NASCAR Sprint-Cup Series
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CUP: Kahne Soars Late To Win At Bristol
Kasey Kahne shows late-race strength to win Food City 500…
Mike Hembree  |  Posted March 17, 2013   Bristol, TN
Kasey Kahne takes advantage of a poor restart by Brad Keselowski to gap the field for the win.
POINTS After Food City 500

RESULTS: Food City 500

Kasey Kahne pulled away from a trio of contenders over the final 40 laps and won Sunday’s Food City 500 Sprint Cup race, a spirited affair that featured tense on-track competition and a scuffle off track.

Kahne jumped past leader Brad Keselowski on a restart at lap 461 and steadily built an impressive lead as Keselowski, Kyle Busch and Clint Bowyer grappled for position behind him. The win is Kahne’s first in Sprint Cup competition at the fast half-mile and his second in Sprint Cup short-track racing (he also won at Richmond in 2005).

Following Kahne to the finish were Kyle Busch, Keselowski, Kurt Busch and Bowyer.

Considering the day’s often-tough battles for position, Kahne won with a surprisingly large margin of victory – 1.7 seconds. As he crossed the finish line, interest moved to Joey Logano and Denny Hamlin, who had had an encounter during the race.

Logano and a Hamlin crewman scuffled after the race as Logano tried to talk to Hamlin through the door of his car. They exchanged insults via the media after the race.

With the win, Kahne jumped seven positions in points to a tie for seventh. He has put second- and first-place finishes back to back after finishing 36th at Daytona and 19th at Phoenix.

PHOTOS:

Race Gallery

Kahne Wins Gallery

“We had great cars at Daytona and Phoenix,” Kahne said. “We lost some points in the first two. At Las Vegas, we put a really good weekend together. We gained a lot of spots in the last two weeks. A lot went on over the offseason to get a little better.”

Kahne led the final 40 laps and wasn’t challenged over the race’s closing segment.

“I think our car was that good,” Kahne said. “At points in the race early on, I was able to do that. I just needed to get to the front, get some clean air and get away from the guys. I wanted to take care of stuff and keep that gap for the final 10 laps.

“The car was just fast. I was able to get away and kind of control the race from there.”

Kahne got the lead from Keselowski on the final restart when Keselowski didn’t get up to speed quickly.

Keselowski said he was slowed by contact from behind by Hamlin.

“I haven’t seen a replay,” he said. “I just know that my rear tires were off the ground before I got to the restart zone. Eventually, I got hit so hard that it pushed my foot in the gas pedal, and it made myself look like an ass, but that was the deal and I never had another chance.”

Despite the disappointment of not getting to challenge for the win, Keselowski moved into first place in points. He has finished in the top four in all four races this year, and Penske Racing now holds the point lead in both Sprint Cup and Nationwide, with Sam Hornish Jr. in front in the No. 2 series.

The day was a tough one on equipment and tires. Ten cautions, several for popped tires, slowed the pace of the race, and several contenders were nowhere near the front when the final laps were recorded.

Logano raced Jeff Gordon hard in a battle for the lead but was clipped by Hamlin and hit the second-turn wall. The rear of Logano’s car was damaged, but his crew made repairs and kept him on the lead lap.

On lap 388, two of the best cars in the race suddenly went south. Gordon, leading, blew a right front tire, sending his car up the track and into the path of second-place Matt Kenseth, who seemed to be only moments away from passing Gordon for the lead. Instead, Kenseth slammed hard into the rear of Gordon’s car, lifting it off the track and crumpling the front end of Kenseth’s Toyota.

The first 100 laps of the race cut into the quality of competition considerably.

Tony Stewart, whose recent history at Bristol has been difficult, ran into early trouble, cutting down a left rear tire on lap six and slamming into the outside wall before he could work his way through traffic and drop onto pit road. After repairs, he returned to the track many laps down.

Forty laps later, a chain-reaction wreck damaged the cars of Jeff Burton, Marcos Ambrose and Carl Edwards. The accident began when Casey Mears slowed in front of that pack, causing other drivers to slow and resulting in Edwards bumping into the rear of Burton’s car, causing him to spin.

During the subsequent caution period, Kyle Busch, who led the race’s first 55 laps, including leading into the caution, was nailed for speeding on pit road in three sections of the pit zone, pushing him to the rear of the field for the restart on lap 63.

Mike Hembree is NASCAR Editor for SPEED.com and has been covering motorsports for 31 years. He is a six-time winner of the National Motorsports Press Association Writer of the Year Award.
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