Kahne, Busch find hope in otherwise lost seasons

CONCORD, N.C. -- For Kasey Kahne and Kurt Busch, for one night at least, it was like old times. Better times.

They were relevant again.

Kurt Busch

2008 Results

Starts	31
Wins	1
Top-5s	4
Top-10s	8
21st or worse	16
DNFs	3

Sprint Press Pass

Kurt Busch talks about his third-place finish at Lowe's.

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On an October night at Lowe's Motor Speedway that was supposed to be mostly about the 12 drivers competing in the 2008 Chase for the Sprint Cup, non-Chasers Kahne and Busch turned back the clock and pushed toward the front.

They fell just short in the Bank of America 500, which was won by Chaser Jeff Burton. But Kahne finished second and Busch third, respectively, giving them hope for the future in seasons that have heretofore been littered with too much disappointment.

That was especially true for Busch, whose No. 2 Dodge fielded by Penske Racing had finished 21st or worse in eight of the 12 races leading up to Saturday night's event.

"For everyone at 200 Penske Way, this was a great night," Busch said. "We sniffed it. I smelled the lead for a little bit. Jeff Burton had a great car and Kasey Kahne beat us at the end for second, but we'll take third. Hopefully, the Kurt Busch fans out there saw a little glimmer of hope."

Driving the No. 9 Dodge of Gillett Evernham Motorsports, Kahne failed in his bid to become the first driver in history to win all three events hosted by LMS in the same season -- the non-points All-Star race and the Cup Series points events in the spring and fall. He won the All-Star race and the Coca-Cola 600 on successive weekends this past May.

But at least he came close to completing the unprecedented trifecta, and admitted afterward that second was the best he could have hoped for under the circumstances that unfolded late Saturday night.

"No, that was all we had. I did everything I could," Kahne said when asked if he thought he had a shot at catching Burton in the closing laps. "If it would have went 10 more laps, we probably would have been the same distance back or maybe even would have fallen back some. Kurt Busch seemed really strong there at the end. Second was the best we were going to do."

The pair of drivers had lots in common. Besides both driving Dodges and both trying to make the best of otherwise mostly lost seasons, they had learned some sobering lessons during a two-day test at the Charlotte-area track two weeks earlier.

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."