Kahne goes for ‘hat trick’ at Lowe’s

Posted on Thursday, October 9th, 2008 at 3:31 PM EDT.

The Race:  Bank of America 500
The Place:  Lowe’s Motor Speedway
The Date:  Saturday, Oct. 11
The Track:  1.5-mile oval
The Distance:  334 laps/500 miles
TV:  ABC, 7 p.m. (ET)
Green Flag:   7:25 p.m. (ET)

One Dodge driver could make NASCAR history this weekend as Lowe’s Motor Speedway welcomes back the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series for Saturday night’s Bank of America 500 in Concord, N.C. Eleven Dodge teams are entered of which eight are assured berths in the 31st of 36 regular-season point races of the season.

Kasey Kahne (No. 9 Budweiser Dodge Charger), who won the first two events at Lowe’s Motor Speedway in 2008, looks to become the first NASCAR driver to win the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Challenge, Coca-Cola 600 and Bank of America 500 in the same season. This weekend marks the 175th career Cup start for Kahne. “It would be a huge accomplishment for me personally and everyone at Gillett Evernham Motorsports to be able to complete the sweep, Kahne said.” Coming off a top-10 finish at Talladega Superspeedway last weekend, Elliott Sadler (No. 19 Stanley/Susan G. Komen for the Cure Dodge Charger) looks to carry his momentum into LMS where the Virginia native earned the pole in 2005. “I’m really excited for this weekend,” Sadler said. “We are bringing a car that should definitely give us a chance to win.”

 Other Notes:

• Ryan Newman (No. 12 Alltel Dodge Charger) has started from the pole in six of the last 11 races at LMS including a sweep in 2003 and 2007.
• Chad McCumbee (No. 45 Marathon Spirit of America Motor Oil Dodge Charger) is scheduled to compete in four of the final five events of the 2008 Sprint Cup season for Petty Enterprises including this weekend’s BOA 500. This weekend marks his fifth career start in the No. 45 Dodge.
• Mike Wallace (No. 10 Valvoline Dodge Charger) takes over for Patrick Carpentier in the No. 10 Dodge Charger this weekend. Bobby Labonte (No. 43 Cheerios/Let’s Pink Together Dodge Charger) has earned two wins at LMS (1995 Coca-Cola 600 and 2000 UAW Quality 500). He has scored more top-10 finishes (17) at Lowe’s than at any other track during his career.

This entry was posted on Thursday, October 9th, 2008 at 3:31 PM EDT and is filed under Motorsports. You can follow any comments to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Comments are currently closed.