Columnist Brian Hilderbrand: Inconsistent Kahne team running to build momentum

Friday, Sept. 2, 2005 | 9:37 a.m.

Brian Hilderbrand covers motor sports for the Las Vegas Sun. His motor sports notebook appears Friday. He can be reached at bh@lasvegassun.com or (702) 259-4089.

After a brilliant rookie season in which he posted five second-place finishes and 14 top-10 efforts in 2004, Kasey Kahne fully expected to be among the 10 drivers competing for the NASCAR Nextel Cup championship this season.

What Kahne hadn't accounted for was the unexpected.

"I expected a real good shot at getting into the Chase (this year), expected to win more than one race, expected to run consistently better -- and that's where we've been off; we haven't run consistently at all this year," Kahne said Wednesday during an appearance in Las Vegas for a sponsor.

So, what's to blame for the team's inconsistency? Kahne said it was impossible to pin down the cause.

"There really hasn't been one thing," he said. "Early in the year, the car, the spoiler, the tires -- that was one thing that was inconsistent with what we were doing. Since then, that has nothing to do with it -- it has been something else.

"Really, it hasn't been one set thing; it has been really anything that can happen in racing has (happened) this year at certain times."

With two races remaining to set the field for the Chase for the Nextel Cup, Kahne heads into Sunday's race at California Speedway ranked 21st in points and mathematically eliminated from the Chase. Although he earned his first career Nextel Cup victory in May at Richmond International Raceway, Kahne clearly isn't satisfied with his sophomore season.

"We haven't had much of a season so far," he said matter-of-factly. "We need to turn it around late in the year to kind of get some momentum for next year. It's part of racing, but not what I would have expected -- I would have expected a lot better year for us ... I thought we'd be a lot more consistent this year.

"I would love to run good each week but we haven't been able to and we're all still working hard and think we can run good at California. Each week we think we can win a race or run up front and it just hasn't happened."

Kahne said he and his No. 9 Evernham Motorsports team will approach the final 10 races in much the same manner they did a year ago.

"Last year, we were in the same situation after Richmond," Kahne said of next week's final regular-season race. "Really, (our goal is) to shoot for 11th in points ... and try to win races, try to get things to go good the last five races, the last ten races, and just carry a little bit of momentum through the off-season and have a better starting point at the start of next year."

NERVOUS MOMENTS: Wayne Dupuy, crew chief on Doug Herbert's NHRA Top Fuel dragster, had a stressful two days earlier this week after Hurricane Katrina ravaged his home state of Louisiana.

It wasn't until Tuesday night that Dupuy finally received a call from his sister, informing him that his family members were safe.

"My mother and brother's homes are likely gone," Dupuy said. "From what we've heard and seen on TV, it doesn't look good at all. But that is the least of our concerns right now because they are all safe and healthy. I've never felt so happy to get a phone call like I was Tuesday night. When my sister finally called and said the entire family was safe and in Houston, I felt like a new person.

"It's real scary not knowing anything and not being able to do anything about it. I don't like feeling helpless in my work life and it's a million times worse when you have that helpless feeling when it comes to the safety of your family."

Dupuy made it to Indianapolis, site of this weekend's 51st annual U.S. Nationals, Wednesday evening and was at the track Thursday morning.

HURRICANE RELIEF: Las Vegas Motor Speedway officials will be collecting money at every event this month at The Bullring and The Strip to benefit victims of Hurricane Katrina.

All donations will be turned over to the Southern Nevada chapter of the American Red Cross to be sent to Red Cross chapters in the Gulf Coast region. The Red Cross has asked for monetary donations instead of clothing or canned goods due to the cost of transporting the materials.

JASKOL TESTS A1 CAR: Matt Jaskol of Las Vegas was one of three drivers who tested the red, white and blue Team USA car that will compete in the A1 Grand Prix series that is scheduled to open its inaugural season later this month.

Jaskol, Scott Speed and Colin Fleming put the car through its paces during a test session last week on the Paul Ricard test track in France.

Indy Racing League veteran driver Scott Sharp has been named an advisor and consultant to the team.

CROCKER'S DEBUT: Erin Crocker, who last year became the first female driver to win a World of Outlaws preliminary feature and is now part of Evernham Motorsports' driver development program, is scheduled to make her NASCAR Busch Series debut next Friday night at Richmond International Raceway.

Crocker, who has been competing in the ARCA and USAC Silver Crown Series this season, said she is ready to make her NASCAR debut.

"I think I'm about as ready as I'm going to be," Crocker, 24, said. "My goal right now is to qualify on time and not have to use the owner's points, to finish on the lead lap and to learn.

"It's a big jump for me. I've only run five ARCA races and it's a huge difference between ARCA competition and the Busch series."

Crocker has three top-five finishes in five ARCA races this season.

STEWART SIDELINED: Team Kawasaki's James "Bubba" Stewart will skip the final two rounds of the AMA Motocross Championship in order to get healthy for the U.S. Open, to be held Oct. 7-8 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena. Stewart has missed portions of the outdoor season while recovering from injuries sustained in crashes.

SCORE UPDATE: A race-record 200 entries are expected for next weekend's 10th annual SCORE Las Vegas Primm 300 desert race, according to race organizers.

Among the 200 entries are expected to be 29 SCORE Trophy Trucks -- a record for a U.S. SCORE race -- and a race-record 40 Class 1 vehicles.

The start-finish line for the 74-mile course will be located northeast of the rear of Buffalo Bill's Resort in Primm. The race will be split into two groups, with the open-wheel and VW Baja bug classes starting at 6 a.m. on Saturday, Sept. 10. The truck classes, including Trophy Truck and Class 1, will start at 1 p.m. All vehicles will have an 8-hour time limit in which to finish the race.