BUSCH: Darlington II: Kahne qualifying press conference

KASEY KAHNE-38-Great Clips Ford Taurus (Qualified 3rd)

"Today we got to qualify, and the last two I didn't get to qualify here because of rain. Today was our first day we taped up. We ran two different laps taped up today in qualifying trim and I had to figure it out a lot. We had an awesome race car. The motor was stuttering through the corners, and it slowed us up a little bit. Other than that, the car was perfect. I think we could have run a little faster if it wasn't doing that, obviously."

YOU HAVE A POLE AND A THIRD-PLACE QUALIFYING EFFORT IN YOUR LAST THREE STARTS. IS QUALIFYING SOMETHING THAT YOU HAVE BEEN FOCUSING ON LATELY?

"I think it's finally just coming together. We've qualified pretty good all year long. We're going back to some of the tracks that we've been to, and I raced Michigan last year, and I raced Darlington last year and this year, and I think just going back to some of the tracks with the things we've learned throughout the year and applying them to these tracks again to our setups we had earlier in the year is definitely making it better."

IS IT DIFFICULT TO SWITCH FROM DRIVING A OPEN-WHEEL CAR TO A STOCK CAR?

"Sometimes I wonder if it's good to be doing that, but we went up to Nazareth last weekend and our fifth lap was the fastest lap out of anybody there and they practiced a couple of hours already. We won the race, and I don't think it hurts that side and I don't think it hurt this side. We came here and everything feels good. The cars a re a lot different, but now that I've had enough laps in each car, you can get back into them and remember what it feels like and figure them out real quick."

TALK ABOUT HOW YOU'VE ADAPTED TO THIS TRACK.

"I like these tracks that wear our the tires. I like them a lot. For some reason, I race better at these types of tracks. I adapt to them quicker. You have so much grip and then it's gone real quick. I enjoy coming here. I enjoy coming these tracks. I run a lot of tracks through my head, and I watched the race earlier this week from last year, so I try to learn as much as I can by watching and really thinking about it."

"I watched it from last year when Jeff Burton won. I picked up a lot on how he passed cars. I told my crew chief this morning after first practice that in the past at the start of the year when we were here that I couldn't pass cars the way Jeff Burton was, and after watching that, we got a little bit different setup under it this weekend. I can pass the way he was, so hopefully that will help us during the race."

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