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CUP: Kahne Conserves Fuel, Nets Second Place Finish
Written by: SceneDaily.com
SceneDaily.com   
06/15/2008 - 08:55 PM
Brooklyn, Mich.
 
Kasey Kahne pits during the Lifelock 400 at the Michigan International Speedway. (Chris Trotman/Getty Images Photo) ยป More Photos

Kasey Kahne was hoping that he would be the one whose fuel-mileage gamble paid off with a win Sunday at Michigan International Speedway.

The decision of Kahne's Gillett Evernham Motorsports' team to pit on Lap 153 for fuel only, and to ride that through a green-white-checkered finish in the race, netted a second-place finish for the group. That's Kahne's third finish of second or better in the last three Cup races. That's a run that has pushed him to seventh in the series standings.

As Kahne and his team made the gamble, though, he was hoping that things would work out even better. Still, the fuel-mileage strategy netted Kahne a shot at the frontrunners.

His car hadn't been the best all day, with him fighting it through the turns and the team making constant adjustments. The team had him in the best equipment he'd driven all day, though, by the time the fuel decisions had to be made.

When the final caution flag came out, several of the leaders who had been willing
to take the chance on making it to race's end darted down pit road for some fuel. Kahne and three other contenders did not.

"The final run was the best that our Dodge was all day, but it was still a 10th- to 12th-place car," Kahne said. "So [team director] Kenny [Francis] decided to take fuel as late as we could under that caution. Because of all the green-flag runs all day, we just kept on taking fuel and trying to save it. I saved [fuel] for 40 or 42 laps and never ran out coming to the pits [after the race]."

The caution came out shortly after the drivers took the white flag, allowing them to slow and nurse their cars back around. Kahne said that after the race he discovered that would not have been necessary.

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LIFELOCK 400 RESULTS
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