DodgeForum.com - HE DID ITTTT!!!

Damn it Patrick. You stole my glory!:D

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After six runner-up finishes, Kasey Kahne finally closed the deal Saturday night at Richmond -- winning the Chevy 400 by holding off Tony Stewart -- and clinched a spot in next week's Nextel All-Star Challenge.

Kahne beats Stewart in tremendous battle at RIR
May 14, 2005
11:04 PM EDT (03:04 GMT)

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) -- Kasey Kahne raced to his first victory on NASCAR's premier series Saturday night, putting the domination of Roush Racing and Hendrick Motorsports to rest -- at least for a night.

While points leader Jimmie Johnson and Hendrick teammate Jeff Gordon had miserable nights and Roush's Kurt Busch struggled, Kahne finally finished a race that he started with one of the strongest cars.

Kahne, a six-time pole-sitter and six-time runner-up in his career, just beat Tony Stewart off pit road after all the leaders pitted under caution with about 67 laps to go. The Evernham Motorsports driver gradually pulled away from Stewart on a restart with 61 laps remaining, and then again three more times.

The last came with seven laps to go, and when Kahne got clear of Stewart after a one-lap battle, he left Stewart to battle Ryan Newman for second and won by 1.67 seconds in just his 47th career Nextel Cup race.

Unlike the Busch race a night earlier, when 14 Nextel Cup drivers took part in a crashfest slowed for 66 of 253 laps by caution, this race featured long green-flag runs and 21 lead changes in the first 300 laps.

Kahne accounted for the 21st when he got by Stewart on lap 295, and it seemed only cautions gave Stewart a chance to regain the top spot.

Kahne allowed none of it, pulling away each time to hang on for the first victory for the new Dodge Charger on an unusual night that made the points race a whole lot closer.

"It's so awesome. The pit stops were unbelievable," Kahne said in Victory lane. "It's just such a great moment for us. We drove so hard all night racing tonight and ended up beating him. That was so cool."

Stewart, who led eight times for 143 laps, hung on for second in his Chevrolet, followed by Newman's Ford and Kyle Busch of Hendrick.

"He needed that perfect night. Tonight was the night," Stewart said of Kahne. "I got the honor of being the guy he got to race for the win."

The race was a costly one for Johnson and Gordon, who started the night 1-2 in the points race, and to a lesser degree for Busch, the defending series champion who missed a chance to gain lots of ground.

Roush teams had won five of the first 10 races of the year and the Hendrick drivers had won four, but they weren't close in this one.

Kahne led 242 of the 400 laps. Credit: Autostock

Johnson spun and hit the wall on lap 81, then hit it again when his steering failed as he was trying to hustle the car to pit road.

He took his car to the garage, finishing 40th.

Gordon hit the wall when Bobby Labonte caused Rusty Wallace to spin on lap 165, and the four-time champion went several laps down on pit road.

"It was one of the stupidest things I've ever done in my life," Gordon said. "A car spun in front of me, I saw smoke and I slowed down, decided to take it a little high and just ran straight into the wall."

After a second pit stop under a green flag, Gordon took his car to the garage and was more than 50 laps down when he finally came back out. Even then, he kept losing ground and finally called it a night, finishing 39th.

Busch, meantime, was running second after pit stops when the race was ready to go back to green on lap 242. But just before the final circuit under yellow, he headed for pit road after telling his crew he'd heard a bad noise. Busch dropped two laps behind while his team investigated.

He rallied to finish 17th, the last car on the lead lap.

