had to. I can't really point fingers at anything or anybody.''

Does Gordon plan to complain to NASCAR about its start times?

``It doesn't do any good,'' he said. ``I've tried it several times.''

MARTIN WRECKS: Mark Martin crawled from his battered machine, shrugged his shoulders and waved to the crowd. He's used to coming up short in the championship race.

Martin's hopes of winning his first Nextel Cup title in what could be his final year of full-time racing effectively ended when got caught in a big wreck on a restart with just 15 laps to go.

Two cars got tangled up heading into turn one, Sterling Marlin bounced into Martin, and the No. 6 Ford went careening into the outside wall. It came to a stop on the inside apron, where Martin got a big cheer when he crawled out of the car.

Martin, a four-time series runner-up but never a champion, settled for a 36th-place finish that left him eighth in the points, with a daunting 201-deficit to leader Matt Kenseth.

``I don't know what happened,'' Martin said. ``The 14 car (Marlin) just veered up in front of me, so I don't know. We were running good.''

Martin didn't seem too upset about is misfortune, even though he had hoped to end his full-time career as a champion. Next year, he's leaving Roush Racing to run a limited schedule with a less-established team.

``I'm just happy that we're running good,'' he said. ``We're fighting and scrapping for it. We've got three more races and we'll keep doing what we're doing.''

ELLIOTT'S DAY: Bill Elliott now has a grandstand named after him at his home track, but he didn't give the fans sitting in it much to cheer about Sunday.

In his 57th career start at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Elliott battled engine problems before heading to the garage without making it halfway through the race. He called it a day after just 146 laps and finished 41st in the 43-car field.

``It got worse and worse, and we ended up having to quit,'' said Elliott, a native of Dawsonville who won the 1988 season championship. ``We were hoping for a caution to get it straightened out, but it never worked out.''

To commemorate his three decades of racing at the track south of Atlanta, the East Turn Grandstand was renamed the Elliott Grandstand on Friday.

Elliott has six wins, five poles and 20 top-10 finishes during his career at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

``It is only fitting that we give the Elliott name a permanent home at our facility where he has had so much success,'' said Ed Clark, the track's president and general manager.

Elliott is no longer a full-time driver on the Nextel Cup circuit. This was his eighth race of the year; he hasn't finished higher than 23rd.

We Wonder...After Atlanta




... how close did Kasey Kahne come to losing 25 points on Sunday?

Kahne was speaking to one of the pit reporters about his contact with David Stremme when he inexplicably broke from typical robot, sponsor-throwing driver character to real human being. It was refreshing -- and it almost cost him 25 points.

Kahne said he told Stremme it was his fault then Kahne said Stremme stayed on him, to which Kahne said "I told you it was my fault" followed by some inaudible, points-saving sounds.

Well done, Kasey.

That's about the most positive thing we'll read this week.

The rest? :deadhorse

:(

You got that right...

Kasey, Kale and Kenny beating the two of us..

This is the part I dread. The articles...ugh.

I mean come on people he's only human and reporters need to understand that. He was so close to being at the top of the championship and it was suddenly all gone. he was frustrated and did the humanly thing and vented.

Why alot of reporters are calling him out on it I don't know. I guess they think all these drivers are robots

From That's Racin.com (reporter David Poole's race notes):

Wow. We've managed TWO positives out of this.

This could be good.

that's sad

Thank you! Obviously people forget how hard it is to get ANYONE to admit their mistakes.. Reporters *sigh*... :no