A mistake on pit road made it interesting, but Kasey Kahne did just enough to keep his championship hopes alive Sunday at Dover.
Kasey Kahne overcame a several-lap deficit to finish 20th Sunday at Dover International Speedway, a result good enough to advance him to Round 2 of the Chase for the Sprint Cup.
A loose wheel forced Kahne to pit under the green flag on Lap 155, putting him two laps behind. The sequence didn't just drop him down the running order, but moved him out the Chase. (Dover was the final race of Round 1, with the lowest four drivers eliminated from the playoffs.)
Another green-flag stop -- this one scheduled -- would see Kahne fall four laps back. But spurred by pit strategy and a car he thought was good enough to finish second or third, Kahne mounted a comeback.
"I felt like we went four laps down at one point when we pitted," Kahne said. "The team prepared a great car so I was fortunate to have that and drive our way back to barely advance. But I had to push hard on that. ... It was pretty interesting but I'm glad we made it. We had to fight hard."
As Kahne surged, those he was competing against for the final transfer spot encountered their own difficulties. Kurt Busch fought a tight condition, while AJ Allmendinger lagged mid-pack. Busch would finish No. 18, Allmendinger 23rd. That allowed Kahne to advance to the next round, two points ahead of Allmendinger and six clear of Busch.
"I never really got nervous at all and I just raced real hard the whole time," Kahne said. "Kenny (Francis, crew chief) started telling me we were tied for 12th and this was with 30 to go. Then he would tell me we were one point in and then maybe two points in. And then he wasn't positive. Then I started getting a little bit worried, so it was intense inside the car."
The loose wheel that created Kahne's stressful afternoon came as a result of a mistake by the No. 5 team. Issues on pit road have derailed several promising runs for Kahne throughout the regular season, requiring a late scramble to qualify for the Chase.
Having barely made the second round, Kahne had a message for his team following Sunday's race. The Chase resumes Oct. 5 at Kansas Speedway.
"We've struggled all season with that, but they work hard and I know they'll keep working hard. I just told them if you guys want to go further, it's time to step-up. It's time to put our best stuff out there. I know they want to. They'll work hard this week. I'm going to work hard and we're going to be prepared when we get to Kansas and hopefully we can keep moving on.
"We just need to work on pit road. We have needed to work on that all year and now it's crunch time."