Kasey Kahne, No. 9 Budweiser Dodge Charger
Goody’s Cool Orange 500 at Martinsville Speedway
 
Budweiser Racing Team Notes of Interest
·    This weekend will mark Kasey Kahne’s 150th career start in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and his ninth start at Martinsville Speedway.
·    Kahne is currently sixth in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver point standings, just 12 points shy of the fifth position.
·    Kahne has two top 10s at the half-mile short track in Martinsville. His best finish of second came in the spring of 2005.
·    In eight starts at Martinsville Speedway, Kahne has only one DNF. He was unable to finish in the spring of 2006 due to an engine failure.
·    Kahne’s average finish is 17th at Martinsville.
·    Kahne will be available for interviews with motorsports media members at Martinsville Speedway this Friday, March 28 at approximately 11:05 a.m. Kahne will be in the infield media center for interviews.
 
Kasey Kahne Discusses Racing at Martinsville Speedway
 
What are your thoughts on racing at Martinsville this weekend?
“We had a good run at Bristol so I’m looking forward to Martinsville. I haven’t had the best luck racing there in the past, but Kenny (Francis, team director) has given me very competitive race cars this year and I’m looking forward to leaving Martinsville with a solid finish. Martinsville is definitely a challenging race – 500 laps in heavy traffic from start to finish. Patience is essential, but you still have to be aggressive to stay up front. It’s typical short-track racing.”
 
Talk about your success this season.
“We’re off to a good start this season in the No. 9 Budweiser Dodge. We’re five races into the season. My team has given me good cars this year. This team has made great calls on the setup and adjustments during the race. My pit crew has been awesome. I feel like I’m prepared mentally and physically to do the job in the car. I’m providing better information to Kenny and the team about what the car is doing on the track. They are turning that information into adjustments that make our Budweiser Dodge better as the race progresses which is something that didn’t happen a lot last year so it feels pretty good to be in this position this year.”
 
Where has your team improved the most?
“I don’t think it’s any one area. I think we’ve all made improvements in a lot of areas. The team’s done a great job of figuring out what the car needs to be doing. We’re still not the best car but we’ve figured out a lot about what the car likes and how that makes me feel and how I drive it. I think I’ve figured out how to drive this car better. We still have work to do but we’re in a much better position at this point in the season than we were a year ago.”

CREDIT: TEAM PR