Kahne trying to shake off stormy start to year at TMS

FORT WORTH, Texas -- Kasey Kahne's not used to being in this position.

Last year he came to Texas with a victory and two fourth-place finishes while sitting fourth in points. But this year's different.

He's 34th in points, 513 behind leader Jeff Gordon. He's winless. He's finished on the lead lap just once -- the season-opening Daytona 500, where his seventh-place finish was one of just two times he's cracked the top 20.

A start to 2007 that many thought was an aberration has turned into a consistent string of bad finishes.

Kahne qualified second for the California race, led the first 20 laps and then blew a motor to finish 38th. He earned the pole for the Las Vegas race, led 13 laps and then crashed. At Atlanta he was supposed to dominate the same way he did a year ago to get the first of six victories. He didn't, starting 12th, finishing 39th and struggling all day.

A second-place start at Bristol ended three laps down in 19th.

At Martinsville, a week after narrowly securing a guaranteed starting position, he nearly took advantage of the free provisional -- he was the last car to qualify on time, starting 41st. The race was better, rebounding to a 25th-place finish.

So no -- being on the backside of the garage where the bottom half of the standings park isn't something to which Kahne and his No. 9 team are accustomed.

"We've had a little bit of everything, and I'm part of every one of those things," said Kahne, who began the season with 50-point driver and owner penalties. "The penalties don't help. But it just hasn't been our year so far. You can look at luck. You can look at mistakes. You can look at missing setups. We're just all trying to make things right.

"I haven't been down in any ways. Nobody's gotten mad at me, and I haven't gotten mad at them."

"I'm honestly happy with the way everybody's handling stuff," team owner Ray Evernham said. "They're not arguing, fighting and pointing fingers. They're trying to figure it out together." (Continued)