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Race Results

Chevy American Revolution 400 | Richmond International Raceway

May 14, 2005 | Race 11 of 36

Fin St Car Driver Make Sponsor Pts/Bonus Laps Status
1 1 #9 Kasey Kahne Dodge Dodge Dealers/UAW 190/10 400 Running
2 3 #20 Tony Stewart Chevrolet The Home Depot 175/5 400 Running
3 2 #12 Ryan Newman Dodge ALLTEL 165/0 400 Running
4 10 #5 Kyle Busch * Chevrolet Kellogg's/Star Wars 160/0 400 Running
5 7 #29 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet GM Goodwrench 160/5 400 Running
6 9 #16 Greg Biffle Ford National Guard 150/0 400 Running
7 5 #38 Elliott Sadler Ford M&M's 146/0 400 Running
8 39 #18 Bobby Labonte Chevrolet Boniva 142/0 400 Running
9 23 #15 Michael Waltrip Chevrolet NAPA Auto Parts 138/0 400 Running
10 17 #42 Jamie McMurray Dodge Texaco/Havoline 134/0 400 Running
11 6 #21 Ricky Rudd Ford Motorcraft Genuine Parts 130/0 400 Running
12 26 #17 Matt Kenseth Ford DeWalt Power Tools 132/5 400 Running
13 15 #19 Jeremy Mayfield Dodge Dodge Dealers/UAW 124/0 400 Running
14 27 #8 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet Budweiser 121/0 400 Running
15 14 #6 Mark Martin Ford Viagra 118/0 400 Running
16 12 #31 Jeff Burton Chevrolet Cingular Wireless 115/0 400 Running
17 4 #97 Kurt Busch Ford IRWIN Industrial Tools/Sharpie 117/5 400 Running
18 25 #01 Joe Nemechek Chevrolet U.S. Army 109/0 399 Running
19 8 #2 Rusty Wallace Dodge Miller Lite 106/0 399 Running
20 34 #22 Scott Wimmer Dodge Caterpillar 103/0 399 Running
21 11 #99 Carl Edwards Ford Roundup Extended Control 100/0 399 Running
22 21 #77 Travis Kvapil * Dodge Kodak/Jasper Engines 97/0 399 Running
23 22 #40 Sterling Marlin Dodge Coors Light 94/0 399 Running
24 18 #43 Jeff Green Dodge Cheerios/Betty Crocker 91/0 399 Running
25 38 #11 Jason Leffler Chevrolet FedEx Ground 88/0 399 Running
26 36 #10 Scott Riggs Chevrolet Arometrics 85/0 399 Running
27 19 #07 Dave Blaney Chevrolet Bass Pro/Tracker/Jack 82/0 398 Running
28 16 #41 Casey Mears Dodge Target 79/0 398 Running
29 30 #4 Mike Wallace Chevrolet Lucas Oil Products 76/0 398 Running
30 40 #49 Ken Schrader Dodge Schwan's Home Service 73/0 398 Running
31 33 #7 Robby Gordon Chevrolet Jim Beam 70/0 398 Running
32 29 #25 Brian Vickers Chevrolet GMAC/ditech.com 67/0 397 Running
33 41 #45 Kyle Petty Dodge Georgia-Pacific/Brawny 69/5 397 Running
34 35 #88 Dale Jarrett Ford UPS 61/0 396 Running
35 31 #192 Tony Raines Chevrolet Front Row Motorsports 58/0 392 Running
36 32 #32 Bobby Hamilton Jr. Chevrolet Tide 55/0 387 Running
37 24 #0 Mike Bliss Chevrolet NetZero Best Buy 52/0 375 Running
38 43 #66 Hermie Sadler Ford Peak Fitness 49/0 367 Off Track
39 20 #24 Jeff Gordon Chevrolet DuPont 46/0 252 Out of Race
40 28 #48 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet Lowe's 43/0 80 Out of Race
41 13 #09 Johnny Sauter Dodge Miccosukee Gaming & Resorts 40/0 64 Out of Race
42 42 #89 Morgan Shepherd Dodge Victory in Jesus/Red Line Oil 37/0 36 Out of Race
43 37 #175 Mike Garvey Dodge Jani-King/Rinaldi Air Conditioning 34/0 23 Out of Race

* Denotes Rookie

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Lap By Lap

Lap by Lap: Richmond
May 14, 2005
10:40 PM EDT (02:40 GMT)

Lap 400: Kasey Kahne wins the Chevy 400 at RIR. It is Kahne's first career Nextel Cup win.

Lap 393: Green flag. Kahne leads.

Lap 386: Green flag. Kahne leads.

Lap 377: Caution is out for Hermie Sadler's blown engine. Mike Bliss runs through Sadler's oil, hits the fence and has heavy damage.

Lap 358: Green flag. Kahne leads.

Lap 351: Kahne has a 1.6-second lead. That is his biggest lead of the night.

Lap 340: Green flag. Kahne leads.

Lap 337: Kahne has led 178 laps. Stewart has led 143 laps. Kurt Busch (11) is the only other driver in double figures in laps led.

Lap 333: Leaders on pit road. Kahne is first in, first on again. Stewart comes out second after asking for an air pressure adjustment. Ryan Newman comes out third, Elliott Sadler is fourth and Jamie McMurray is fifth. Greg Biffle is sixth.

Lap 318: Things are fairly quiet. Kahne has a half-second lead.

Lap 302: Kahne and Stewart have each led 143 laps.

Lap 296: Kahne back around Stewart.

Lap 290: Stewart takes lead from Kahne.

Lap 282: Stewart has closed the gap to under a second. Kahne still leads.

Lap 270: Kahne has a 1.4-second lead over Stewart.

Lap 254: Kahne leads his 100th lap of the night.

Lap 243: Green flag. Kahne leads.

Lap 242: Kurt Busch is back on pit road. Possible lugnut jam on the No. 97 car. Team is working on the right-front wheel-well. Busch will go a lap down.

Lap 235: Leaders on pit road. Kahne is first out of the pits. Matt Kenseth stays out and assumes the lead. Kurt Busch takes second with a nice stop, and Stewart comes out third. Ryan Newman comes out fourth. Jamie McMurray is fifth and Kyle Busch is sixth. Kevin Harvick loses six spots on that pit stop.

