Motorsports

Kahne targets middle of pack from his spot on the fringe

By BRANT JAMES
Published August 22, 2006

Kasey Kahne surveys the top 10 of the Nextel Cup points standings with the predatory gaze of a man in 11th place.

With four wins, he's 49 points from the final spot in the Chase for the Championship and seemingly would be locked in on the driver filling that position. But Kahne is looking beyond Dale Earnhardt Jr. and on to the clutch of drivers just ahead of him.

"I'm not really worried about Junior," Kahne said after finishing fourth Sunday at Michigan, two spots ahead of Earnhardt Jr. "These are some good tracks coming up for him. I really think Junior is going to get in."

Kahne has checked his statistics. Earnhardt Jr. has a win (fall 2004), four top fives and six top 10s in 13 starts at Bristol (site of Saturday's race), and three wins, seven top fives and nine top 10s at Richmond, the final regular-season race Sept. 9. He has averaged just a 21st-place finish at the Sept. 3 race at Fontana, Calif.

"I'm just confident we're going to run well, and if we do that, we're going to pass somebody else," Kahne said. "I don't think it's going to be Junior."

Kahne is only 84 points behind ninth-place Jeff Burton, who dropped five positions after going out early Sunday. Just six more points separate Burton from seventh-place Kyle Busch. Rookie Denny Hamlin is eighth.

TAKE THAT: Jeremy Mayfield has done a splendid job of spooning to the media his side of his acrimonious split with team owner Ray Evernham. Absentee owner, relationship changed, etc., the 37-year-old journeyman has claimed in lengthy interviews on television and NASCAR-dedicated Web sites.

Teammate Kahne seemed to be doing fine, tying for the series lead in wins, however, and Mayfield's old team started off just fine with replacement Elliott Sadler on Sunday at Michigan. Sadler, who left Robert Yates Racing last week, drove the No. 19 Dodge to a 10th-place finish, not spectacular, but telling. It was the first time in 23 races this season the car had finished higher than 13th. Mayfield's average finish was 28th in the 21 races he drove the car.

Mayfield has not contested a NASCAR event in two weeks, but he is expected to be named as one of Bill Davis Racing's two drivers for 2007, when the team joins Toyota in its Nextel Cup debut.

OUCH: Whit Bazemore doesn't care so much about the $250,000 drag racing car he incinerated Monday, but the 10 points it cost him, that's another matter. Bazemore was in the process of being beaten by John Force in the quarterfinals of the NHRA Mid-South Nationals at Memphis Motorsports Park when his car caught fire at the finish line, possibly when valve train parts broke. Bazemore was unhurt, but he was fined $1,000 because his car put oil down on the track.

Bazemore is now eighth in the NHRA funny car rankings.

"We have more cars; we're not that worried about the car," he said. "(But) if it comes down to being fifth or third (place) at the end of the year by 10 points, then it will be a big deal. With six races to go, the championship is a huge, huge long shot. We're not really that worried about that."

The elimination round was concluded Monday because of rain Sunday.

Force won the quarterfinal with a 4.824-second elapsed time at 316.23 mph and defeated Ron Capps in the final to take over the points lead.

SPARK PLUGS: Champ Car will test its 2007 prototype within a week at Sebring after an initial test was cut short last week because of fuel system problems, according to Speed Channel. Veteran Roberto Moreno is scheduled to shake down the DP01, which resembles Formula One cars with its high nose and front wing design. ... With his win Sunday at Michigan, Matt Kenseth has three victories and a series-leading 12 top fives and 13 top 10s in 23 Nextel Cup starts this season. Kenseth, the 2003 series champion, and points leader Jimmie Johnson can assure themselves spots in the 10-race Chase for the Championship by starting the three races before the Chase begins Sept. 17 at Loudon, N.H.

[Last modified August 22, 2006, 01:28:02]