Kasey Kahne passed Tony Stewart on lap 308 today at Texas Motor Speedway and drove off into the sunset to capture the Samsung/RadioShack 500 by a margin of over five seconds….giving himself an early birthday present (it’s Monday). This was Kasey’s second win of the season (he took down Atlanta three weeks ago) and the third of his career (all three of his wins have come from the pole, btw) moving him into a tie for 85th on the all-time win list.
Kasey’s the 11th different winner in 11 races at TMS, and this was victory #9 for Ray Evernham…..and it was worth a handsome $530,164 to boot!
Denny Hamlin (4th) had his career-best finish today. His previous best was 7th when we were here last November.
Scott Riggs (7th) had his best finish since he was runner-up at Michigan last August.
Martin Truex Jr (8th) had his best finish since he was 7th at Lowe’s last May.
David Stremme (21st) had his best finish since he was 16th at Chicagoland last July.
STREAKIN….Kasey Kahne has 5 Top-10’s in the last 6 races.
Mark Martin has 5 Top-10’s in the last 6 races.
This Week’s Elevator…UP: Operator of the week is a lonely Tony Stewart (+37). DOWN: The Big Dropper was Greg Biffle (-37), J. J. Yeley (-33), Kurt Busch (-27), Ryan Newman (-26), and Kyle Petty (-20). With the way this season has gone for Biffle, it should come as no surprise that his is his 2nd BD of the season all ready.
We had three drivers lead a lap today for the first time this season. Martin Truex Jr, Jeff Green, and Carl Edwards give us 30 different drivers to lead a lap already this year…..last year we had a total of 51 different leaders.
No change at the top of the standings this week….Jimmie Johnson’s lead is now only 15 markers over new #2 man Matt Kenseth. Denny Hamlin (23rd to 14th) made the best move forward while Kyle Petty (26th to 32nd) fell the most spots.(Stock Car Fans)(4-9-2006)
