WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. – For the second consecutive week, Kasey Kahne’s day was derailed by an incident.
Last week at Pocono Raceway, the No. 5 Chevrolet SS got loose in Turn 3 before sliding down pit road and making contact with the inner wall, ending his day after just five laps and cementing a 43rd-place result.
Sunday afternoon at Watkins Glen International, it was an incident on a Lap 49 restart that sent him toward a 42nd-place finish.
“I made it longer this week than last,” Kahne joked. “That was pretty awful last week. Yeah, at this rate we’re going to need to win. That’s the only way we’ll go into the Chase.”
Kahne explained what happened at the restart – a competitor’s slow start caused an accordion effect that caught a handful of drivers in an incident.
“I had a run from behind from the time we all took off -- I was trying to time it for start-finish (line) and pull out as soon as you get there,” he said. “But they all stopped before we were at the start-finish. So before I could even turn right, I was underneath them.”
Now, Kahne knows that with four races left before the Chase, he needs “to get a little better.”
But he’s confident in the No. 5 team’s ability at the four remaining tracks.
“We had a nice test at Bristol, so I feel that will help us when we get there. And Michigan; there were times at Indianapolis when we were really quick with that package,” he said. “So hopefully we can run good at Michigan and maybe get a win there. We’ve won there before and also won there at Bristol before; so, maybe one of those tracks -- Darlington and Richmond.
“There are some tracks we can run really well at.”