Kasey Kahne Earns Win, Chase Spot In Oral-B USA 500
NASCAR visited Atlanta Motor Speedway on Sunday night, and yet another driver got to stamp their Chase ticket. Polesitter Kevin Harvick, who won Saturday night’s Nationwide Series race, was the early leader of the race. He also had an interesting moment during his time as leader, when a squirrel, which he thought to be a cat, ran across the track in front of him between turns 2 and 3. Harvick’s time as leader came to an end around lap 78, when the caution came out for Jeff Gordon blowing a tire and hitting the wall. Denny Hamlin was the leader following the restart but on lap 108, Harvick retook the lead. The caution came back out on lap 124 when Marcose Ambrose’s engine blew, and Matt Kenseth was the leader on the restart. Kurt Busch, however, took the lead from Kenseth quickly.
Then, on lap 172, the caution came back out for Tony Stewart, who hit the wall following a flat right front tire. Following the restart, Kenseth and Harvick fought for the lead with Harvick eventually the one to gain and keep the lead on lap 228. However, he was unable to enjoy it for too long as the caution came back out on lap 297, when Brad Keselowski hit the wall. Just before the white flag, Kyle Busch got into the rear of Martin Truex, Jr, bringing the caution back out and creating a green-white-checkers situation. On the restart, though, the last caution of the day came out when Harvick hit the wall.
Kasey Kahne went on to win the race, with Matt Kenseth, Denny Hamlin, Jimmie Johnson, and Carl Edwards rounding out the top five. This was Kahne’s first win of the season and allowed him to lock into the Chase.