By Jared Turner
SceneDaily Staff Writer
Sunday, May 25, 2008

CONCORD, N.C. – Kasey Kahne inherited the lead when a cut right front tire forced Tony Stewart to pit road with three laps to go and hung on to win the Coca-Cola 600 on Sunday at Lowe’s Motor Speedway.

Stewart, who had taken the led three laps earlier at the end of a cycle of late green flag stops for fuel, hit the wall before nursing his Toyota into the pits. He finished 18th.

Kahne’s win backed up his victory in last weekend’s non-points paying NASCAR All-Star Race at Charlotte and marked his first triumph in 53 points races.

Kahne’s last points win came at Lowe’s Motor Speedway in the fall of 2006.

“This race track’s so good to us,” the Gillett Evernham Motorsports driver said. “It’s a big night.”

Roush Fenway Racing’s Greg Biffle finished second, followed by Joe Gibbs Racing’s Kyle Busch in third. Hendrick Motorsports teammates Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt Jr. came home fourth and fifth, respectively.

A relatively tame affair for most of the first 150 laps, the race slowly began to take a chaotic turn just before the midway point as a host of frontrunners saw their hopes of victory spoiled by a range of issues.

For Earnhardt Jr. it was a cut right front tire that sent his Chevrolet into the Turn 3 wall after leading 76 laps. Damage to the right side of his car appeared poised to blunt a possible rally before a pit stop for fuel with 62 laps left allowed Earnhardt Jr. and Gordon to go the rest of the distance without stopping while most of the leaders were forced in for a late splash.

Red Bull Racing’s Brian Vickers had his own tire issues earlier in the race - on lap 185 - in the form of a loose left rear wheel that came flying off of his Toyota, sending it hard into the SAFER barrier. Vickers led 61 laps before the accident ended his day.

“It was like one lap it started with the vibration and a couple guys got by me and the next lap it just completely came off," he said.

Hendrick’s Jimmie Johnson found trouble in the form of a blown engine that ended his night 48 laps from the finish after appearing to have one of the strongest cars.



CONCORD, NC - MAY 25: Kasey Kahne, driver of the #9 Budweiser Dodge, celebrates in victory lane after winning the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Coca-Cola 600 on May 25, 2008 at Lowe's Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina. (Photo by John Harrelson/Getty Images for NASCAR)

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Ryan Newman, Daytona 500 Champion!!
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You know I think this win was karma giving us one if anyone remembers Homestead 2003 Bill Elliott's last race in the 9 car he was leading on the last lap came off turn 2 and had a tire blow Bobby Labonte won now 5 years later Stewart blows the tire and gives Kahne the win its weird Evernham lost the race to Gibbs the first time and then Gibbs lost to Evernham the next time

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"It's all fun and games until somebody wrecks a racecar" Larry McRenyolds


Will race for nothing just give me a car

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Ryan Newman, Daytona 500 Champion!!
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