Kasey Kahne, left, ended the regular season 20th in the point standings, while Brian Vickers was 18th. Credit: Streeter Lecka/Getty Images

Kahne's focus turns to improving for next year

Vickers says NHIS "good place to start" improving toward 2006

The Chase may be on, but for the other 33 drivers in each week's field the objective remains the same: win.

Among those hoping to jump-start their march toward 2006 is Kasey Kahne. In three previous starts at Loudon's 1.058-mile flat track, Kahne has posted three top-10 finishes.

	Inside the Numbers Most top-fives since 2004 Rank Driver No. 1. J. Johnson 29 2. T. Stewart 22 3. D. Earnhardt Jr. 21   J. Gordon 21 5. K. Busch 18   K. Kahne 18 7. M. Martin 16   R. Newman 16 9. G. Biffle 14   M. Kenseth 14

Kahne was sixth in the July race at New Hampshire, and has not finished worse than eighth at the track.

"These final 10 races are very important for our team," Kahne said. "First, we want another win or two this year. Second, we want to work on the consistency that's needed to be a Chase team and compete for the championship."

Consistency seems to be all that is lacking for the No. 9 Evernham team. Only twice this season has Kahne posted consecutive top-10 finishes, and the team has been hurt by six DNFs.

Since the beginning of the 2004 season, Kahne has 16 top-five finishes. However, he is the only driver among the top 10 in that category who has not made the Chase.

Nonetheless, Kahne enters New Hampshire with finishes of sixth and eighth in his past two races.

"We've shown the kind of consistency the past couple of weeks that puts a team in position to compete for the win," Kahne said. "Tommy [Baldwin, team director] has our Dodge Charger handling better each week and he's making great calls in the pits that put us in position to race for the win.

"We're looking forward to these final 10 races. Tommy and the team want to get a handle on everything for next year. We want to finish the season strong, and be ready for a fast start when we head to Daytona next February."

Another driver whose attention turns toward improving for 2006 is Brian Vickers. He won the pole for the July race and finished 11th.

In three Cup events this season at 1-mile tracks -- Phoenix, Dover and New Hampshire -- Vickers has two top-10s and an average finish of 7.3.

	Inside the Numbers Best starting average since 2004 Rank Driver Average 1. R. Newman 7.226 2. J. Gordon 10.387 3. J. Johnson 11.387 4. K. Kahne 13.161   J. Mayfield 13.161 6. E. Sadler 13.306 7. G. Biffle 13.710 8. T. Stewart 14.177 9. Ku. Busch 14.258 10. M. Martin 15.419 11. B. Vickers 15.726

He was hampered by braking issues during the series' first trip to New Hampshire, but Vickers said the team now has a better grasp on the track.

"We had some brake problems during the first race and the car didn't handle like it needed to for the line we were running," he said. "Going back this time, I think we've addressed the brake situation and I feel like I learned a lot about how to race that track.

"Tony [Stewart] won that race with a car that hugged the bottom. That's more than likely how we're going to approach things this weekend when we unload."

Consistency also has been a problem for the No. 25 Hendrick team. Still, a recent streak of seven top-15 finishes in the past nine races has turned up the wick on expectations that Vickers' first Cup victory is near.

"I'd be lying if I said it didn't matter whether or not we won before the season ends," he said. "Ideally, we'd like to get that first win, but you can't take anything for granted. We just need to continue to run up front like we've been doing and we'll get there."

"We still need to continue to establish consistency on a week-to-week basis. We've made some big strides as of late, but we're still not where we want to be."

"There are tracks left on the schedule that we'll be going to for the second time this season and it's very important we run better the second time around," Vickers said. "New Hampshire, this weekend, is a good place to start."