Kahne eyes bright future

Wednesday, March 3, 2004 | 10:08 a.m.

When Kasey Kahne learned he would be taking over for Bill Elliott in the No. 9 Dodge for Evernham Motorsports, his attention immediately turned to the third race on the NASCAR Nextel Cup schedule.

Nestled between North Carolina Speedway and Atlanta Motor Speedway on the schedule was Sunday's UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

"Las Vegas is a track I really like," Kahne, 23, said. "We ran really good there in the Busch (Series) race last year and we also tested the Cup car out there (in January) and had a really good test."

As if his confidence coming into Las Vegas wasn't high enough, Kahne nearly won the Feb. 22 Subway 400 at Rockingham in only his second Nextel Cup start. Kahne and reigning Cup champion Matt Kenseth waged a classic battle in the closing laps of the race before the veteran beat the rookie to the finish line by a mere 3 feet.

Even Kahne, an accomplished sprint-car driver, was amazed by his finish.

"The way that we've tested so far this year, I felt really good about the car," he said "I felt really comfortable in the cars and working with the team and (crew chief) Tommy Baldwin but, no, I didn't expect a second-place finish (so soon) -- but I expected to definitely be competitive.

"It was a lot of fun all day long to be able to pass cars and run up front when we could and on our way back up there right at the end of the race and just barely missed winning it. It was definitely a great learning day and a great day for the team to jell together and have a little bit of fun."

With a week off between Rockingham and Las Vegas, Kahne said he was looking forward to getting back in the Evernham Motorsports Dodge this weekend in Las Vegas. Kahne, who is running both the NASCAR Busch and Nextel Cup series this season, will be driving in both the Sam's Town 300 and the UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400 at LVMS.

"I'm definitely looking forward to coming out there and getting to race in Las Vegas two days in a row," Kahne said. "We ran really good there in the Busch car, we have some confidence after Rockingham and we also tested the Cup car out there and had a really good test. I know we'll have a great racecar when we go out there."

Kahne finished 11th in last year's Sam's Town 300 after running with the leaders for much of the race and said his experience at LVMS will help him in both races this weekend.

"On the start of a run, we could run up fifth or sixth and then we would get too tight the last half of the run so we kind of missed the setup," Kahne said. "We were too good early and not good enough for the end of the run.

"Setup is really important at that track and that's why we tested out there. We got to try a lot of different things on the racecar. Tommy Baldwin had some great notes and we will have a great racecar when we go back there. We definitely have a good-handling car and hopefully the track doesn't change much from when we tested and we'll be close when we unload."

Kahne, who ran a full season in the Busch Series last year and finished seventh in points, spent his entire racing career in various forms of open-wheel racecars before making the move to NASCAR in 2002. A former USAC Midget champion, Kahne said the lure of open-wheel racing -- specifically racing in the Indianapolis 500 -- still remains.

"Right now, stock cars is definitely where I need to be focusing and what I'm focused on, but that always pops up into my head," Kahne said when asked if he would like to race in the Indy 500. "It's something I've always dreamed of doing, running the Indy 500.

"I've been able to test some Indy Cars and would really enjoy getting a shot to do that someday but right now I've got a lot on my plate, running full Busch and full Cup, and we're going to stick to that. Hopefully, in the future, we'll be able to work on something."