NASCAR Cup

Talladega: Kahne - Friday media visit

KASEY KAHNE (No. 9 Budweiser Dodge Charger) ANY CONCERN ABOUT YOUR DROP IN THE POINTS STANDINGS THE LAST FEW RACES? "I'm not really concerned because the last two races we've been running in the top 10. A piece of debris hit the splitter and ...

Published: Apr 26, 2008, 2:30 PM

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KASEY KAHNE (No. 9 Budweiser Dodge Charger)

ANY CONCERN ABOUT YOUR DROP IN THE POINTS STANDINGS THE LAST FEW RACES? "I'm not really concerned because the last two races we've been running in the top 10. A piece of debris hit the splitter and broke it off (in Texas) then a right front went down and had a brake issues running in the top 10 at Phoenix. Those are two finishes that have been pretty bad when we could have been in the top 10 very easily. I feel like our Dodge Chargers have been right there -- they're not as good as we need them yet. They're not capable of winning but they're very close and keep getting better each week."

ARE YOU LOOKING FORWARD TO THE NEXT FEW RACES? "Yeah. My first two or three years it seemed like I was in every accident that there was on this track. The last couple of years we've been very consistent here. From packs of 15, 16 to 20 cars at the end of the race here, and we're always right in there. I think this is a good track for us and so is Richmond. We've won there - it was my first win on '05. At this race and Charlotte and Dover and Darlington -- all those tracks I've ran really well at. This could be a good month or month and a half for us to get back to where we need to be and hopefully back in the top six or seven in points."

WHAT ARE SOME KEYS TO SUCCESS AT THIS RACE TRACK? "Stay out of trouble -- that's what it's all about. Getting the car to draft well. As far as sucking up -- you can do a little bit here and there. You want horsepower to show up and if we can do that -- then you just have to wait until the end of the race. It's all about the last couple of laps -- getting in the right line with the right drivers behind you. You just never know who they're going to be. I've tried to go with Junior (Dale Earnhardt Jr.) a couple times and it hasn't worked. I've went with Junior and it has worked. I've went with other guys - you just never really know, but you try to make the right guess and hope that it works out."

IS THERE NOT ENOUGH BEING SAID ABOUT DODGE'S SUCCESS AT RESTRICTOR-PLATE RACES? "The thing that we did at Daytona (500) is that most of the Dodge's got together. We don't have the four-car teams that all the Gibbs and Hendrick cars have when they go together. What we did, it seemed like six or seven or eight Dodge's got together and ganged up on the other cars. It worked out because we were working as a team versus individual teams. It worked in Daytona. Whether that happens again we'll have to wait and see."

WILL WE SEE THAT AGAIN HERE AT TALLADEGA? "The Dodge teams had talked about that (Sunday morning) in Daytona to stick together and get a Charger in Victory Lane in the 500 and it worked out. Whether that happens this weekend -- it would be cool to get another Charger in Victory Lane -- that's what it's all about."

ARE YOU HAPPY WITH WHERE YOU ARE AT AS A DRIVER SO FAR THIS SEASON? "I'm pretty happy with where we're at. The last two races have been situations where things have happened -- a splitter and a tire -- and if we didn't have that, we'd have two top 10s and probably be at least 100 points better. That's just racing, that's they way it goes. But yeah, I'm happy with where we're at. The team is doing a great job and we've come along way from where we were at this time last year."

-credit: dodge motorsports

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