LONG POND, Pa. — Kasey Kahne never thought his start to the season was all that bad, despite how it looked on paper.
In hindsight, there was something missing, and it took last month’s win in the all-star race to see it. Now, Kahne is on a roll, riding a wave of momentum from that $1 million payday into a championship-contending run.
He won for a second time in the last three Sprint Cup Series points races Sunday at Pocono Raceway, and counting his win in the all-star race, Kahne has been to Victory Lane three times in the past four events.
And he knows he’s got his fans to thank after they voted him into the all-star race. It gave him the push he needed to rally his way to ninth in the Sprint Cup standings.
“As a driver, I didn’t feel like my confidence was down. But until I actually won this year, the all-star race, I realized that I was leaving a little bit out there and wasn’t communicating probably like I should have been,” Kahne said. “I definitely credit the fans for getting us into the all-star race. That gave us the momentum.”
Has it ever.
He followed the all-star win with a victory the next week in the Coca-Cola 600, and although he bobbled last week with a 31st-place finish at Dover, he owned Pocono.
Kahne started from the pole, overcame an early pit-road penalty that dropped him to 38th and led a race-high 69 of the 200 laps in his Dodge.
“Never. I’ve never had a car that dominant before,” Kahne said. “This one stayed the same all day long. It was so good all day long.”
Brian Vickers was second for his best finish since joining Red Bull Racing at the start of last season, and Denny Hamlin was third to give Toyota two cars in the top three.
NASCAR Sprint Cup Pocono 500
Top 10 finishers:
1. Kasey Kahne, Dodge
2. Brian Vickers, Toyota
3. Denny Hamlin, Toyota
4. Dale Earnhardt Jr., Chevrolet
5. Jeff Burton, Chevrolet
6. Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet
7. Matt Kenseth, Ford
8. Kurt Busch, Dodge
9. Carl Edwards, Ford
10. Mark Martin, Chevrolet
Average speed of race winner: 125.209 mph.
Time of race: 3 hours, 59 minutes, 36 seconds.
Margin of victory: 3.702 seconds.
Caution flags: 10 for 38 laps.
Top 12 in points: 1. Ky.Busch, 2,084. 2. J.Burton, 2,063. 3. D.Earnhardt Jr., 1,939. 4. C.Edwards, 1,856. 5. D.Hamlin, 1,800. 6. J.Johnson, 1,799. 7. G.Biffle, 1,781. 8. J.Gordon, 1,767. 9. K.Kahne, 1,719. 10. K.Harvick, 1,690. 11. C.Bowyer, 1,679. 12. T.Stewart, 1,614.
