BRISTOL, Tenn. (March 15, 2008) – It was a race against time. NASCAR officials knew that heavy rains were on their way to the half-mile bullring known as Bristol Motor Speedway. They hoped they would be able to complete at least 150 of the scheduled 300 laps to make it an official race.

Rain had washed out qualifying and the field was set by 2007 Owner’s Points. This left Kahne and the No. 9 Ragu Dodge to start in the seventh spot.

The Ragu Dodge spent the entire race in the top-10 and when the skies finally opened up on lap 171 and NASCAR called the race, Kahne had muscled his way to the second spot. The finish earned the Ragu Dodge Charger team their third straight top-10.

Kahne had a strong car during what little practice the Nationwide Series had and the Ragu Dodge crew was optimistic heading into the 300-mile race.

Kahne was happy with the handling of the Ragu Dodge in the early stages of the race.

"You guys made good adjustments", Kahne said over the radio after the first 20 laps. "It’s a little loose but we have a car to work with today".

Two caution flags flew before NASCAR issued a competition caution on lap 45 - as a result of the limited practice sessions- to let crews get a better handle on their race cars.

Team Director, Kirk Almquist called the No. 9 Ragu Dodge to pit road for an air pressure adjustment, four tires and fuel.

Kahne restarted on lap 51 in the sixth spot. With such a fast car it didn’t take Kahne and the leaders long to catch lap traffic through the high-corners of the shortrack.

On lap 93 Kahne rocketed off of turn four and onto the front stretch when the 40 car of Dario Franchitti got off the throttle a little too early for the rest of the field. Kahne just nudged the rear of the 40 car and Franchitti spun going into turn 1.

"He just checked up too early", Kahne explained. I didn’t mean to run him over, we were just a lot faster and I didn’t have time to slow down".

"Is there any right front damage", Almquist shot back.

From the spotters stand it looked as though the right front of the Ragu Dodge had minor damage but the fender had not pushed itself in on the right front tire.

After coming into the pits for further inspection, Almquist radioed the crew.

"We will be fine", he said. "The damage is minor at best".

The sky began to grow darker and the thick rain clouds began inching their way towards the track. The faces of the Ragu crew were rightfully anxious, as they knew rain was imminent.

Although no one told Kahne - who was nestled comfortably behind the wheel of the Ragu Dodge- that the rain was coming, somehow he must have figured it out on his own. It was as if someone had lit a fire underneath the No. 9 as he began picking up spot after spot.

By lap 128 he had moved into the second position right behind the No. 2 of Clint Bowyer and the two began an epic battle for the lead spot.

Kahne had begun working his trademark high-line around the track and was constantly running lap times fast then Bowyer’s. When he reached the bumper of the No. 2, Bowyer wisely moved his car up high to take away Kahne’s blistering fast line.

Kahne dove low but didn’t quite have the speed to clear Bowyer’s car on the bottom. The two traded lines over the next 20 laps and were constantly seeking lap cars to use as picks. Right about the time Kahne had a strong enough run to pass the No. 2, Bowyer found one of those picks. Kahne was forced to lift and give up his momentum to avoid running over the slower lap car.

Bowyer continued in the lead.

"I just can’t seem to beat him down the straight", Kahne exclaimed over the radio. "If I can, I could get position going into the corner and make the pass".

Kahne continued to pursue the No. 2 tenaciously. Any opening that Bowyer gave, Kahne would fill with the cross-hair grill of the No. 9 Ragu Dodge. But in the end the rains came around lap 164 and took away the No. 9 Ragu Dodge’s chance of going to victory lane. However, the team came home with a strong second-place run.

"We had a lot of fun today", Kahne said after climbing from the Ragu Dodge onto a wet pit road. “This is one of those races that keeps you on the edge of your seat the whole day. I felt like we had the car to beat Bowyer. But at the time I didn’t want to hurt our car making the pass. Every time I tried to pass high, he would chase me up the track. I had to lift to avoid hitting the wall, so it was frustrating.

"I thought if we took care of the car early in the race, and if the rains had stayed away we would have had the car to win. I was just thinking long term. You can predict rain all day but at the racetrack you just never know. If I had wanted to force the issue we could have made the pass but we might of hurt the car in the process".

"We’re still real happy with the finish for our Ragu Dodge Charger today. Kirk [Almquist] and the team worked hard all weekend and I’m proud of them. We’ll take second-place and we still have a race car that’s in one piece, which is an accomplishment at Bristol".

Clint Bowyer led 122 laps and went on to win the rain shortened race. Kahne was second in the Ragu Dodge Charger and David Reutiman rounded out the top-three.

The impressive run gave the Ultimate Chargers a huge boost in Owner’s Points. They gained eight spots in the standings and now sit in 11th, eight points out of the top-10.

The Nationwide Series heads to its first stand-alone race of the 2008 season at Nashville Superspeedway next Saturday.