NASCAR Pocono 2014: Frustrated Kasey Kahne still searching

Within the past four weeks, Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon have combined for three wins. Teammate Dale Earnhardt Jr. won the season-opening Daytona 500 then reeled off seven other top-10s in 12 races, and currently resides in the fifth position in points.

All three Hendrick Motorsports drivers are virtually assured of qualifying for the Chase for the Sprint Cup. At the halfway point of the regular season, the trio has fulfilled the expectations laid before them.

The same can’t be said for the fourth Hendrick driver, Kasey Kahne.

Bad luck, mistakes and general underperformance have contributed to a slump that has left Kahne searching for answers. He enters Sunday’s race at Pocono Raceway 18th in points with one top-5 and four top-10 finishes.

“We haven’t put together the full race,” Kahne said Friday. “And when we have, it’s been one and then we forget how for the next three, and then come back for the fourth one and run pretty well. That side of it’s been tough and we’re all looking at that together to try to make it better.”

Slow starts aren’t uncommon for Kahne or his No. 5 team led by crew chief Kenny Francis. Two years ago in Kahne’s first season at Hendrick, he opened with an average finish of 28.5 and sat 31st in points through six races.

Questions began surfacing whether Kahne, who previously drove for mid-level teams Richard Petty Motorsports and Red Bull Racing, was suited for Hendrick, an organization with lofty standards that come with having won a NASCAR-record 11 championships.

Maintaining his low-key personality, Kahne never lashed out at the doubters. He instead let his results on the track do his bidding, putting together a stretch that included two victories and 13 top-10s over the next 18 races. When the year ended, Kahne finished a career-best fourth in the standings.

This season, in spite of a run of tracks which are some of Kahne’s best, that turnaround has yet to ensue. The nadir occurred two weeks ago at Charlotte Motor Speedway, a track where Kahne owns four career wins and is usually at his best.

In NASCAR’s longest race, the Coca-Cola 600, the No. 5 Chevrolet was noncompetitive with Kahne, falling a lap down early and struggling just to finish 14th. Rubbing salt in the wound, the No. 48 of Johnson, which had been in a mini-slump of its own, used Kahne’s baseline setup as a compass to lead the most laps and engineer a win from the pole.

“I give them credit for helping us get going,” Johnson said. “I know their cars are fast so it’s kind of a frustration slash disappointment they haven’t been able to capitalize.”

Last week’s race at Dover International Speedway was another frustrating experience. A strong effort early gave way to an ill-handling car late, dropping Kahne to a 19th-place finish.

“My weeks aren’t near as down as some people maybe would think they should be after the way we have performed at times,” Kahne said. “I mean you just have to move on after a race and figure out how you can make it better and then do that at the next track.

“I’ve actually handled things pretty well and feel good about where I’m at and the things I’ve learned about myself over the last six months. As far as our performance goes we are still working on that.”

Hendrick staged an organization-wide test this past week at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, leaving Kahne happy with the speed his team showed and the direction in which it was headed. He and Francis met Tuesday then further strategized during an extended lunch Thursday.

With three of the four Hendrick cars essentially Chase bound, the focus within the team is getting Kahne qualified.

“As a group, we want all four cars in the Chase, and we need to get Kasey a win,” Johnson said.

Kahne’s first victory of 2014 could feasibly come Sunday. The No. 5 team won at the 2.5-mile Pocono track last August, with Kahne and Francis also winning there in 2008 when they were with RPM.

And yet in Friday practice it was more of the same middling results that thus far have defined Kahne’s 2014 season. In qualifying he mustered only the 27th-fastest time; a discouraging sign at a place where track position is often critical.

A revamped Turn 2 has seen curbing eliminated, and in theory passing opportunities might not be a rarity like in years past. Still, with higher speeds and a surface which pole-sitter Denny Hamlin described as uneven, trying to complete a pass through Pocono’s famed “tunnel turn” still comes with great risks.

“It’s a cool idea, but the new asphalt is like two inches higher than the old asphalt,” Hamlin said. “It’s not a smooth transition, so it will rip your splitter. Literally, you’re going to just tear your whole frontend right off the car if you try to cut that corner.

“Somebody’s going to get forced down there at some point and I’ll be interested in seeing the outcome of that.”

But for a driver desperate for win, like Kahne, Turn 2 presents a chance not available previously.

And if there is a prevailing storyline in 2014, it’s how quickly a victory can change a driver’s fortunes. Just ask Kurt Busch (Martinsville) and Hamlin (Talladega), who both struggled before and after their respective triumphs, as each now have a safety net to fall back on in the form of a likely Chase bid.

A win Sunday transforms a once bleak season into one full of promise.

“This is a track where I’ve run well in the past and with Hendrick race cars and engines it makes it a lot easier,” Kahne said. “We’ll be good on Sunday at points. We just need to put the whole 400 miles together. If we do that, we’ll have a shot to win.”