IN 2006, Kahne Is King At Charlotte

 

Kahne sweeps Lowe's; Burton retains lead
By JENNA FRYER AP Auto Racing Writer
photo by CHUCK BURTON / AP
© 2006 The Associated Press

CONCORD, N.C. — Two things are abundantly clear at the midway point of the Chase for the championship: Jeff Burton can't do anything wrong, and nothing Kasey Kahne does is good enough.

Kahne did everything right Saturday night, leading a race-high 134 laps en route to his sixth win of the year and a season sweep at Lowe's Motor Speedway.

But Burton overcame a pit-road miscue to finish third, and retain his hold on the championship standings. He's 45 points ahead of Matt Kenseth.

Kahne, who finished first and second the past two weeks, is still stuck back in eighth place. The Dodge driver is 160 points out and accepts how hard it will be to chase down Burton.

"It's just tough when you're racing the guys we're racing with. The reason all 10 of us are in the top 10 in points is because we've all run well all year long," Kahne said. "A couple of guys had some hard luck tonight, or things happened to them and the leader, Jeff Burton, didn't.

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