Even without win, Kahne happy with rookie year

TALLADEGA, Ala. (AP) -- Kasey Kahne has been the surprise of 2004 in NASCAR's Nextel Cup Series.

After eight races, the rookie is ninth in the standings, trailing leader Dale Earnhardt Jr. by 160 points. The 24-year-old Kahne has four top fives, including a trio of runner-up finishes.

	The No. 9 Dodge has four top-fives this season. Credit: Autostock

Coming so close to a win without getting one could be pretty frustrating, but Kahne said that's not the case for him and his Evernham Motorsports team.

"We're very happy to be as competitive as we've been at most of the tracks," Kahne said. "It's been fun, we've learned a lot and we know if we keep running up toward the front, eventually we're going to win one."

The biggest downer of the season for Kahne was finishing 41st in the season-opening Daytona 500, completing only 42 of 200 laps because of an engine failure.

Now, he's looking forward to the Aaron's 499 on Sunday at Talladega Superspeedway. Like Daytona, NASCAR requires horsepower-sapping carburetor restrictor plates to slow the cars at Talladega.

"I really like racing at Talladega," said Kahne, whose only previous racing experience on the steeply banked, 2.66-mile oval was in a Busch Series race here last season.

He had a typical Talladega experience, starting from the outside of the front row but getting caught up in a multicar accident just eight laps into the race. He wound up 37th.

VIDEO CLIPS Kahne falls just short at Texas Motor Speedway Play video  •  Kahne's Driver Page  •  World of Dodge

Still, he likes what he has seen of Talladega.

"There's lots of room to race, and it's a lot more racy than Daytona," said Kahne, who also was entered in Saturday's Aaron's 312 Busch race. "We're taking the same car as Daytona and, hopefully we'll have a good day.

"I'm still trying to figure out the key to success here. We tested here, but that was more about working on the car than learning the draft. We'll get some good experience in the draft in the Busch race."