DOVER, Del. –Kasey Kahne comes from a track where he’s won four times, including last Sunday — Charlotte — to one where he’s never been to Victory Lane — Dover.
The Monster Mile has been a mixed bag for the driver of the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet. Kahne has qualified well at Dover, with an average starting spot of 12.8, but his finishes have been, on average, a disappointment: 22.6.
His past six starts at Dover have included three finishes of eighth or better, including a career-best fourth last fall, and three finishes of 20th or worse.
“I think it’s tough,” Kahne said of the high-banked track. “The concrete is part of it and then just the high speeds — and there’s some roughness to the track as well. The entries (to the corners) are really tricky . . .
“The corners look really similar, but it’s as difficult as any track we go to, to get the whole track right and to get that balance throughout a whole 400-lapper here.”
Kahne hit his average start for Sunday’s race, qualifying 13th in Saturday’s time trials. He enters the event with a string of six straight top-10 finishes on the line.
Greg is the author of "The Nuts and Bolts of NASCAR: The Definitive Viewers' Guide to Big-Time Stock Car Auto Racing" and has been published in major publications across the country including the Los Angeles Times, the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He was also a contributor to Chicken Soup for the NASCAR Soul, published in 2010, and the Christmas edition in 2016. He wrote as the NASCAR, Formula 1, Auto Reviews and National Veterans Affairs Examiner for Examiner.com and has appeared on Fox News. He holds a BS degree in communications, a Masters degree in psychology and is currently a PhD candidate majoring in psychology. He is currently the weekend Motorsports Editor for Autoweek.
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