Raise your hand if you've noticed Kasey Kahne is again on the Cup Series radar. ... 'Tis true; after finishing 29th at Daytona, Kahne finished 12th, 11th and seventh in the past three races -- good enough for ninth in the point standings.

Kahne was one of several cars caught on pit road after a caution on Lap 67, when Jimmy Watts, the gas man for Marcos Ambrose's No. 47 Toyota, chased a runaway tire into the grassy median between the track and pit road. Kahne also was penalized for running the red light at the end of pit road. However, Kahne battled back and eventually received the Lucky Dog pass on Lap 185 -- a yellow, ironically, because of debris from Ambrose's car.

“

I feel comfortable every time I'm in the car; I know what's going on. To be comfortable and fast, we're not there yet.

”

KASEY KAHNE

Kahne eventually passed Matt Kenseth for fifth on Lap 296, then ran as high as fourth before finishing seventh. "We had a really good top-fiveish car all day, which was really nice," Kahne said. "It was great to have a Dodge Charger that good, but then we got behind on that pit stop. There was too much confusion and we didn't get it figured out.

"But we fought back and we finally got our lap back. It took a long time. We finally got it back and ended up with a good run. I wish it had been a little better, but a top-10 is good."

Kahne burst onto the scene in 2004 with 13 top-five finishes. He won his first race in '05, at Richmond. In '06, he won six races, qualified for the Chase and finished eighth. Most drivers generally hit their stride in their fourth season -- and coming off six wins and a Chase run, Kahne was poised to make the jump to bona fide contender -- but something happened on the way to his coronation as the next great stock-car driver.

The 2007 season was a disaster. The numbers: 36 races, zero wins, one top-five finish and only eight top-10s with a career-worst average finish of 22.2. During that year, Dale Earnhardt Jr. announced he was leaving the family race team and eventually signed with Hendrick Motorsports. On the business side, Budweiser, which had become synonymous with Earnhardt and the indomitable Junior Nation, came into play, since Amp and National Guard were inked to sponsor the No. 88 car.

Gillett Evernham Motorsports moved to bring Bud into the fold, with Kahne's No. 9 Dodge carrying the brand in 2008. He won two races, posted four top-five finishes and 14 top-10s -- but failed to qualify for the Chase for the second consecutive year.

Then came the offseason upheaval: Ray Evernham all but left the premises; Richard Petty was brought in as an "owner" / goodwill ambassador; Elliott Sadler was reportedly dumped in favor of A.J. Allmendinger; Sadler threatened legal action and is back in the No, 19, while 'Dinger moved behind the wheel of the No. 44; young Reed Sorenson was handed the famed No. 43.

All the while Kahne and crew chief Kenny Francis remained out of the fray, focused on getting the new-look Richard Petty Motorsports' flagship No. 9 back on track. Through four races their efforts have paid dividends.

"We do need our cars to be better if we want to win races and make the Chase," Kahne said. "Our team is really good. It's hard for me as a driver to put a finger on it. I would say mechanically, we're off a little bit. Maybe chassis. Maybe engine. Maybe tires. Maybe aero.

"The way the car feels, it just seems like we're off a little bit everywhere. Which ones we hit on most, I don't really know. I feel comfortable every time I'm in the car; I know what's going on. To be comfortable and fast, we're not there yet."

However, the cautionary tale is that Kahne was seventh in points through four races in 2008, and despite winning two times in a three-week stretch in late May-early June, Kahne had four finishes of 30th-or-worse in the 10 races leading into Richmond, where the Chase field is set. As a result, he was 13th in points after Race 26 -- outside looking in at the top 12.

Will Kahne ride his early season success to a second Chase berth? Will the No. 9 team be a mirror image of 2008 and fall short at Richmond? In the end, Kahne is in the same week-in, week-out predicament as many other teams: Success isn't something you can put your finger on.

Thumbs up

Truex Jr.

• Martin Truex Jr. -- Some contend men passing a kidney stone is the equivalent to a woman giving birth. Lemme tell you from experience: Men aren't given the option of an epidural to pass kidney stones; women choose natural child birth. Anyone who can pass a rock through his urinary tract and then post a top-10 finish in a Cup Series race ... he's much a man.

• Kurt Busch -- A dominating performance, amplified by the tortures of Atlanta's 1.5-mile gauntlet of G-forces. Busch led six times for 234 laps, 70 more than he led the entire 2008 season.

• Tony Stewart -- Three eighth-place finishes in four races have Smoke in sixth place in the point standings. And for good measure, he has surpassed his 2008 total for eighth-place finishes!

Impressed by ...

• A.J. Allmendinger -- Four races into the season and he's firmly in the top 35 in owner points. Here's hoping the King and his court can get additional funding to keep the No. 44 on the track for the full season. This team is a safer bet than several of the fringe organizations.

Thumbs down

• Michael Waltrip Racing -- The team's two-car operation, Michael Waltrip and David Reutimann, lost a combined 11 spots in points (though Reutimann remains in the top 12), and the organization's satellite car, driven by Marcos Ambrose, lost eight spots. ... Good time for an off week.

• For as well as Bobby Labonte has run at Atlanta, Sunday was not a memorable day. Engine woes and a spin on Lap 103 ended the six-time AMS winner's day with a 40th-place finish and a 10-spot drop in points to 23rd.

• Travis Kvapil's engine went south and he finished only 37 laps. He now has two 42nd-place finished and a DNQ in four races.

Disappointed by ...

Mechanical failures, that have hampered Joe Nemechek's past three starts: fuel pump at Fontana; transmission at Las Vegas; wheel bearing at Atlanta. After coming so close to qualifying for the Daytona 500, Nemechek has to wonder what's next -- locusts?

Fantasy Racing

NASCAR.COM's Race for the Smithson Trophy:

Up Next

• Cup Series tickets
• Nationwide Series tickets
• Book your travel

• Track: Bristol Motor Speedway
• Qualifying: 3:30 p.m. ET March 20 on SPEED
• Race: 1:30 p.m. ET March 22 on FOX

Race fans haven't seen the last race of Cale Yarborough or David Pearson or even legendary Junior Johnson. Those champion drivers and more are scheduled to be a part of the first Saturday Night Special at Bristol on March 21.

Paired with celebrity partners, the legendary racers will run 35 laps of a 50-lap event to benefit charity.

Other drivers expected to compete are Harry Gant, David Green, Jack Ingram, Terry Labonte, Sterling Marlin, L.D. Ottinger, Phil Parsons, Jimmy Spencer and Rusty Wallace.

The Saturday Night Special will take place after the Nationwide Series race and the 100-lap UARA late model event.

And Finally

How dominant was Kurt Busch at Atlanta? He scored just the eighth perfect Driver Rating of 150.0 since the inception of the Loop Data statistic in 2005.

Busch had race-best stats in Laps Led (234), Average Running Position (1.5) and Fastest Laps Run (81). He was one of two drivers who ran all 330 Laps in the Top 15 (Kasey Kahne).

Busch, who now has four perfect Driver Rating scores, is the only Cup Series driver with more than one.

The opinions expressed are solely of the writer.