Racetrack Insider - News and Views of the Motorsports Industry from Insiders Drew Patey and Buddy Judy

Kasey Kahne Wins Under the Lights in Atlanta

Kasey Kahne scored his second victory of the season at Atlanta Motor Speedway on Sunday night, edging out a strong Safety-Kleen car driven by Kevin Harvick. The Richard Petty Motorsports Dodge of Kahne was better on the short runs and that's what worked as the laps ran down in Atlanta. Kahne had led the race on and off during the night, but he had struggled to stay up front on the long runs. Harvick had exactly the opposite car and he was the car to beat on the long green flag laps, but with less than 17 laps to go, the world turned around for Kevin. Harvick was leading by a straight away before his Richard Childress Racing teammate Clint Bowyer spun out of turn four. All of the leaders pitted for new tires. Harvick came out of the pits in the lead as Kahne slotted into third. As the green flag waved, Kahne took off and passed Harvick on the outside with only nine laps to go and held on to win. Harvick led a total of 66 laps during the night with Juan Montoya running well and leading a total of 30 laps before Harvick passed him with only 20 to go. Montoya finished third and moved up in the points and closer to making the Chase. David Reutimann was an impressive fourth giving Safety-Kleen the top four places at the finish. Mark Martin had a steady run all night and finished fifth, while Denny Hamlin shared the lead at one point, but faded to sixth at the end. Dave Klotter, Travis Wiggins and Rick Hodge organized the pit tours this weekend and did a great job. The Cup teams now have only one race before the field is set for The Chase for the Sprint Cup Championships as the teams head for Richmond next Saturday night