Following Sunday’s Food City 500, Kasey Kahne and the No. 9 Budweiser Team posted their fourth top-10 finish in the first five races of the 2008 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season. Kahne rebounded from several set-backs during the 500-lap event at Bristol Motor Speedway (BMS) to finish in the seventh position following a green-white-checkered finish.

"It’s another strong run for this team", Kahne said. "Kenny and our guys did a great job because we were really tight all day long. I don’t know whether it was the change in the weather or what, but we just couldn’t get our car to drive like it did yesterday during final practice. We battled back from being a lap down and a pit road penalty to get back up to the front so we’re pretty happy with today’s results".

Kahne started from the 20th starting spot after the field was set according to owner’s points as a result of heavy rain showers settling in the Tri-City area on Friday. Overcast skies also rolled in on Saturday but not before the Sprint Cup Series competitors were able to take the track for two scheduled practice sessions. Kahne and his No. 9 Budweiser Team looked to be the class of the field, posting the quickest lap time in the final of the two practices.

On Sunday, temperatures were much cooler as the 43 teams fired their engines for the start of the fifth race of 2008. From the onset of the race, Kahne radioed to crew chief Kenny Francis that his Budweiser Dodge was very tight. Francis called for several changes to the chassis during the first two caution periods to help alleviate the tight-handling condition.

During the third caution period on lap 95, Kahne brought his No. 9 Budweiser Dodge to pit road for service but was penalized for exiting pit road too fast and forced to take the restart at the tail end of the longest line of cars. Once the green flag was back out, the leaders made quick work to get to Kahne’s back bumper on Bristol’s short half-mile. Kahne fell one lap down to the leader on lap 155.

Kahne would never let the lead car out of his sights though as his perseverance was finally rewarded with the Lucky Dog award, returning to the lead lap on lap 291 during the seventh caution flag of the race. From there Kahne patiently tracked down the top 15 with a car that, while still tight, was quick during long green-flag runs. A 70-lap green flag run during the final 100 laps allowed Kahne to make his way into the top 10 and to position himself for a final charge during the closing laps of the race.

Kahne’s seventh-place finish on Sunday at Bristol allowed the driver of the Budweiser Dodge to pick up one position in the championship point standings, moving the Budweiser driver into the sixth position. Kahne is 108 points behind standing’s leader, Kyle Busch.

Richard Childress Racing scored a one-two-three finish with their three Sprint Cup teams on Sunday in the Food City 500. Jeff Burton, driver of the No. 31 entry, scored his first career victory at BMS following a green-white-checkered finish. Burton was followed by teammates Kevin Harvick and Clint Bowyer in the second and third positions respectively. Greg Biffle finished in the fourth spot followed by Dale Earnhardt, Jr. in fifth.

Kahne’s teammate Elliott Sadler concluded Sunday’s race in the 21st position, four laps behind the race winner after battling a loose-handling condition through the high-banked turns at Bristol Motor Speedway.

There will be no NASCAR action next weekend as the Sprint Cup Series takes a week off of competition in observation of the Easter holiday. Kasey Kahne and the No. 9 Budweiser team will return to action on Sunday, March 30th at Martinsville Speedway for the running of the Goody’s Cool Orange 500. FOX is scheduled to provide live coverage beginning at 1:30 p.m. EDT. Radio coverage will be broadcast by the Motor Racing Network (MRN).