Kahne Captures Busch Series Win at Texas

FORT WORTH, Texas April 17, 2005: Stephen Hawkins writing for the AP reported that Kasey Kahne got past 19-year-old rookie Reed Sorenson just before the final caution and held on the final two laps after the restart for a NASCAR Busch Series win Saturday at Texas Motor Speedway.

After starting 25th, Kahne was in the top 10 midway through the 200-lap race and finally slid under Sorenson on the backstretch on the 194th lap, less than two laps before the yellow flag flew for the ninth time.

"I just got a good run on him on the backstretch," Kahne said. "I had a great car from the start. It kept getting better and better."

It was the second Busch win in 89 races for Kahne, his first since the 2003 season finale. No other Busch winner at the 1 1/2-mile Texas Motor Speedway had started lower than 20th.

"It's a long time coming for us," said Kahne, who led a race-high 47 laps. "It feels good to be back."

Kahne will start third Sunday, when he is one of 13 drivers who also will run in the Nextel Cup race. He was the runner-up to Elliott Sadler in last year's Samsung/RadioShack 500.

Sorenson finished third in the second straight Busch race since winning at Nashville last month. With his tires wearing down, Sorenson was passed by Greg Biffle on the first lap after the final restart.

"It's pretty impressive for this team. We're gaining momentum," said Sorenson, the Ganassi rookie. "I drove my butt off trying to win that race."

Biffle finished just three-tenths of a second behind Kahne, whose average speed of 126.737 was slowed by 37 caution laps. Biffle led the O'Reilly 300 four times for 32 laps.

"I was just that short of getting Kasey," said Biffle, whose car slipped out of fourth gear twice while racing before the final caution. "One more lap ... we were coming pretty good on the backstretch."

While Kahne and Sorenson drove Dodges, Biffle had the highest of seven Fords in the top 11.

Carl Edwards maintained the series point lead by finishing fourth, his seventh straight top-10 finish. The Roush Racing rookie leads by 76 points over Sorenson and 166 over Clint Bowyer, who was sixth at Texas.

Sadler was fifth. Matt Kenseth, Jon Wood, Kenny Wallace and polesitter Shane Hmiel rounded out the top 10.

There were 17 lead changes among 10 drivers, both records for the nine Busch races at Texas. The 10 leaders were the most in the series this season, with seven different winners in the eight races.

Hmiel led 20 laps, and was running second to Biffle when Geoffrey Bodine crashed on the 148th lap. Because of some drivers staying out and a jack problem in his pit, Hmiel restarted ninth.

Trying to make a run about 15 laps later, Hmiel brushed the wall going onto the backstretch. He bounced off and hit Ashton Lewis Jr., who then crashed with Blake Feese. While Hmiel avoided major damage, he was out of contention.

Tony Stewart ran only 28 laps before bringing out the first caution. Stewart's car slammed into the inside wall on the backstretch after being bumped from behind by Brandon Miller.