Kasey Kahne takes his first win for Hendrick in Charlotte NASCAR Sprint Cup race
Kasey Kahne became the 16th different driver to win for Hendrick Motorsports, as he claimed his first NASCAR Sprint Cup victory for the organisation in Sunday night's 600-mile race at Charlotte
Kahne's win makes it three weekends of consecutive success for the team after Jimmie Johnson scored Hendrick's 200th Cup win at Darlington and then triumphed in the following week's All-Star race.
Before Kahne's late surge Roush Fenway's Greg Biffle had dominated. However, as the race entered its decisive stages in dusk, Biffle started to struggle with balance following a two-tyre pitstop.
Then, following the fifth and final caution with 75 laps to go and with a fuel stop ahead for the leaders, Kahne passed first his team-mate Dale Earnhardt Jr and then Joe Gibbs Racing's Denny Hamlin, who had both stayed out to gain track position as most of the leaders pitted.
Kahne reclaimed the lead for good 68 laps from the end and was unchallenged from then on, beating Hamlin by more than four seconds.
"It felt really good to put the entire race together," said Kahne following his 13th career win and his third in NASCAR's longest race. "Our car was really fast, pitstops were great and the adjustments the team came up with during the race were awesome."
Hamlin's strategy gamble on the last caution paid off as he was able to make good use of his track position advantage on the last restart, helping him to a second-place finish ahead of his Gibbs team-mate Kyle Busch.
Biffle's 204 laps in the lead were to little avail in the end as he finished fourth and had no chance to contend for the victory, though his points lead remains solid.
"It seemed like when the speeds picked up and it was cool out, our car just started sliding the tyres a little bit," said Biffle. "I can't believe how fast we were... we gained a little in points, but we really wanted the win."
Penske's Brad Keselowski recovered from an early penalty for speeding in the pits, plus pit road contact with reigning champion Tony Stewart, to round out the top five despite damage to the right front of his Dodge.
Three of Hendrick's four cars made it into the top seven as Earnhardt and Jeff Gordon followed Keselowski, while Johnson lost a possible shot at victory following a mistake at his final stop, which resulted in a penalty as he left his pit-stall while his car was still being refueled.
Stewart had another disappointing night, finishing three laps down in 27th place, only three places ahead of his team-mate Danica Patrick, who crossed the finish-line five laps behind the winner, surviving her third Cup outing without any big dramas.
Only nine cars finished the race on the lead lap, the last of them being Roush Fenway's Carl Edwards.
Results - 400 laps: Pos Driver Team/Car Time/Gap 1. Kasey Kahne Hendrick Chevrolet 3h51m14.000s 2. Denny Hamlin Gibbs Toyota + 4.295s 3. Kyle Busch Gibbs Toyota + 10.676s 4. Greg Biffle Roush Fenway Ford + 16.010s 5. Brad Keselowski Penske Dodge + 19.174s 6. Dale Earnhardt Jr Hendrick Chevrolet + 22.533s 7. Jeff Gordon Hendrick Chevrolet + 24.561s 8. Kevin Harvick Childress Chevrolet + 26.083s 9. Carl Edwards Roush Fenway Ford + 27.239s 10. Matt Kenseth Roush Fenway Ford + 1 lap 11. Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Chevrolet + 1 lap 12. Martin Truex Jr Waltrip Toyota + 1 lap 13. Clint Bowyer Waltrip Toyota + 2 laps 14. Ryan Newman Stewart-Haas Chevrolet + 2 laps 15. Paul Menard Childress Chevrolet + 2 laps 16. Aric Almirola Petty Ford + 2 laps 17. Regan Smith Furniture Row Chevrolet + 2 laps 18. Landon Cassill BK Toyota + 2 laps 19. Jeff Burton Childress Chevrolet + 2 laps 20. Juan Pablo Montoya Earnhardt Ganassi Chevrolet + 2 laps 21. Jamie McMurray Earnhardt Ganassi Chevrolet + 3 laps 22. Casey Mears Germain Ford + 3 laps 23. Joey Logano Gibbs Toyota + 3 laps 24. Trevor Bayne Wood Brothers Ford + 3 laps 25. Tony Stewart Stewart-Haas Chevrolet + 3 laps 26. David Gilliland Front Row Ford + 3 laps 27. Kurt Busch Phoenix Chevrolet + 4 laps 28. Bobby Labonte JTG Daugherty Toyota + 4 laps 29. Travis Kvapil BK Toyota + 5 laps 30. Danica Patrick Stewart/Baldwin Chevrolet + 5 laps 31. TJ Bell FAS Lane Ford + 10 laps 32. Marcos Ambrose Petty Ford + 33 laps 33. AJ Allmendinger Penske Dodge + 39 laps Retirements: Mark Martin Waltrip Toyota 338 laps David Ragan Front Row Ford 281 laps Michael McDowell Parsons Ford 228 laps Scott Speed Leavine Family Ford 136 laps David Stremme Inception Toyota 86 laps Stephen Leicht Little Joe's Chevrolet 74 laps Dave Blaney Baldwin Chevrolet 54 laps Joe Nemechek NEMCO Toyota 47 laps Cole Whitt Turn One Chevrolet 33 laps Josh Wise Front Row Ford 15 laps
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