HAMPTON, Ga. — Kasey Kahne gave himself a huge boost in NASCAR’s Chase for the Championship with a victory Sunday night at the Atlanta Motor Speedway.
Kahne jumped from 11th to sixth in the Sprint Cup standings with the victory, allowing him to breathe a little easier going into next weekend’s race that will set the 12-driver field for the season-ending playoff.
Kevin Harvick, who won the Nationwide race Saturday night, was in position for a weekend double until teammate Clint Bowyer spun with 15 laps to go, bringing out the final caution of the night.
Kahne got Harvick on the restart and pulled away to an easy 1.766-second win.
Harvick held on for second, matching his best performance in a disappointing season. Juan Pablo Montoya finished third and solidified his odds of making the Chase for the first time.
“We did it right at the end,” Kahne said. “We had an unbelievable car throughout the race. I think Kevin was the best on the long runs. We did it at the end.”
Denny Hamlin became the fourth driver to clinch a spot in the Chase with a sixth-place showing. Tony Stewart, Jeff Gordon and three-time defending champion Jimmie Johnson were already in.
Kahne is feeling a lot better about his chances too.
“I knew Harvick and Montoya were going to be really tough there at the end,” Kahne said. “We just got them. We had a really good car for about 10 laps.”
The first scheduled night race in Atlanta history and a new Labor Day weekend date was a big hit with the fans. At least 100,000 turned out on a comfortably warm night after years of declining attendance at the 1.54-mile trioval south of Atlanta.
Johnson came into this race saying he’s never felt better heading into a Chase. He was probably feeling a little different after a miserable performance — 22 laps behind in 36th place.
Johnson was running second when he lost control of his No. 48 car coming out of turn two. He managed to control his slide, avoid the inside wall and get back to the pits for another set of tires, but the mishap knocked him all the way back to 19th.
Polesitter Martin Truex ran strong early on, leading three times for a race-high 68 laps. He was nowhere to be found at the end, struggling home in 26th place.
