Brian Vickers wrecked his primary car Friday during practice. Credit: Autostock

Rookies Kahne, Vickers have a rough go of it at Dover

DOVER, Del. -- A pair of Nextel Cup rookies had misfortune strike very early in Sunday's MBNA America 400.

Just 13 laps in, the engine in Kahne's No. 9 Dodge expired, sending Kahne and crew scurrying to the garage area.

Thirty-five laps later, Brian Vickers lost control of his No. 25 Chevrolet and banged into the outside wall.

Kahne said his problem happened out of nowhere.

Ray Evernham and Kasey Kahne

"It was going down the frontstretch and it popped," Kahne said. "It popped out of gear and it was still running pretty rough."

Kahne said Sunday's incident was the first problem he had experienced with the car all weekend.

"The motor ran good all weekend," he said. "It really ran good all weekend and it was running good today."

Kahne led 36 laps in the June event here, but hit oil on the track while in the lead and had to settle for a 21st-place finish.

Kahne entered Sunday's event in 12th place in the Nextel Cup Series standings, just nine points behind Jamie McMurray for the much-hyped 11th-place position. He said he was in line to gain some ground before the engine went away.

"I was biding my time," he said. "It was early in the race, but I think the car was all right. It was a little loose, but that's a good thing," he said. "You want to start loose here and it gets better as you go.

"We were getting better, but something broke."

VIDEO Early Exit Kasey Kahne has engine troubles just 13 laps into the race

Meanwhile, Vickers said his problems were the result of an ill-handling racecar.

"We were pretty bad loose at the start of the race," he said. "I was just moving around trying to find the line that would work and up high was working pretty good.

"I just kept going higher and higher and finally got up into the marbles and just went around," Vickers said. "That was my bad."

Sunday's wreck was the second time during the weekend that Vickers got an up-close look at the wall. He crashed during Friday afternoon's opening practice session. He rebounded from that crash to qualify third.

He won't have a chance to rebound from his most recent accident until next weekend at Talladega.

"We were way too loose," he said. "We probably should have come in on that first stop but I didn't. Hindsight is 20-20, but that's part of it.

"When you're loose and running up high like that, it's right on the edge."