By: Zach Catanzareti, Staff Writer
Each week, Kickin’ The Tires will highlight the 20th-place finisher from the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series. Standing as the middleman in weekends with 40-car fields, there is sure to be a story behind each one.
Kasey Kahne has had times of success on road courses and he’s had his struggles. In 2018, piloting his Chevrolet for Leavine Family Racing, it was somewhere in the middle.
Many of what this feature stands for is highlighting that mid-pack team, perhaps a small team, who brought it home just in the top 20. Kahne races for a team who has never won in the Cup Series and has never scored more than two top 10s in any single season. Kahne himself has only one win to his record since 2014 and has continued his career transition soon into the second half of 2018.
Sunday at Sonoma Raceway was a little more of the usual for LFR and Kahne, who sit 28th in points after 16 races. The 110-lapper in California saw them start 26th and finish 20th in what was a clean mostly green day in Sonoma.
But overall, it was an improvement from where they started the weekend.
Kahne was in the news over the off-week, as the No. 95 team brought in new crew chief Jon Leonard, who held the position for five races in 2017 with Michael McDowell. The switch put Travis Mack off the box and the No. 95 team into a new change mid-season.
The weekend had a few fallbacks, highlighted by an early spin by Kahne in Friday practice exiting Turn 1. A 26th-place starting spot was nothing special but the day moved forward from there.
Kahne, the 2009 Sonoma winner, quickly made ground in the opening stage, and when pit strategy showed its face, was able to end Stage 1 in the points, finishing 10th. Stage 2 saw the Washington native push back down the field, finishing 21st in Stage 2 and lining up 26th for the final 60-lap run to the checkered.
Though quiet for Kahne and caution-free for the race, it was a time of small improvements for the No. 95 Chevrolet. Inching up the running order, Kahne passed McDowell in Turn 11 of the last lap grab a top 20, his sixth of 2018. Additionally, Sunday was only his third lead-lap finish of the year, however, his second consecutive.
List of 20th-Place Finishers So Far in 2018
Daytona: Gray Gaulding
Atlanta: Alex Bowman
Las Vegas: Trevor Bayne
ISM: Trevor Bayne (2)
Auto Club: Darrell Wallace Jr.
Martinsville: William Byron
Texas: Gray Gaulding(2)
Bristol: Landon Cassill
Richmond: Ty Dillon
Talladega: DJ Kennington
Dover: Chris Buescher
Kansas: Michael McDowell
Charlotte: Kasey Kahne
Pocono: Clint Bowyer
Michigan: Jimmie Johnson
Sonoma: Kasey Kahne(2)
Mid-Pack With Zach: Kasey Kahne, Leavine Family Racing
By: Zach Catanzareti, Staff Writer
Each week, Kickin’ The Tires will highlight the 20th-place finisher from the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series. Standing as the middleman in weekends with 40-car fields, there is sure to be a story behind each one.
Kasey Kahne has had times of success on road courses and he’s had his struggles. In 2018, piloting his Chevrolet for Leavine Family Racing, it was somewhere in the middle.
Many of what this feature stands for is highlighting that mid-pack team, perhaps a small team, who brought it home just in the top 20. Kahne races for a team who has never won in the Cup Series and has never scored more than two top 10s in any single season. Kahne himself has only one win to his record since 2014 and has continued his career transition soon into the second half of 2018.
Sunday at Sonoma Raceway was a little more of the usual for LFR and Kahne, who sit 28th in points after 16 races. The 110-lapper in California saw them start 26th and finish 20th in what was a clean mostly green day in Sonoma.
But overall, it was an improvement from where they started the weekend.
Kahne was in the news over the off-week, as the No. 95 team brought in new crew chief Jon Leonard, who held the position for five races in 2017 with Michael McDowell. The switch put Travis Mack off the box and the No. 95 team into a new change mid-season.
The weekend had a few fallbacks, highlighted by an early spin by Kahne in Friday practice exiting Turn 1. A 26th-place starting spot was nothing special but the day moved forward from there.
Kahne, the 2009 Sonoma winner, quickly made ground in the opening stage, and when pit strategy showed its face, was able to end Stage 1 in the points, finishing 10th. Stage 2 saw the Washington native push back down the field, finishing 21st in Stage 2 and lining up 26th for the final 60-lap run to the checkered.
Though quiet for Kahne and caution-free for the race, it was a time of small improvements for the No. 95 Chevrolet. Inching up the running order, Kahne passed McDowell in Turn 11 of the last lap grab a top 20, his sixth of 2018. Additionally, Sunday was only his third lead-lap finish of the year, however, his second consecutive.
List of 20th-Place Finishers So Far in 2018
Daytona: Gray Gaulding
Atlanta: Alex Bowman
Las Vegas: Trevor Bayne
ISM: Trevor Bayne (2)
Auto Club: Darrell Wallace Jr.
Martinsville: William Byron
Texas: Gray Gaulding(2)
Bristol: Landon Cassill
Richmond: Ty Dillon
Talladega: DJ Kennington
Dover: Chris Buescher
Kansas: Michael McDowell
Charlotte: Kasey Kahne
Pocono: Clint Bowyer
Michigan: Jimmie Johnson
Sonoma: Kasey Kahne(2)