DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Escaping the carnage that plagued much of the field in Saturday night’s Coke Zero Sugar Free 400 at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway, Kasey Kahne found himself in contention for his first win at Leavine-Family Racing.
Negotiating his way through the field, Kahne whipped into the lead on Lap 138 and held the top spot until the caution waved on Lap 150.
Restarting the race on Lap 155, Kahne maintained the lead until a shove from Martin Truex Jr. sent Kevin Harvick back into the lead.
With three laps to go, the caution waved in Turn 3 for a four-car crash giving the No. 95 LFR team another opportunity to put the Enumclaw, Wa. native in position for his 19th Cup win.
Restarting sixth, Kahne has worked his way to third when a multicar accident occurred on the frontstretch coming to the white flag, putting the field under caution for the 10th time in the race.
With a shot at his first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series win at Daytona, Kahne powered to the outside of leader Martin Truex on the 167-lap restart but got shuffled out of line by Erik Jones and others coming to the white flag.
Using side-drafting to muscle his No. 95 Thorne Chevrolet back into contention, Kahne raced A.J. Allmendinger and his teammate Chris Buescher to the checkered flag – finishing fourth, collecting his first top-five run since winning at Indianapolis Motor Speedway last July with Hendrick Motorsports.
“Our Thorne Chevrolet was awesome,” said Kahne. “It was great. I figured it out in the second stage I knew that we had a car capable of winning if I did the right things with it. I had opportunities to get to the lead.
“We stayed there at a time but just didn’t figure it all out at the end there. Erik Jones congrats to him. (Martin) Truex was super-fast. I was just trying to hang with those guys and I thought we had a really good shot at it.”
As the race neared the finish, Kahne thought on multiple occasions that he had a strong enough Chevrolet to win if the circumstances worked out.
“I knew I had a shot,” added Kahne. “I knew I had a car capable. Once we got going in the second stage I knew my car was capable of winning it was just a matter of where I put it and the places I put it in and we ended up fourth, so not good enough.”
Kahne explained how the chaotic restarts unraveled.
“I was just kind of put in positions and I thought I could clear and get to the bottom when I was the leader. That was my plan and the spotter said they were broken up on the bottom and the No. 88 was still fairly close, so I stayed there and then they went by on the bottom. So, a little miscommunication there.
“Later on, I got a run around the No. 78 off the corner and he just got me. Just pulled me back enough and the No. 20 was coming and I just had to try to kind of block him the best I could but he got to my outside. But we had a great Thorne Chevrolet.
“The guys did an awesome job. Pit stops were strong, everything was good tonight. Once we got up there we stayed there the rest of the race, the car was good.”
Statistically speaking, there might not have been a team that needed a stronger finish than Kahne and Leavine Family Racing. Entering Saturday night’s race, Kahne’s best finish of the season was 17th on three occasions, most recently at Dover (Del.) International Speedway in May.
Travis Mack who started the season as Kahne’s crew chief was released from the organization prior to Sonoma (Calif.) Raceway with engineer Jon Leonard taking the role as interim crew chief until a replacement is named.
With finishes of 20th and 27th at Sonoma and Chicagoland respectively, Kahne’s 93rd career top-five finish is a welcomed shot of momentum that can try to put the veteran and his team back on the straight of narrow.
Kahne explained the importance of Saturday night’s performance.
“Really important,” Kahne sounded. “We ran, I think, fourth and fourth in the final two stages there, so that is great for our team. We were great in Sonoma, good here, we keep fighting and the guys do their job we just need to keep getting more consistent, but we are getting there slowly, but surely.”
Kahne’s finish climbed him from 28th to 26th in the championship standings – a far cry from the Playoff bubble. However, don’t count out Kahne and LFR just yet.
A performance like Saturday night could possibly happen again where instead of finishing fourth, the popular driver delivers Levine Family Racing’s first Cup Series win in eight years of competition.
Follow Chris Knight on Twitter @Knighter01.
