Tuesday, June 21, 2016

Sonoma Raceway one of Kasey Kahne's favorite tracks

Kasey Kahne is 30/1 to win at Sonoma for second time.
Kasey Kahne on racing at Sonoma:

“It’s a great track and in a great part of the country. My first couple of trips there were tough for me to figure out the track. Once I got it figured out we were much better and got a win. It’s one of my favorite tracks to go to.”

SONOMA STATS: Sonoma Raceway is the first of two stops this season at a road course for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. In Kasey Kahne’s 12 starts at the 10-turn track, he’s earned the pole position twice – 2008 and 2010. Kahne won in only his sixth event at the 1.99-mile track after starting from the fifth position and leading 37 laps. He took the 2006 checkered flag with a 0.748-second margin of victory over competitor Tony Stewart. The Enumclaw, Washington, native has three top-10 finishes in his last three starts at Sonoma.

SONOMA LOOP DATA: According to NASCAR’s loop data, Kahne ranks third in quality passes with 279 and sixth in green-flag passes with 617. He’s seventh-fastest on restarts with an average speed of 86.939 mph, and ninth in laps led among active drivers with 41.

SHARK WEEK CHEVY: For the fourth year in a row, Kahne will pilot a Shark Week paint scheme. Not only is Kahne racing his competitors on the track, he’s also racing a shark in Discovery’s #GreatSharkRace. In preparation for Discovery’s Shark Week, which kicks off on Sunday, June 26, at 8 p.m. ET on Discovery Channel, Kahne went shark tagging off of the coast of Miami with the University of Miami and Oceana.

GOING HOME: Mechanic Charley McDonell is the only California native on the No. 5 Great Clips team. He hails from Cottonwood, California, which is located approximately three hours north of Sonoma Raceway.

DAYTONA SCHEME: Kahne’s No. 5 Great Clips Chevrolet SS will have a different look at Daytona International Speedway. Great Clips teamed up with Strong Against Cancer to encourage patients at the Seattle Children’s Hospital to use their imaginations to design Kahne’s paint scheme for the upcoming July 2 race. Kahne personally narrowed the drawings down to his favorite four, leaving the final choice up to the fans. Eight-year-old Noelia from White Center, Washington, received the most votes. Her design was inspired by jaguars, music and the Seattle skyline.

THE DRIVE: For the third year, Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson and Kahne have selected the Strong Against Cancer initiative to be the beneficiary of The DRIVE, a private charity concert, auction and celebrity-amateur golf event scheduled for June 27-28 in Cle Elum, Washington, at the Suncadia Resort. Fans are encouraged to join Wilson and Kahne to support Seattle Children’s Hospital and the Strong Against Cancer initiative. To donate, please visithttp://wilsonkahnedrive.org/beneficiary. Their goal is to raise awareness and valuable funds for research that supports immunotherapy -- a medical treatment that harnesses the power of a child’s immune cells to fight cancer. If you are interested in covering the event, please contact Lauren Emling.


2016 Season

  • 17th in standings
  • 15 starts
  • 0 wins
  • 0 pole positions
  • 2 top-five finishes
  • 5 top-10 finishes
  • 0 laps led

Career

  • 447 starts
  • 17 wins
  • 27 pole positions
  • 88 top-five finishes
  • 161 top-10 finishes
  • 4,607 laps led

Track Career 

  • 12 starts
  • 1 win
  • 2 pole positions
  • 2 top-five finishes
  • 5 top-10 finishes
  • 41 laps led



- Hendrick Motorsports

Top 10 driver ratings at Sonoma:
#41-Kurt Busch 109.3
#48-Jimmie Johnson 101.0
#14-Tony Stewart 98.1
#15-Clint Bowyer 96.7
#31-Ryan Newman 88.5
#18-Kyle Busch 88.3
#19-Carl Edwards 88.3
#1-Jamie McMurray 87.1
#4-Kevin Harvick 86.9
#5-Kasey Kahne 86.7

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