Catchfence

KASEY KAHNE (No. 9 Budweiser Dodge Charger) WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON RACING AT AUTO CLUB SPEEDWAY THIS WEEKEND? “This is a pretty good track for our Budweiser Dodge team. We’ve ran well here pretty often over the years. I always like coming out here. It’s big, there’s plenty of racing room. During the race, it’s better than practice because you can move around…up, down, wherever you want to go. To me, it makes for an alright race. Moving it later in the year can only make it better for this place, especially the crowd. For the excitement of the race, I think that (the track) gains a little bit of grip. This track can be so slippery, especially when it’s hot out. It won’t be as hot this late in the year, so I think it will make for a little bit better racing, little more excitement and definitely help the crowd later in the year and not on Labor Day weekend.”

HOW CAN YOU GET YOURSELF BACK IN CONTENTION FOR THE CHASE? “Unless other people (have problems), these guys run so good…there’s a reason that they’re in the top 12 in points. Every week, the top 10 is eight or nine guys that are in the Chase. If that’s the case and nobody else has problems, then you’re not going to get back in it. You can’t. You lose so many points by running 40th when you have an issue, and we had ours. I think that we need other guys to break, other guys to have a problem. It will kind of put us back in the playing field. If not, top 10s, bonus points, leading laps, winning races…if you can win races, you can gain a good bit of points. You can gain some of that back. And we can get back in the top five I think, but you’re not going to beat Jimmie Johnson and Mark Martin if you have a blown engine and they don’t. If they finish every race in the top 10, you’re not going to beat them.”

AFTER YOUR WIN IN ATLANTA A FEW WEEKS AGO, DID YOU THINK YOU WERE ABOUT TO START A HOT STREAK? “Yeah, I think that we can start one at any time. We have a really strong team. We run in the top 10 about every single weekend. I have a great pit crew. We make good decisions. I have good communications with Kenny Francis. Last week at Kansas, if we would have hit on it right late in the race, we would have had a great shot at winning that race and it will be the same here. If you put yourself in position and make the right move that final 30- or 40-lap run, you definitely have a shot to win. Charlotte’s a great track for us. The Chase really suits us really well; a lot of tracks that suit my driving style and suit our team really well. It could be really good for us.”

HOW MUCH WILL THIS COOLER WEATHER AFFECT THE ENGINES/RACING? “I think the engines will be similar. They may run better. I think just the race track itself (will be better). This race track from the first race to the second race always loses grip because of the sun, the heat, and now it’s going to be cooler. It’s going to be in the low 80s. There are spots on this track that are real slippery and they won’t be as slippery. I think that it will help the grip of the race track. It will help the competition.”

WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON NASCARS DECISION FOR UNIFORM START TIMES NEXT SEASON? “I like the change. I remember when I was young, 10 years old, I would get up Sunday morning (in Enumclaw, Wash.) and watch the NASCAR race. It came on at 9 a.m. We’d have breakfast with my family and watch the race. I always thought that was pretty cool. That’s how I remember NASCAR. And now it’s 2, 3, 4 o’clock depending on where we’re at and to me, I really never know what time our races are going to start because it seems like it changes so much. I think it’s a good thing.

I think it will help out the viewers that it’s going to start at, ‘this time’ and now they’ll know that. You turn it on and it’s on. You don’t turn it on and say, ‘I guess its three hours later today.’”

IS IT FRUSTRATING TO HAVE TOP-10 FINISHES THE LAST FEW WEEKS AND NOT BE ABLE TO PICK UP GROUND ON THE LEADERS? “It’s not really frustrating because those guys have been the cars to beat all season. That’s just part of it. That’s just where we’re at right now. I really don’t get too frustrated about it. We need them to blow a motor or run into a wall if we want to catch them. That’s our only hope because those guys are perfect.”

- Darnell Communications for Dodge Motorsports, Press Release