With Francis, Kahne ready to climb out of early hole (cont'd)

Kahne said that getting Francis back this weekend is a boost, and it appeared to pay immediate dividends in qualifying when Kahne turned a lap of 125.313 mph that was second-fastest. He will start next to pole-sitter Jeff Gordon on the front row Sunday, although he has qualified well for other races this season and knows that it is no guarantee for a strong finish -- especially at a place as unpredictable and often painfully brutal as Bristol.

Francis said that his return will instantly improve race-day communications with Kahne, which he said is a highly underrated aspect of getting any race team to operate with a high degree of efficiency.

Francis returns atop No. 9 team's pit box

Team director Kenny Francis is back just in time for Kasey Kahne and Ray Evernham, who go to Bristol one spot out of the top 35 in owner points.

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"That's something I had to work hard at when I first started the crew chief job four or five years ago -- talking on the radio," Francis said. "It's a lot harder than it might seem to get a good rapport going over the radio.

"People that know me know it's just a lot different in how you act when you try to talk to a driver during the race. You've got to know when to update him with the right information. [The crew chief] has got to keep that information flow going back and forth. [The driver] has got to tell us what the car is doing.

"We've got to tell him how the race is progressing and the big picture of what everything looks like. I think that's one of the biggest things. It took me a long time to get that really figured out, how to do that. That's a lot more important than I think people give it credit for."

Kahne knows it is an important part of the equation to success for him -- or lack of success, when it's missing. But he said the absence of Francis has been only part of the reason for his struggles this season. Some of it has been his own doing; much of it, he insists, has been bad luck.

Francis agreed with that assessment.

"We're sweating it out, trying to jump a couple of spots here at Bristol and get back in the top 35," Francis said. "Hopefully, we can have a good run. We're certainly due for a good finish. We've had some good runs. We just haven't finished the races."

Kahne said lofty preseason expectations simply haven't matched up with reality, yet.

"We expected to have our crew chief. We expected to be winning races. We expected all kinds of stuff," Kahne said. "This is a pretty tough deal. Some teams have it and some teams don't. We hope to have it real soon."