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Toyota/Save Mart 350 Recap - Kasey Kahne
- Kasey Kahne posted a fourth-place finish after starting Sunday’s race at Infineon Raceway from the pole
- The pole award was Kahne’s second at the Sonoma, Calif. track and his first of the 2010 season
- Kahne is now 18th in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series point standings, 151 markers out of the 12th position
Race Summary: Kasey Kahne started the season’s first road course race from the pole position. Over the first 10 laps, Kahne’s No. 9 Budweiser Ford seemed to lack rear grip, which caused him to be shuffled back to the 14th position.
The team made numerous adjustments to the Ford during the first caution period of the day. Kahne restarted the race on Lap 13 in the 16th position and in mere laps was back to racing in the top 10.
Crew chief Kenny Francis called for “more of the same” changes during the next pit stop, which included left-rear sprint rubber and slight adjustments to the right-side track bar. Kahne spent the middle and latter parts of the race competing in and around the 10th position and called for only slight adjustments on the stops throughout the remainder of the event.
With different fuel strategies in play, Kahne was running 17th when a late caution flag waved on Lap 84. The Richard Petty Motorsports team elected to stop for fresh tires while almost all of the cars in front of Kahne stayed out. The driver restarted from the 21st position on Lap 87 and drove into 13th place by Lap 90.
The yellow flag would wave twice in the final 20 laps of the race. Kahne was in sixth for the final restart of the race on Lap 105. As the race went green, Kahne quickly jumped up to the fourth position where he eventually finished the 110-lap race.
Kahne on the Sonoma Event: “We were a little bit off at the start, but I just needed to settle in and we made the car a little bit better there. I felt pretty good the last 70 laps, so it was a good race. I’m glad able we were able to finish strong with our Budweiser Ford, and hopefully, it was a good show. I know it was exciting from my seat and probably a lot of the other drivers’ seats too.”