Lap 234: Stewart spins while leading and the fifth caution is out. Stewart has no damage. Mike Bliss gets the Lucky Dog.

Lap 228: Stewart is back in the lead. He gets around Busch. The top three cars are seperated by only .3 seconds.

Lap 225: Kurt Busch passes Tony Stewart for the lead.

Lap 221: Stewart retakes the lead from Kahne. This is the 13th lead change.

Lap 218: Despite damage, Jeff Burton is running eighth and is the fastest car on the track.

Lap 206: 30 cars are on the lead lap

Lap 200: Halfway. Kahne continues to lead.

Lap 193: Jeff Gordon to the garage.

Jeff Gordon quotes:

"I know exactly what happened. It was one of the stupidest things I've ever done in my life. You know, a car spun in front of me, I saw smoke and I slowed down, decided to take it a little high, just ran straight into the wall, by myself."

Lap 189: Kahne takes lead back from Stewart. This is the 12th lead change.

Lap 172: Stewart gets around Kahne for the lead.

Lap 171: Green flag. Kahne leads.

Lap 166: Leaders on pit road. Kahne is first in, first out again. Stewart is second, and Ryan Newman comes out a surprising third. Harvick is fourth. Jeff Burton hits Jamie McMurray exiting his pit and has right-front damage. Jeff Gordon is on pit road for extensive repairs to his right-front. Gordon will lose a lap.

Lap 165: Caution is out. Bobby Labonte gets into Rusty Wallace, sending Wallace around. Scott Riggs gets the Lucky Dog. Jeff Gordon slaps the wall and has damage.

Lap 162: Kurt Busch is back in the lead. He sweeps by Stewart. Kahne gets around Stewart for second.

Lap 149: Stewart leads his 100th lap

Lap 136: Stewart takes the lead from Kurt Busch. This is the eighth lead change.

Lap 134: Kurt Busch gets around Kahne for the lead.

Lap 134: Green flag. Kahne leads.

Lap 128: Leaders are in for pit stops. Kahne easily beats everyone else off pit road. Kurt Busch is second and Harvick is third, Dale Earnhardt Jr. will have to serve a penalty for entering pit road too fast. He will restart last on the lead lap.

Lap 121: Johnson has decided not to return to the race. He will finish 40th.

Lap 120: Only the top seven cars are within 10 seconds of the lead

Lap 113: Kasey Kahne has a 1.5-second lead, the largest of the night.

Lap 110: We have had four different leaders: Stewart (90), Kahne (20), Harvick (1), Petty (1).

Lap 99: Kahne has a one-second lead over Kurt Busch.

Lap 91: Kahne gets around Stewart for the lead. He leads for the second time. This is the sixth lead change.

Lap 87: Green flag. Tony Stewart leads.

Lap 81: Caution is out for Jimmie Johnson's crash. Dave Blaney and Sterling Marlin slams doors entering Turn 2. Michael Waltrip and Jimmie Johnson check up, and Johnson is turned by Travis Kvapil. Johnson hits the inside fence hard and can't steer the car onto pit road. The first 23 cars on the lead lap remain on the track, and the rest pit. Scott Riggs gets the Lucky Dog. Johnson is checked at the infield medical center and released.

Johnson quotes:

"Well, the car's pretty bad. Cars in front of me were sliding around and checked up. It just was a chain reaction deal. I got hit from behind. Down in the inside wall, when I was making my lap around, I tried to get back to pit road and went down the backstretch and my steering failed. When I climbed on the brakes, all the camber in the car and castor in it, I braked and I turned right into the inside wall again. If it didn't hurt that I backed it into the wall the first time, it killed it the second time."

Lap 78: Stewart has a one-second lead over Kahne

Lap 69: Green flag. Tony Stewart leads. Outstanding restart for Stewart, who has checked out.

Lap 65: Leaders on pit road. Tony Stewart leads off pit road. Kasey Kahne uses his front pit stall to come out second. Kurt Busch comes out third. Kyle Petty stays out and leads a lap. Everyone on pit road took four tires.

Lap 54: Stewart is back in the lead. This is the fourth lead change.

Lap 53: Kevin Harvick passes Tony Stewart for lead. He is the third different leader.

Lap 53: Kurt Busch gets around Kasey Kahne for third

Lap 42: Tony Stewart leads Harvick by .750 seconds

Lap 35: Stewart still leads. All 35 laps have been under green.

Lap 25: Tony Stewart still leads, but he is about to encounter lap traffic

Lap 10: Tony Stewart already has a half-second lead

Lap 2: Tony Stewart takes lead from Kasey Kahne

Lap 1: Kasey Kahne leads from the Bud Pole