#TBT: Kahne earns first career Cup win

High expectations rested on the then-25-year-old's shoulders, as he had recently taken over the famed No. 9 ride of future Hall-of-Famer Bill Elliott, who served as his mentor the year prior in 2004. Kahne had come close to taking the checkered his rookie season, nabbing 13 top-five finishes in the Ray Evernham-owned Dodge.

Close, but not Victory Lane.

He started off the Richmond weekend strong, propelling his No. 9 car at 129.964 mph to earn his fifth career pole. He never wavered from there, leading a race-high 242 (of 400) laps. In the final two laps, Kahne enjoyed a comfortable lead over Tony Stewart, Ryan Newman, Kyle Busch and Kevin Harvick. He held on, cruising past the start/finish line 1.674 seconds before runner-up Stewart.

It seemed everyone was on Kahne's side that day, as the crowd erupted in cheers while Kahne did burnouts on the short track. And he didn't stop there -- Kahne continued circling the track for so long that one of his crew members had to grab the checkered flag for him. Once he finally pulled onto pit road, runner-up finisher Stewart -- a friend of Kahne's -- stuck his head in the window for congratulations.

"I just told him, I said, years from now down the road when he talks about his first win, at least the good thing is I got the honor of being the guy that they mention that he had to race for the win," Stewart said on pit road with a smile. "So, I'm just really happy for him. He's long overdue. I mean, the kid's done an awesome job for two years now. He just needed that perfect night -- tonight was that night."



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