MARTINSVILLE, Va. – Today is April Fool’s Day. So while customary jokes are of the norm, NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) driver Kasey Kahne was all business on Friday at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway.
The driver of the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet earned his best starting spot of the season, and first time on the front row in NSCS competition since Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway last October.
“It feels good. The car was really fast, this Great Clips Chevrolet,” said Kahne. “The guys did a nice job in practice and in qualifying. I just kept getting better with my laps. We didn’t make any adjustments. The car is fine. Just let me get my laps a little better. So we did that, and it was close.
“Joey (Logano, pole winner) just barely got us. But it is definitely a good starting spot. That was one of my goals today was to help out on pit road. Pit road is huge here. We have the best pit crew for stops, than anyone, in my opinion. And if I can help them on pit road, myself, and get a better spot, I think all that will be beneficial on Sunday.”
But what makes Kahne’s story more intriguing is the desire to see one of the sport’s most liked drivers do well. Not only on Sunday, but throughout the 2016 NSCS season. But before Kahne can focus on what lies ahead, he’ll have to get through 500 grueling laps. Kahne is highly optimistic.
“I think the car was close in race trim, I could run consistent lap times,” he added. “They weren’t as quick as, I think I saw (Kyle) Larson was faster like consecutive laps and there might have been another car there. I thought I was comparable to (Kevin) Harvick and a few guys. Friday, super clean, grippy race track really means nothing compared to Sunday in race trim. But, I felt comfortable and felt like we had consistent speed. We need to work on that a lot more tomorrow and then the track changes a good bit for Sunday so everything is different then. I thought our car handled nicely.”
Through the first races of 2016, Kahne stands 18th in series points, registering one top-10 finish at Las Vegas. Other than the Sin City and a respectable 13th place run in the Daytona 500 – Kahne hasn’t had much to show for. Two weeks ago at Auto Club (Calf.) Speedway – Kahne came under scrutiny after late race contact with Danica Patrick.
The contact seemingly avoidable sent a frustrated Danica Patrick onto the track – where she was later fined 20,000 for her actions. Still, Kahne adamantly felt horrible about the situation – even taking to social media to apologize, but knows putting situations like that in the rear-view mirror is best to stay focused on what’s ahead.
On the heels of a Sprint Car win last weekend, Kahne carried the momentum to Martinsville, a place where has enjoyed some success in 24 prior starts. The 36-year-old seasoned veteran says without hesitation that momentum carries over from a race car to another.
“Last weekend’s win was a blast for me. I was glad I went and raced. That is what I wanted to do on Easter weekend was race a sprint car and I did it and we ended up winning a race. It felt really good.”
Without dragging too much misery into the picture, there’s no hiding around that Kahne and the No. 5 car have struggled. Blame speed, blame bad luck, blame crashes. Blame whatever you want, but for someone that is well liked as Kahne, proof seems to be in the pudding – the better he runs – the sport seems to be a little bit happier too.
He hopes to prove that in Sunday’s STP 500 where he holds a track best finish of second in 2005.
Follow Chris Knight on Twitter @Knighter01.
