By: Zach Catanzareti, Staff Writer
Saturday night at Daytona International Speedway may have been a wreck-fests of all wreck-fests but Kasey Kahne survived it all. And when it was time to hand out the trophy and checkers, he was there to battle it out.
His No. 95 Leavine Family Racing Chevrolet was a front-runner in the final stage of the Coke Zero Sugar 400. Leading 17 laps, Kahne was in strong position to score his first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series win in nearly a year.
“The Thorne Chevrolet was awesome,” Kahne said. “I figured it out in the second stage.”
After getting some contact in the lap 55 Big One, Kahne finished fourth in Stage 2. From there, the No. 95 was a common name in the top five despite starting the day from the rear.
“I knew we had a car capable of winning,” he said. “I did the right things with it. I had opportunities to get to the lead, we stayed there at times. But I didn’t it figure it all out at the end.”
What a night! @kaseykahne and the @Thorne_Research Chevy finish 4th tonight @DISupdates. #Thorne95
— LeavineFamilyRacing (@LFR95) July 8, 2018
Sitting second on the final overtime restart, there was only Martin Truex Jr. between himself and Victory Lane… until Erik Jones arrived. The No. 20 powered by Kahne with a three-wide move entering Turn 3, pushing Kahne back a few spots. He finished fourth.
“I needed to block the No. 20,” he said. “I tried to slow him up but he was coming fast, the gap was big and he was coming fast. I didn’t do a good enough job of stopping him.”
Racing for a winless team, Kahne came into Daytona with subpar results throughout the first half of 2018. With Saturday’s fourth standing as his first top 10 of the year, he knew who he was up against in those final laps.
“Truex was super fast, I was just trying to hang with those guys,” he said. “I thought we had a really good shot at it. By the time I lost the lead, I knew I had to get back there. I never got there.”
Leaving Florida with no win, a second straight top five for LFR at the July Daytona race advances the team and driver to 26th in points.
