MECHANICAL PROBLEMS PLAGUE SADLER EARLY, KAHNE LATE AT TEXAS

FORT WORTH, Texas (Sunday, November 5, 2006) – Kasey Kahne and Elliott Sadler have had their share of success at Texas Motor Speedway. Both have wins at the 1.5-mile track which carried the distinction of having no repeat winners into Sunday’s Dickies 500.

That record remains intact. With Tony Stewart’s win Sunday, the ledger now reads 12 winners in 12 races.

Mechanical problems plagued both Evernham Motorsports drivers. Sadler’s misfortune surfaced early and required a trip to the garage for repairs. Kahne’s disappointment came late. He was running second with just six of the scheduled 334 laps remaining when he lost power. Kahne finished 33rd. Sadler was 37th.

Kahne qualified fourth in the No. 9 Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge Charger with a time of 27.719 seconds at 194.812 mph. He ran in the top five most of the event and was out of the top 10 only once which came during a green-flag pit cycle near the end of the race. Once that cycle was completed, he was back in the runner-up spot in his Dodge Charger which carried a special paint scheme promoting the launch of the 2007 Dodge Nitro.

The race lasted almost four hours and ended under the lights after the start was delayed because of rain. The changing track conditions didn’t confuse Kenny Francis (team director). Francis’ game plan kept Kahne up near the front throughout the race. The No. 9 over-the-wall crew chipped in with a stellar performance on pit stops.

Kahne was the leader on lap 90 to pick up the five-point bonus. He was running second when the 10th caution appeared on lap 258. The No. 9 crew turned in its quickest service of the day and Kahne just missed taking the lead from Stewart. All teams would need one final pit stop for fuel to make it to the end.

Kahne slipped to third on lap 311 as Francis debated strategy for the final stop. The decision was made to bring Kahne in a bit early. He entered pit road on lap 315 for two right-side tires and fuel. The decision to come two laps early proved to be wise as the right rear tire on the No. 9 was almost flat.

“I started catching the 20 (Stewart) and my right rear was going flat,” Kahne said. “That’s why the 20 started pulling away. That’s why Jimmie got around me. We were probably the best car on the end of that run until the right rear went down. We lost about 25 pounds of air pressure in the tire before I pitted.”

Quick service by the No. 9 crew had Kahne back in the second spot when the green-flag cycle was completed. An accident in turn one as the field started lap 328 brought out the 11th caution. As Kahne slowed, the engine suddenly stopped running. Kahne had no choice but to pit. A quick look under the hood determined the problem was terminal.

“It just happened without any warning,” said Kahne. “The guys did a great job. There was only one battle for the lead all night and that was between me and Tony. We had a blast. I was flying, but he was a little better than I was. We had a good time. We had a good race. We didn’t get the finish here. We still have two races left. We can still finish on a winning note and build momentum for next year.

“Tony was good. When we had the caution, I though we were going to have a shot at Tony. I don’t know if we could have got him. He was strong all night, but we would have had a legitimate shot. The engine just broke under caution. It was a weird deal. I’m surprised that happened. That’s racing.

“We’ve got a couple of races to go this year and we’ll try to make the best of them and come back and have some fun next year. We’re in The Chase and we’re having fun. We’ve had some tough weekends. Last weekend was really hard, and this weekend turned out tough, too.

Kahne is 10th in the Chase for the Championship point standings. He is 137 points out of sixth.

Sadler returned to the 1.5-mile oval with hopes of repeating his victory at Texas Motor Speedway in 2004. His qualifying lap of 27.637 sec/195.390 mph placed him on the outside pole, giving him an excellent view of the track when the green flag flew. The race began cautiously as drivers tested the newly dried payment for grip, and Sadler was no different. He gave his No. 19 Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge Charger plenty of time to warm up the tires and settle in for the race. But his Dodge Charger handled differently in Sunday’s conditions than it did on Saturday, forcing Sadler and his team to continuously adjust to improve the handling.

When the caution flew on lap 90, Sadler brought his Dodge Charger in for service. But, he overshot his pit box and the team began work on the car before it could be moved into the box’s confines. NASCAR penalized Sadler for the move, and he was held for one lap. This put him a lap down on the field. When the next caution came out, Sadler earned the “lucky dog” award and returned to the lead lap.

The team continued to make adjustments to the car, and at lap 100 he reported that he was free off, but better than he had been. Things were looking up, but they didn’t stay that way for long. Smoke from under the wheel well indicated a problem, and Sadler brought his Dodge to pit road for four tires, fuel and a quick inspection of the problem. The team found oil on the tire, and sent Sadler to the garage for a more thorough review. Eventually, they identified the problem as a hole in the oil cooler, made the repairs and got Sadler back on track. But the 26 laps he spent in the garage were too much to overcome, and he finished the day in the 37th position. He moves to 24th in the NASCAR Nextel Cup drivers’ points.

“Our Dodge was great yesterday, but the rain and temperature made it handle like a whole different car today,” said Sadler. “We fought loose in, tight center, loose off all night. Then we set ourselves back with a pit road penalty for pitting outside our box. That put us back in the field and then we had a freak problem with the oil cooler. It just wasn’t our day. We’ll go get them next week in Phoenix.”

The mysery is solved.

So. Engine shop, fabricaters, you're on notice. Get better! (But, really, you're doing a great job.)

Thanks, Katiebug!

a hole in the oil cooler could have been from anything. He may have ran over debris and it came up and put a hole in the cooler

No problem Carriekins (I'm going to start calling you that because it's cute and since I have a nickname you need one too)

Hehe, thanks! My friend Todd gave me that nickname like 5 years ago.:)

Now we know what happened.

Well, it just wasn't supposed to be, again. Damn it anyway.

well at least we know what it was now......

so they had a good car, just something freak that could have been caused by anything.....just bad luck for the guys lately it seems

I bet Ray has his guys working like crazy trying to get all these problems fixed before next year, no one outworks Ray Evernham's bunch :)