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Bench Warmer
Kahne capitalizes on Stewart slip to win Coca-Cola 600
By JENNA FRYER, AP Auto Racing Writer
CONCORD, N.C. (AP)—Tony Stewart suffered his second heartbreaking defeat of the season Sunday night when a flat tire late in the Coca-Cola 600 handed Kasey Kahne the victory in NASCAR’s longest race of the year.
Stewart, who lost the season-opening Daytona 500 when he was passed on the last lap by Ryan Newman, had the tire go flat with three laps to go. He was forced to pit, allowing Kahne to zip past him for the victory.
Stewart has yet to win the 600 in 10 career tries, an agonizing stretch for a former open-wheel driver who grew up dreaming of an Indianapolis 500 victory. With his focus now on NASCAR, he’ll settle for any sort of Memorial Day weekend win.
He wound up a frustrating 18th and stormed into his hauler without comment as Kahne celebrated in Victory Lane for the second consecutive week. Kahne became the first driver since Jimmie Johnson in 2003 to win both the All-Star race and the 600 in this eight days of racing at Lowe’s Motor Speedway.
Stewart’s failure was par for the course in this race of attrition. Most of the heavyweights dropped out of contention during an event that started in the late afternoon, ended in the evening and requires both intense mental focus and luck to make it to the finish.
Dale Earnhardt Jr., Johnson, Brian Vickers and Kurt Busch all led laps but had parts failures or tire issues that prevented them from winning.
“Dale Jr. fell out, he was awesome. Tony Stewart fell out, he was awesome,” Kahne said. “They had us beat at times tonight, and we had them beat at times tonight.”
Greg Biffle finished second to Kahne for the second straight week and Busch, the Sprint Cup Series points leader and winner of Saturday night’s Nationwide Series race, finished third despite two battery changes over the course of the race.
Jeff Gordon was fourth and was followed by Earnhardt, Jeff Burton, Matt Kenseth, Elliott Sadler, Carl Edwards and David Reuitmann.
Kahne led 65 laps, but forfeited the lead to Stewart with 16 laps to go when Kahne had to stop for gas. Stewart stopped for gas later, but had a shorter fill-up that cycled him back into the lead.
Stewart was then cruising toward his first win of the season when he smacked the wall, causing his tire to go flat and forcing him to head to the pits.
Kahne zipped by for the win.
By JENNA FRYER, AP Auto Racing Writer
CONCORD, N.C. (AP)—Tony Stewart suffered his second heartbreaking defeat of the season Sunday night when a flat tire late in the Coca-Cola 600 handed Kasey Kahne the victory in NASCAR’s longest race of the year.
Stewart, who lost the season-opening Daytona 500 when he was passed on the last lap by Ryan Newman, had the tire go flat with three laps to go. He was forced to pit, allowing Kahne to zip past him for the victory.
Stewart has yet to win the 600 in 10 career tries, an agonizing stretch for a former open-wheel driver who grew up dreaming of an Indianapolis 500 victory. With his focus now on NASCAR, he’ll settle for any sort of Memorial Day weekend win.
He wound up a frustrating 18th and stormed into his hauler without comment as Kahne celebrated in Victory Lane for the second consecutive week. Kahne became the first driver since Jimmie Johnson in 2003 to win both the All-Star race and the 600 in this eight days of racing at Lowe’s Motor Speedway.
Stewart’s failure was par for the course in this race of attrition. Most of the heavyweights dropped out of contention during an event that started in the late afternoon, ended in the evening and requires both intense mental focus and luck to make it to the finish.
Dale Earnhardt Jr., Johnson, Brian Vickers and Kurt Busch all led laps but had parts failures or tire issues that prevented them from winning.
“Dale Jr. fell out, he was awesome. Tony Stewart fell out, he was awesome,” Kahne said. “They had us beat at times tonight, and we had them beat at times tonight.”
Greg Biffle finished second to Kahne for the second straight week and Busch, the Sprint Cup Series points leader and winner of Saturday night’s Nationwide Series race, finished third despite two battery changes over the course of the race.
Jeff Gordon was fourth and was followed by Earnhardt, Jeff Burton, Matt Kenseth, Elliott Sadler, Carl Edwards and David Reuitmann.
Kahne led 65 laps, but forfeited the lead to Stewart with 16 laps to go when Kahne had to stop for gas. Stewart stopped for gas later, but had a shorter fill-up that cycled him back into the lead.
Stewart was then cruising toward his first win of the season when he smacked the wall, causing his tire to go flat and forcing him to head to the pits.
Kahne zipped by for the win.
