Bristol Motor Speedway is known for a lot of things and the bump and run is something that’s become famous at the bullring.
Saturday night however, Kasey Kahne opted out of that option, as well as the option to wreck Matt Kenseth, while racing for the win. He had plenty of opportunities over the race’s final 20 laps in which he caught Kenseth with a faster car, but was unable to make the clean move he wanted. Kenseth took home another victory as Kahne earned a first and second place finish at the track on the season.
“Seems that way. I’ve always really raced that way,” a clearly dejected Kahne said afterwards on how he’s a notably clean racer.
“I don’t have any experience doing it for one [wrecking someone], and for two, that’s just kind of how I’ve always raced. I think more than anything it’s just discouraging when other guys, like Matt in his case at Watkins Glen, watching that afterwards, all he had to do was lift, and he didn’t because he didn’t want to get passed from behind or whatever the situation was.
“It wasn’t a mistake like he got loose or anything, he just didn’t lift and wiped us out and those kind of things are discouraging because that’s not how I race, but at the same time, more times than not, Matt races me clean.
“I don’t know – I think at the end of the day I just don’t wreck people.”
Two weeks at Watkins Glen Brad Keselowski fought the internal battle of wrecking Kyle Busch for the win. It was also in that race that Kenseth got into Kahne, igniting the Hendrick Motorsports driver’s fire again about the way the Joe Gibbs Racing team has raced him this season.
Which is why no one would have thought any different – besides Kenseth followers – if Kahne was to take this opportunity to get one back. After all, he’s finished second to Kenseth twice prior to Bristol. He’s been wrecked four times by JGR cars.
His attempt to sweep the BMS races for 2013 came up short, but Kahne moved back up three spots in the points to eighth. Two races remain before the Chase starts and he would love to have more bonus points for seeding. Except he was unwilling to earn those Saturday by going against his own personal code, even if he might have fought the decision afterwards.
“I had already tried to clear him on a slide job and he just didn’t brake and stayed in the gas and we were going to hit each other,” Kahne said about the exciting side-by-side battle with Kenseth.
“I don’t know how all that was going to work out. I needed a win bad, but I also needed a finish, and I just didn’t do anything crazy. I just basically ran as hard as I could, tried to pass him two different times and ran on his bumper and hoped he’d screw up, and he really never did.”
The late battle was an instant classic as the two fought hard for what would have been a big win. Kahne had the better car and the strategy to have gotten into the position, charging when it mattered most. But in the end, it was more of the same in the Kenseth versus Kahne battle.
“It was a great night for us, good points and things,” Kahne noted, “but yeah, I wish I could have figured out how to get by him.”
I don’t think he’s very confident in his abilities. He didn’t have to wreck him, just rub him enough to move him and shoot around. I can hardly believe this guy doesn’t know how to do this.