* After suffering his third misfortunate race of the 2009 Chase last
weekend at Martinsville, Kasey Kahne heads to Talladega Superspeedway
looking to return to the top 10 in the point standings.
* Kahne will be utilizing the R5 Dodge engine this weekend at
Talladega and his teammate Elliott Sadler will be driving a Ford for RPM.
"I think it is pretty neat that Elliott will be in a Ford in
Talladega," Kahne commented. "That (Ford) is where we are going next
year and this is a good opportunity for Elliott to give us some good
feedback to get us started in the right direction beginning with Daytona
next year."
* With four races remaining before the NASCAR champion is determined
Kahne sits in the 11th position, 26 points outside of the 10th position.
* In 11 starts at Talladega, Kahne has one top-five and one top-10
finish.
* He scored a career-best second-place finish at Talladega in the fall
of 2006.
* Kahne has led 14 laps at the 2.66-mile superspeedway.
* In 11 starts at the superspeedway, Kahne has an average start of
28th and an average finish of 23rd.
* Kahne will be available for interviews with motorsports media
members at Talladega this Friday, October 30 at approximately 12:15 pm
CDT behind the Budweiser transporter.
Kahne discusses the Chase and racing at Talladega Superspeedway
Is Talladega a track that you enjoy racing at? "Yeah, I do. I've
always enjoyed this place and Daytona. Starting out the first couple of
years, it seemed like I was in the majority of the wrecks, the wrong
place at the wrong time, but I still like these places (superspeedways).
To me, it's a challenge to be in the right spot at the right time,
especially when some of our cars have been really slow at these tracks,
others have been pretty decent. To figure out how to still get a top 15
or top 10 to me is always the challenge. I like it."
What makes a great restrictor-plate racer? "I think being able to tell
which line is moving. Watching your lanes, your spotter helps out a lot.
Being able to know which line to be in at the right time and who to be
around, who's pushing you, who you are pushing, getting those bursts of
speed and blocking at the right time. I think it's just a lot of being
good in your mirrors and having a good spotter and then having a good
engine. That's a huge part of it - having a good engine."
What are the last 20 laps like at Talladega? "A lot of blocking and
you're trying to be in the right lane. You're always trying not to let
somebody get you out of line and push you back. It's intense -- really
intense. Every lap is pretty intense except when you get strung out in a
line and everybody gets out running along the wall. All that does is
waste a few hundred miles of the race and makes the racing really
boring."
-credit: rpm
