RICHMOND, Va. – Kasey Kahne knows what he has to do Saturday night at Richmond International Raceway.
“I think you definitely need to worry about strategy and how to get on the right strategy and have a shot at the end of the race. But yeah, we need to win,” he said.
On the outside looking in at the 16-driver Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup field, Kahne will need help in the form of poor finishes from winless drivers ahead of him in the points, and/or a repeat winner if he doesn’t make his way to Victory Lane.
But Victory Lane is what’s on his mind.
“That’s basically our only way in,” he said. “And these practices today are key to get the car the best that we can and keep getting it better and better for the rest of the season. It’s not about just today and tomorrow. We need to get better in these final 10 races, regardless of being in the Chase or out of the Chase. We need to get better and figure out where we’re lacking, where I’m lacking, and be more prepared when next season starts.”
Kahne said he has remained calm during the final stretch of the regular season as he has battled to earn a Chase spot. After all, just last season he won in the penultimate race of the regular season to clinch his postseason position.
“See, I kind of live this thing every year. It’s like we’re right on the verge, either in or out each year,” he said. “So, I’ve been calm and just understand that we’ll either get our stuff right and win and go fast, or we won’t. That’s all you can do is put the effort in, be prepared, do the best job that you can, and move on to the next race and try to get better each week.”
In evaluating his season to this point, which has featured two top-five finishes, six top-10s and a pole position, Kahne acknowledged that his struggles have been a combination of lack of speed, occasional driver error and some unfortunate incidents.
“There’s been a little bit of bad luck in there, which you have each season; and then it’s just been a struggle to finish top five or top 10, and that’s what we need to get a lot better at if we want to ever contend for wins and ultimately make it into the Chase and a championship down the road,” he said.
But one weekend can turn it all around, and Kahne knows that for 2015, it’s now or never.
He took home fourth place in Friday’s final practice, and his confidence remains high thanks to his sixth-place finish at Richmond earlier this season. That has given him the belief that he can run well at the Virginia short track and let the chips fall where they may.
“We’ve won here. We’ve run well here. We ran well in the spring. It’s a great track for me and the team,” he said. “It’s just how much speed will we have? Going off the last five or six races, we haven’t had enough speed. We haven’t had the cars working the way I’ve needed them to work. So, that’s been a bit of a struggle.
“But those things in racing can change so fast. Just one individual weekend, we can change it all around and be solid. We’ll do the best job we can to have that speed tomorrow night.”