Kasey Kahne Rides New Ford Engine To Runnerup Finish

Kasey Kahne didn’t get to use Ford’s new FR9 engine last week at Pocono, but was jealous of those who did.

He couldn’t draft. Other cars would pull away from him on the straightaways. He wasn’t as competitive as he wanted to be.

“That showed me we were at a big disadvantage as a driver,” Kahne said. “I complained about it some.”

This week, Kahne had the FR9 under the hood of his No. 9 Richard Petty Motorsports car. And as he said after his second-place finish, “It felt good to be on a level playing field.”

“When I sucked up to Kyle Busch (in practice) on Friday, (I thought), ‘Man, we actually have something to work with today,” he said. “It was a good feeling.”

Kahne was running roughly 10 seconds behind eventual race winner Denny Hamlin when a debris caution was called with 19 laps to go, but Kahne couldn’t catch the 11 car on the ensuing restart. Still, it was his best finish since Talladega last October and moved him up two spots to 21st in points.

(As a side note, Kahne said he saw a “big piece of debris” although other drivers like Hamlin and Carl Edwards implied NASCAR called a caution for entertainment value).

Kahne has signed with Hendrick Motorsports to drive for the team in 2012, but his destination for 2011 is still unknown. He isn’t focused too much on the unknown, he said, but said he gets restless on occasion.

“When you’re having bad weeks and things happening, it gets frustrating,” he said. “Yeah, you look ahead: ‘Man, I can’t wait.’ You think about that at times.

“At the same time, I made a commitment to Ray Evernham, George Gillett, Richard Petty. I’m going to stick to it. Whether somebody doesn’t like me there or a lot of people...I’ve worked hard there for six-and-a-half years. I’m going to finish strong there.”