dodge charger quotes from DIS. Kasey Kahne

Thursday, Jan. 20, 2005
Daytona International Speedway
Day Three, Second Session.
 

KASEY KAHNE (No. 9 Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge Charger)

"The garage area is pretty cool for the fans, especially with the
windows in the garage areas. They can watch what's going on there. I
think it's pretty cool how Daytona upgraded and made a pretty cool pit
area. The track is great, and I think our new Dodge Charger is a lot
better than what we had last year. I don't know if it is for everybody,
but that was probably our weakest point at Evernham Motorsports. The
guys did an awesome job over the winter to really work on that
(superspeedway program). Our car isn't the fastest, but it's driving
really well and it goes over the bumps really good. It's a lot better
than it was last year. I'm really excited about being able to come to
Daytona twice and Talladega. It should be much better for us."

 

ARE YOU MORE POPULAR WITH THE FANS AFTER LAST SEASON? "We ran up front a
lot of the time last year. I had a lot of seconds and top 10s. I think
that really helped out. You get more fans as you do that, and the fans
that follow NASCAR are just unbelievable in how loyal they are to teams
and drivers and sponsors and every part about NASCAR. It's definitely
cool to have that many more fans."

 

DO YOU WORRY ABOUT TEARING UP YOUR CAR IN TESTING AT DIS? "You think
about it a little bit. I thought about it a few times. I watched some of
the truck practice and saw four or five trucks got tore up there. It can
definitely happen. With this type of racing it can happen any time
whether it's the race or practice or final practice before the race. You
just have to be smart. Everyone has to realize it's just practice to see
how good the cars go and what changes we need to do to make 'em better,
not to run into anybody or get them loose or try to really work somebody
over to pass 'em."

 

HOW WILL THE NEW QUALIFYING PROCESS AFFECT YOU AT DAYTONA? "Last year
was my first time in the 125s. We qualified seventh, and I think we
finished 13th. We stayed out of trouble, and our car was in good shape
after the race and that was good. If you have better racecars you're
going to try to win the 150s this year. That's all there is to it.
You'll try to finish up front so you can start so you can start further
up in the 500. The 500 is a long enough race and enough things go on
where you really don't have to start up front, but it'd be much cooler
to finish up front in the 150 and start up front in the Daytona 500.
That's what we're working for."

 

DO YOU GO ALL OUT FOR EACH EVENT AT DAYTONA? "That's the way I'm going
to approach it. That's how we approached it last year and everything
went fine. We didn't run that great, but it worked out good. We'll do
the same thing this year. If something does happen, that's just part of
it. Hopefully nothing does and we can finish up toward the front."

 

WHAT ARE YOUR EXPECTATIONS FOR YOUR SOPHOMORE SEASON? "Last year there
were no expectations. Nobody really expected us to run much better than
30th probably at times, so that was pretty easy to run up front because
people didn't expect you to run up there. We had a good race team, but
this year we need to run up front because there will be more
expectations. Our whole team has higher expectations. Last year we
wanted to finish in the top 15 and win the Raybestos Rookie of the Year
award. We were able to do that. This year we need to run in the top 10
every week and get in that Chase for the Nextel Cup."

 

HOW HAS THE TRANSITION BEEN FROM YOUR SHORT TRACK EXPERIENCE TO THE
SUPERSPEEDWAYS? "It was a long transition. It took time to figure it
out. These cars drive so much different from the sprint cars and
midgets. It took time, but I feel like we spent the time on it and
learned a lot. I've learned a lot about what I look for in the car each
week. You might not throw your arms around as much as you do in sprint
cars, but you're definitely driving these cars. With the new spoiler
rule you're going to be driving even more. We tested at Atlanta and the
car is moving around a lot more than it was, so it'll be a pretty
interesting year on what goes on on the track."

 

IS IT TOUGH TO KEEP YOUR FOCUS? "No, it's actually pretty easy. All I
want to do is run good, run up front. You work on it all day long. If
you don't have a good car at the start of the race, you're thinking
about what to do to it on the first pit stop. You're talking to the crew
chief and explaining how the car's not working. If you have a good car,
you're having so much fun you don't lose focus there, either."

 

WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON NOT HAVING HAPPY HOUR THIS YEAR? "It'll
obviously be the same for everybody, but it's going to be different. I
like Happy Hour. I like all the extra time we get on the racetrack, but
at the same time NASCAR is always looking for ways to make it better and
make the sport better. Hopefully it works out and will make the racing
better on Sunday. I'm not real sure how all that's going to end up.
We'll have to focus real hard on first practice and we probably won't do
as much qualifying as you would think. If the car is real good in first
practice we'll probably run a couple of qualifying laps, but other than
that you're going to work on race trim and whatever you have you're
going to qualify and start 10th or 20th or first or whatever it is and
race your way to the front."

 

HAVE YOU ANALYZED LAST SEASON FOR POINTS? "I need to pick up on the
short tracks, road courses and speedway races. The testing we're going
to do is going to be on those type of tracks because I struggle there
more than other types of tracks. We'll really work on that. I think our
cars are really good everywhere other than Daytona and Talladega. The
guys have made some pretty good improvements, but I think I need to be
more consistent each week and run better on short tracks and road
courses. We lost a lot of points at Sears Point, and I think we finished
13th at Watkins Glen."

 

WHAT'S THE MOST SURPRISING THING THAT'S HAPPENED TO YOU AS FAR AS BEING
RECOGNIZED BY FANS? "There's a lot of different places you run into race
fans and you wouldn't expect it. Probably the most surprising is when
you're in a restroom. You're going to the bathroom and a guy looks over
and says, 'You're Kasey Kahne.' I don't have a lot to say, but that's
probably the most surprising thing I've had. Other than that, you'll run
into somebody anywhere. Race fans are all over and you don't expect it.
They'll want pictures or say hi or something."

 

DOES THE CAR FEEL LIGHTER WITHOUT THAT ROOKIE STRIPE? "No, it feels
about the same. Actually it does feel a little lighter, but I think
that's got to do with the rear spoiler. At Daytona it feels really
good."

 

REPHRASED QUESTION. DOES A YEAR'S EXPERIENCE TAKE THE PRESSURE OFF A
LITTLE? "I feel like I know more about what I'm getting into - the
tracks, the cars, what to look forward to, what to try to watch for. I
feel a lot better going into this year than I did last year. Last year I
pretty much jumped into it. I'd never been in a Nextel Cup race and
jumped right into it here at Daytona. We had a pretty good season, but I
feel like this year I just know a lot more about what I'm getting into
and it should help each week."

 

DO YOU FEEL MORE COMFORTABLE? "Yes, I definitely feel more comfortable.
In the car I feel a ton more comfortable than I did the first half of
last year. I feel more comfortable than I did when I was up here (press
conference) last year. You learn and get better at things as you go
along."

 

WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT FANS IN THE GARAGE? "I think it's pretty neat. I
don't know how many fans are going to be able to fit in that area, but
for as many as there were in the windows today looking in, when there's
a race it's going to be full of people and it's going to be neat for the
fans to be above us and looking through the windows. It's kinda like a
big party in there. I think it's kinda cool how they did it, and it's
great for the fans and NASCAR and Daytona. I wasn't out of the car much
all day, and I didn't have a chance to do much, but is kinda different
with everybody looking in at you all the time. I thought it was pretty
cool."