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NASCAR Sprint-Cup Series
CUP: Kahne Learning How To Be King Of The Road
Kasey Kahne has never finished better than 23rd at Infineon Raceway...
SceneDaily.com  |  Posted June 20, 2009   Sonoma, CA
Kasey Kahne won't return to Richard Petty Motorsports next season. (Photo: Getty Images)
Just because Kasey Kahne has never finished better than 23rd at Infineon Raceway doesn't mean he doesn't enjoy road-course racing.

"I haven’t run that well on a road course, but I really enjoy it," the driver of the No. 9 Richard Petty Motorsports Dodge said Friday at Infineon Raceway in California. "I’ve qualified well at road tracks, just for some reason throughout the race we don’t get the results that we would like. I feel that I’ve come a long way, but I still have a ways to go before I feel like I’m where I need to be as a driver.”

As much as Kahne enjoys the annual treks to the road courses in Sonoma and Watkins Glen International in New York, managing these winding courses remains a work in progress for him.

"You have to learn how to throw the car around without losing too much time," Kahne said. "[Road racing] goes against everything that I’ve ever done inside the car. It’s hard to get myself to go against the grain and drive the car like you have to. We’ve had some good laps here and it has worked out really good so far.”

Heading into Sunday's Toyota/Save Mart 350, Kahne says road-course ringers such as Ron Fellows and Boris Said still have plenty of work to do against a strong field of Cup regulars.

"If you’re a good driver here, you know how to throw that car around more and can get around this place," said Kahne, who started on the pole here in 2008, but finished 33rd. "But I still think that a good road racer is going to have a hard time coming in here and beat the good Cup drivers. Kyle [Busch] proved last year that he could do it. [Jimmie] Johnson is up there, and Tony Stewart is one of the best [road racers], so it’s cool to watch those guys and watch how good they drive against guys who just do this full time.”

Sunday's race marks the third event in which NASCAR's newly implemented double-file restarts for the leaders will be used and Kahne realizes it might take some getting used to on a road course.

“Everybody is going to be aggressive; they’re always aggressive [driving] at this place," Kahne said. "If there is a little opening, somebody is going to take it. If it’s a double-file restart with 15 [laps] to go, it’s going to be a mess getting into [Turn] 2 for sure.”

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