Kasey Kahne Battles Ill-Handling Gret Clips/Northeastern Supply Machine to 9th place finish in 2010 Season Open in Daytona

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series veteran Kasey Kahne will always remember his debut race in the #38 Great Clips/Northeastern Supply y Toyota Camry but for all the wrong reasons. “This car was a handful today”, Kahne said after holding on late in the 2010 Nationwide Series opener at the Daytona International Speedway to post a 9th place finish in the Drive4COPD ‘300’ Saturday afternoon.

Despite running almost every lap of the 120 in the race inside the top ten, Kahne was unable to challenge for the win because of a loose handling condition that plagued his Braun Racing machine all day.

Over the closing 20 laps of the race, that loose condition worsened when Kahne found himself in the middle lane of 3-abreast racing as 16 cars battled for the lead spot.

Kasey had vaulted to second in the field behind then leader Steve Wallace on lap 95 following the re-start after the second of the two big incidents that marred the race and forced a red flag stoppage on lap 93. In that accident that involved 10 cars, the contending Chevrolet driven by Dale Earnhardt, Jr. flipped on the backstretch and eliminated the second JR Motorsports entry of the day.

Kahne held the spot for another lap when the sixth caution flag of the race flew for some debris that was left by the big wreck and not cleaned off.

When the race re-started on lap 100, the #38 dropped two spots to 4th and then became the car in the middle of that 3-car wide battle making the loose condition worse. Kahne did everything he could not to wreck and was forced to back off some until he cleared the sandwich and could settle into the outside lane. By that time, Kahne’s car was back to 11th.

Sixteen cars were running in the lead pack at the time, and with the help of Braun Racing teammate Brian Vickers, Kahne was able to form a drafting line on the outside that helped pull him safely past cars on the inside and improve his position.

Kasey drove the Great Clips back into the top ten with five laps remaining and was able to improve yet another position on the final lap.

“We just couldn’t get the handle on this baby today,” Kahne explained. “It (the #38 machine) was fast but here at Daytona you have to handle with cars around you or you’re dead meat. I did all I could not to wreck at the end there, so I guess everyone will be content with a top ten finish and able to bring home a race car in one piece,” he added.

Not many cars could lay claim to that Saturday primarily because of the two “big ones” that marred the race.

The GoDaddy.com JR Motorsports car driven by NASCAR rookie and Indy Car Series ace Danica Patrick had exited the race on lap 69 after she was unable to avoid a bunch of wrecked cars ahead of her down the front straightaway. This 12-car melee was triggered by another Nationwide Series rookie in Colin Braun (no relation to Braun Racing team owner Todd Braun) who tapped the car driven by Josh Wise coming off the fourth turn. Wise’s Ford turned sideways and proceeded to collect several cars that included Patrick’s Chevy.

Kasey started eighth in the first of his scheduled 10 races behind the wheel of the #38 Toyota this season on car owner points when rain cancelled qualifying on Friday. Kahne ran between 6th and 9th throughout the event until those late-race events. Jason Leffler, driving the #10 ABF Freight Toyota and the third Braun Racing entry in the 2010 opener, will pilot the Great Clips car in 25 races this season and had a strong race car Saturday until he fell victim to the first multi-car incident. Leffler was credited with a 33rd place finish. Vickers finished fifth to at least give the Braun Racing contingent two top ten efforts.

Tony Stewart dominated the late stages of the race to earn the victory and beat back the challenges of runner-up finisher Carl Edwards and Kevin Harvick, who owns the car that Stewart piloted. Young Nationwide Series regular Justin Algaier and Vickers rounded out the top five.

The Nationwide Series will resume next Saturday at the Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, CA with action to begin at 5 p.m. EST. The race will be televised live on ESPN2.