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.
The Coca-Cola 600 has always been a grand race for NASCAR. And the same can be said with Kasey Kahne, who has found success in the Charlotte Motor Speedway marathon throughout his Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series career.
Despite the extra 100 miles, Kahne outlasted the field to win the race three times in 2006, ’08 and ’12. His 2012 victory was his first for Hendrick Motorsports.
And though Sunday night’s 600-miler didn’t end with his first win for Leavine Family Racing, there were still gains made in the No. 95 Chevrolet camp.
Starting the night 26th, Kahne had early issues plague the small team, including problems with radio communication and a loose-handling racecar. After some adjustments, Kahne managed 21st in Stage 1.
Finishing Stage 2 in 23rd, it was the third stage where Kahne drove into the top 10 after choosing the wavearound and taking advantage of pit strategy. Kahne ended Stage 3 in seventh, giving the team four stage points.
Unfortunately, the loose conditions returned and Kahne fell from 12th to 20th in the final 100-lap run to the end.
A 20th-place result was the team’s fourth straight finish of 21st or better and fifth top 20 of 2018. So, 20th is an average day for a team like Leavine, who also had five top 20s at this time in 2017 with driver Michael McDowell. In the same breath, top 10s are tough to get, with only one in the last 49 races.
While many are waiting to see significant progress with the No. 95 team, it’s clear that it’s a slow process to move over that 20th-place hump to morph into a weekly top-15 contender. However, the last four weeks have been their best four-week run of 2018 and it leads them to Pocono Raceway where they finished 18th last year with McDowell. Kahne won there in 2013 with HMS and has nine top 10s in 28 starts.
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
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.
The Coca-Cola 600 has always been a grand race for NASCAR. And the same can be said with Kasey Kahne, who has found success in the Charlotte Motor Speedway marathon throughout his Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series career.
Despite the extra 100 miles, Kahne outlasted the field to win the race three times in 2006, ’08 and ’12. His 2012 victory was his first for Hendrick Motorsports.
And though Sunday night’s 600-miler didn’t end with his first win for Leavine Family Racing, there were still gains made in the No. 95 Chevrolet camp.
Starting the night 26th, Kahne had early issues plague the small team, including problems with radio communication and a loose-handling racecar. After some adjustments, Kahne managed 21st in Stage 1.
Finishing Stage 2 in 23rd, it was the third stage where Kahne drove into the top 10 after choosing the wavearound and taking advantage of pit strategy. Kahne ended Stage 3 in seventh, giving the team four stage points.
Unfortunately, the loose conditions returned and Kahne fell from 12th to 20th in the final 100-lap run to the end.
A 20th-place result was the team’s fourth straight finish of 21st or better and fifth top 20 of 2018. So, 20th is an average day for a team like Leavine, who also had five top 20s at this time in 2017 with driver Michael McDowell. In the same breath, top 10s are tough to get, with only one in the last 49 races.
While many are waiting to see significant progress with the No. 95 team, it’s clear that it’s a slow process to move over that 20th-place hump to morph into a weekly top-15 contender. However, the last four weeks have been their best four-week run of 2018 and it leads them to Pocono Raceway where they finished 18th last year with McDowell. Kahne won there in 2013 with HMS and has nine top 10s in 28 starts.
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