When you’re pushed into a corner and need to win a race (or completely out-perform your rivals), can you do it? That was the question for Kasey Kahne, as he was the only Hendrick Motorsports driver not in the chase. Â He answered with a thrilling victory at Atlanta Motor Speedway Sunday night.
“Yeah, we are locked in, and I hate that it comes down to this Atlanta or Richmond just about every year for me,” Kahne said after the race. “Sometimes we are in, sometimes we are out. But thankful that now at HMS (Hendrick Motorsports), I’ve been in all three years now. We have the pressure all the way to Richmond, but we made it again, thankful for that.”
Kahne entered the race 33 points behind Greg Biffle, and based on the way Biffle has been running all season, a couple of top three finishes could have done it for Kahne. But the driver of the No. 5 Farmers Insurance Chevrolet SS wanted to do it the right way, by winning.
The first 300 laps were admittedly uneventful and saw Stewart-Haas Racing driver Kevin Harvick lead 195 laps. It looked as if the No. 4 team would get their fourth win of the year and put Harvick’s name at the top of the Chase grid. But on a late restart with 24 laps to go, Kahne was able to not only get around the dominate Harvick, but pull away to almost a full second lead before a caution involving Kyle Busch and Martin Truex Jr. resulted in the first attempt at a green-white-checkered finish.
During the pit stops, Matt Kenseth and Paul Menard took two tires and lined up in first and second for the restart. Harvick lined up fourth, and Kahne lined up fifth. Throughout the entire night, the outside lane just wouldn’t go on restarts, and it showed again in the first attempt at a green-white-checkered. Menard spun his tires and Harvick plowed into the back of him, causing a multi-car accident with Harvick taking most of the damage. He would finish the day in 19th.
This set things up for a second attempt at a green-white-checkered finish, this time with Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Denny Hamlin and Matt Kenseth on the front row, and Kasey Kahne and Danica Patrick behind them. On the final restart, Hamlin tried his best to hold off Kahne into turn one but Kahne, on four fresh tires,  sailed past the No. 11 of Hamlin. Off of turn two, Kahne nearly cleared Kenseth, but Kenseth hung on to Kahne’s rear quarter panel and was able to stay side-by-side into turn three.
But two tires just wouldn’t cut it at Atlanta, and Kenseth’s car wiggled off of turn four, allowing Kahne to clear him and go on to win the Oral-B USA 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway, clinching his spot in the chase. Kenseth also officially clinched a spot with his second place finish on points which means all four Hendrick Motorsports drivers, and all three Joe Gibbs Racing drivers will be part of the 16-driver Chase grid.
Denny Hamlin finished in third place followed by Jimmie Johnson in fourth and Carl Edwards in fifth. Danica Patrick was sixth, capturing the best finish of her Sprint Cup career. Ryan Newman, Kyle Larson, Aric Almirola and Greg Biffle round out the top 10 finishers at Atlanta.
Jeff Gordon remains the leader in the Sprint Cup standings with Dale Earnhardt Jr. 21 points behind in second place. Kenseth (-78), Joey Logano (-81) and Brad Keselowski (-90) are in third through fifth respectively.
Also of note, Tony Stewart made his return to racing at Atlanta since missing three events after being involved in a sprint car accident that took the life of Kevin Ward Jr. on August 9. Stewart started in 12th and ran as high as fourth in the early stages of the race.
Unfortunately, Stewart’s night came to an early end after a restart on lap 123 when Kyle Busch made contact with him, causing damage to both cars. Although Stewart’s team was able to make repairs, a blown tire on lap 172 resulted in more extensive damage and sent him to the garage. Stewart ended the night with a 41st place finish.
Next week the series travels to Richmond International Raceway for the final race of the regular season. With only two spots remaining on the Chase grid, it will be the last chance for drivers such as Kyle Larson, Clint Bower, Paul Menard and Tony Stewart to race their way in on points or to secure a spot by winning. No matter what happens, it’s sure to be a fun ride.
Go to nascar.com for the complete results. http://www.nascar.com/en_us/sprint-cup-series/standings/results/2014/oralb-usa-500.raceResults.results.html
