NASCAR Indianapolis 2014: Close but not quite for Kasey Kahne

INDIANAPOLIS -- It was a day of bittersweet emotions for Kasey Kahne Sunday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

The positives include leading a race-high 70 laps and despite running out of gas on the final lap, finishing sixth. It was a result which moved Kahne just four points out of position to grab a Chase for the Sprint Cup berth.

Conversely, on the opposite side of the emotional spectrum, a victory would have greatly enhanced Kahne’s playoff prospects. As it is, he remains winless in 2014 with just six regular season races remaining.

From Kahne’s perspective, he chose to focus on the positives.

“I finished sixth,” Kahne said. “If I wouldn’t have done that, I would have finished dead last on the lead lap. It is the strongest effort the team has put out all season long. ”... We can take a lot out of here. That was a good performance today.”

Even as he talked up the positives, it was hard for Kahne to ignore just how close he came to winning his first Brickyard 400 trophy.

Kahne was out front when the slowing car of Ryan Truex brought out the yellow flag 20 laps from the finish. Low on fuel -- crew chief Kenny Francis estimated at least a lap, maybe two -- Kahne stayed out hoping the slower pace would aid his efforts to conserve.

Second-place Jeff Gordon would have none of it. Several times Gordon nudged a slowing Kahne or drove alongside him in an attempt to disrupt the conservation strategy. It mattered little to either that they are Hendrick Motorsports teammates.

“I was able to save just as much as I usually would,” Kahne said. “I was just getting tired of him being beside me, so I kinda tried to run him up into the wall so he had to back off. I was getting pissed at that, but he was just trying to get me to run out. He’s doing what he needs to do.”

Gordon shared a similar opinion that he was merely doing what he needed to do to win. At that moment he didn’t see Kahne as a teammate but as the competition.

“We were in a better fuel position,” Gordon said. “I understood what he was doing; I would have done the same thing. He probably would have done the same thing to me in that position.

“I treated him like a competitor at that point. He might not have liked it. But I have so much respect for Kasey, I love him, that team. We’re out of the same shop. But when it comes down to the end of a race, we’re here to win.”

The subsequent restart, however, made the exchange moot. Getting the jump, Gordon drove around Kahne off of Turn 2 and from there he checked out to grab his second win of the year.

Meanwhile, Kahne backslid quickly to fifth, and then ran out of fuel on the final lap and coasted to finish sixth. Had he fended off Gordon, Kahne conceded he would have run out of gas while in the lead.

“We ended up sixth,” Kahne said. “Because of (losing the lead), I was able to save fuel and make it. If I had beaten him, I would have had to race the heck out of him. He was faster than I was so we probably would have finished a lot worse. So, I guess for points it was good.”

Still, a win Sunday would have been preferred.

“I would have loved to win at the Brickyard,” Kahne said. “We had a good car. I thought I gave it all I had. The team gave it all they had and we just came up a little short.”