Kasey Kahne wins NASCAR Coca Cola 600
4 replies
brandon27subscriberOPafter the longest race of the year, over 4 hours... 600 miles, and the strangest final 3 laps, Kasey Kahne wins at Charlotte in the Coke 600. Couldnt believe the stuff going on in the final few laps, stewart leading and cutting a tire and brushing the wall, hamlin into the wall, guys running out of gas, the starter dropping the white flag... just a strange final few laps. Congrats to Kasey though! hopefully they have turned things around there
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.
1972 Miami Dolphins-The ONLY undefeated team in NFL history!!!
phunwinluxury_boxThat was a fun race to watch. Stewart cutting down a tire was unreal; that guy just cannot BUY a win at the Coke 600 or Daytona. Loved seeing my boy Jeff Gordon pull out a 4th place finish by gambling on fuel when he had, at best, a 15th place car.
brandon27subscriber"phunwin wrote:
That was a fun race to watch. Stewart cutting down a tire was unreal; that guy just cannot BUY a win at the Coke 600 or Daytona. Loved seeing my boy Jeff Gordon pull out a 4th place finish by gambling on fuel when he had, at best, a 15th place car.
I think Jeff was at best in the 20's. They were miserable last night just like all year. But yes, what a great call to leave him out there and climb up to 4th. That will go a long ways in keeping him in the top 12.
1972 Miami Dolphins-The ONLY undefeated team in NFL history!!!
phunwinluxury_box"brandon27 wrote:
I think Jeff was at best in the 20's. They were miserable last night just like all year. But yes, what a great call to leave him out there and climb up to 4th. That will go a long ways in keeping him in the top 12.
I disagree. It seemed clear to me that they had set that car up intending to run well in the final stage of the race, and just hoping to keep their head above water for the first 300 laps or so. Remember that the Coke 600 is so long that the track changes a LOT during the race, and cars that look great at the start are often crap at the end, and vice versa. When Gordon was racing to get his lap back, he was keeping pace with the leaders, and had gotten as high as 7th near the end. Instead of holding that spot, they opted to take four tires and top off the tank, so he was gambling on a long green run at the end, and was racing to conserve fuel...at which he succeeded. By racing to conserve fuel, he wasn't racing aggressively, just trying to keep pace, hence his floating along in the teens and low 20s for most of the last run.
It wasn't a 4th place car, by any stretch, but it was better than junk, and they raced a letter-perfect race given what they had.
NJFINSFAN1luxury_boxBig Gordon fan, he had a top 15 car, and it was very ungordon like to play the gas game, but it paid off big time.
Loved seeing Stewart get a flat, can't stand that guy.
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