Kahne wins Coca-Cola 600 ending 52-race drought

When it was all said and done on Sunday, Darrel Waltrip said that the reason races are 600 miles long is because otherwise you wouldn’t have endings like this year’s Coca-Cola 600. In the last laps, it was still anyone’s race until with 2 to go, Kasey Kahne was the obvious winner.

The victory marks the end of a 52-race drought for Kahne and his team. The last race that Kahne won was at the same track back in the fall of ’06. And like most things in NASCAR, the win didn’t come easy.

Kahne led for over 60 laps in the race and with 16 laps left, he gave the lead to Stewart so he could gas up one last time. With only 3 laps to go, Tony Stewart looked like he was finally in position to win his first race of the year. But his right front tire went flat and he ended up watching the victor speed past him. Denny Hamlin also blew a tire in the last laps, finishing out of the top 10. Carl Edwards ran out of gas after a strong showing and placed 9th, losing his positioning that he had fought for.

There were others that had to battle back from what seemed to be race-ending moments. Dale Earnhardt, Jr. hitting a wall and finished 5th. Jeff Gordon, who also has not won a race yet this year, finished just in front of his teammate in 4th. Kyle Busch, who continues his board dominance, now has his largest lead in points of the season, 93 points ahead of second place; he finished third.

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Kahne’s victory comes shortly after he won the hall of fame race after being voted into the race as a fan favorite. Pulling in the $1 million prize must have done his confidence some good. In spite of the fact that he has only led 2 laps all year before coming into the race, Kahne took it all in stride in victory lane.

By Angela Moore
Pro Racing Fans Staff Writer

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