Notebook: Sandler could be lucky charm for Kahne

I Now Pronounce You Kasey and Ray should be the title of Adam Sandler's new movie, not I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry.

Kasey Kahne, driver of Ray Evernham's No. 9 Dodge, landed a ninth-place finish Saturday night after a season fraught with bad luck and poor performances up to this point. His last top-10 finish was the season-opener at Daytona 500 in February where Kahne finished seventh.

Last year, Kahne was touted for the most wins on the season, six in all.

Now with a pair of Daytona top-10s in his back pocket, Kahne said this will be the mid-season momentum the No. 9 team needs to make a turnaround.

Perhaps a little Hollywood on the hood is the ticket.

Kahne has a partnership with actor and comedian Adam Sandler and periodically runs paint schemes promoting Sandler's movies. Last season's spring Michigan race, Kahne ran the movie paint scheme Click on the hood of his car and found Victory Lane.

Kahne's Saturday night paint scheme promoted Sandler's new movie I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry co-starring Kevin James, who served as the honorary starter for Saturday night's Pepsi 400.

Before the race, James said Kahne was his favorite driver.

"He's the guy I'm going with now because I know him and that's all I know," he said. "He had a race today [Saturday's rain-delayed Busch race] and he was a little tired but I rubbed his feet for about an hour-and-a-half and I think he's going to be OK so I think we're good."

Turns out, the star's prediction was accurate because Kahne battled back for a strong finish despite being collected in an early wreck with Jeff Green on the tri-oval (watch video).

"The crew did a tremendous job repairing the car. We didn't lose a lap for the initial repairs and when we made stops later, they continued to work on it," Kahne said. "It just kept getting better and better."

Rubber words

Crew members in Kevin Harvick's pits were apparently ticked off at Juan Montoya for sending their driver into the wall early in the race and voiced their disgust via the side of a used race tire.

Displayed for all to read on the wall of a tire in yellow was the phrase: "Keep for 42, go back to F1 so you don't have to race."

On about Lap 56, Montoya's No. 42 machine got loose and made contact with Harvick bouncing the No. 29 machine off the wall creating damage to his right side which ultimately led to a tire rub (watch video).

Harvick, defending Daytona 500 champion, spent a substantial amount of time on pit road, went a lap down, and finished 34th.

Earnhardt Jr. takes a lickin' and keeps on tickin'

Coming off a pair of strong finishes, Dale Earnhardt Jr. couldn't catch a break Saturday night. The only things he caught were wrecks; two of them.

The No. 8 was hit from behind in a chain reaction crash resulting from the Denny Hamlin vs. Tony Stewart incident on Lap 14. Bobby Labonte ran into the back of Earnhardt Jr. and Reed Sorenson was said to have made contact with Labonte (watch video).

Earnhardt and company took the car to the garage for repairs, returned to the track on Lap 64, only to get hit a second time in a multi-car crash on Lap 131 (watch video).

He managed to hold on to his 12th-place spot in the point standings but hobbled home Saturday night in 36th position; with a sense of humor no less.

Lap-by-Lap

Jamie McMurray overcame a penalty to battle through the field for his last-lap victory at Daytona. Read how he did it.

• Complete story, click here
• Video highlights, click here

Running a couple dozen laps behind the leaders, the team needed a fuel stop to make it to the end.

Earnhardt asked for tires as well as fuel and crew chief Tony Eury Jr. replied, "You only have four laps on those."

Earnhardt said, "Well if you like this set so much, you can take them home with you. I need tires. This place is like Darlington now."

What ignition box?

He led the most laps in the race, 55, but not the one that mattered most.

Clint Bowyer, driver of the No. 7 Chevrolet finished in seventh place on Saturday but couldn't help but wonder what if ...

What if the complication with his ignition box hadn't happened?

"I was real bummed out actually. It took me a while to figure out what happened. We hit the other ignition box and it took off again," he said. "I guess being in California traffic, nose-to-tail at 80 mph and your car quits and you're in the middle lane. I guess that's the biggest thing."

Saturday night's finish marks Bowyer's ninth top-10 in 18 races this season.

McMurray works hard for the money

The scoring loops at Daytona International Speedway reported seven lead changes between Jamie McMurray and Kyle Busch on the final lap of Saturday night's Pepsi 400.

Of course, McMurray led at the final loop and went on to win the second-closest race since NASCAR started electronic scoring in 1993 (watch video).