Kahne, Busch find hope in otherwise lost seasons (cont'd)

Busch learned that he could not rely on the setup his No. 2 team had been planning to run in Saturday's race.

"It felt like after we tested here that the 2 car was nowhere to be found," Busch said. "So we mixed the 77 setup and the 12 setup at Penske Racing. We really worked hard, and it feels good to put this combination up front.

Kasey Kahne

2008 Results

Starts	31
Wins	2
Top-5s	4
Top-10s	13
21st or worse	13
DNFs	3

Sprint Press Pass

Kasey Kahne talks about his second-place finish at Lowe's.

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"Who knows if it'll work next week, with these cars being so touchy? But it was a great run for the R6 engine for Dodge. I feel like I had the adequate power that I needed. We're still working toward building for next year."

Kahne unloaded his car for the Charlotte test confident that he already had a setup that was likely to be successful. After all, he had used it to win both the All-Star race and the Coca-Cola 600 at the track in May.

Instead, like Busch, he found out his car was junk when it was first rolled onto the track for the two-day test. They changed their setup dramatically to prepare a car that worked its way into contention for the win Saturday night.

"We're working hard to keep getting better," Kahne said. "Hopefully, we'll be able to contend for a championship ourselves at some point down the road."

It won't be this season, of course. Even after Saturday's finishes, Kahne sits 14th in points and Busch 18th. But with the R6 engine coming on line for all Dodge cars next season -- Busch currently is the only one running it this season -- there is a collective optimism about the future.

Busch said he told his team he wanted to start running the R6 because he is ready to take chances if it will help set him up for a better season in 2009.

"I told them I want as much [research-and-development] stuff as we can put in the car. I think we're capable of finishing in the top 35 in points -- so we want to finish somewhere between 13th and 35th when the season ends, no matter if we have a bunch of DNFs or a bunch of top-fives," he said.

"It's a great feeling to know that we sniffed the lead out on the last run [Saturday]. It feels great to have the communication with the crew to have great pit stops. We took two tires at the end to get that track position, and that's what it takes to put yourself in position. So we've got a good chemistry balance right now."

Busch said that showed in how the No. 2 team was able to blend setup information from the No. 77 car of Sam Hornish Jr. and the No. 12 car driven by Ryan Newman and put it to good use in his own car.

"To me, that means progress. It means we're making great strides in communication between all three teams," Busch said. "This was a great evening. Based on how the test went, it looked like it might be a long evening. But the three teams really pulled together. We blended the 12 and the 77's setups, and we had a good R6 engine under the hood. So I felt like we had a great combination going [Saturday night]. This feels good for everybody involved with our team at Penske Racing."

Kahne left the track Saturday experiencing the same sort of positive vibes.

"This feels good. We go to Martinsville now and hopefully we'll have another good run there," said Kahne, who registered his first top-five finish since taking second at Michigan on June 15. "We needed a good top-five, close-to-a-win type finish here. We haven't had one of those in a while."

"It felt good racing up there near the front. I know Kurt felt the same way. He had a great car and was fast as well. We had a great run and will try to build on it from here."