Team Mopar's Kasey Kahne dazzles with runner-up score at ORP
NASCAR superstar and Team Mopar owner/driver Kasey Kahne wowed a large crowd at O'Reilly Raceway Park in Clermont, Ind., scoring a hard-earned second-place finish in the United States Auto Club (USAC) Mopar Midget National Championship feature on Thursday, July 24.
Kahne, owner of Kasey Kahne Racing (KKR), was making a rare appearance behind the wheel of a KKR Mopar Midget National car. The NASCAR regular was in fine form. After ignition woes in practice left him the 24th fastest qualifier, it took a strong second-place finish in his heat race to earn Kahne a starting spot outside row four in the 30-lap feature. The 2000 USAC Midget champion proceeded to put on a passing clinic, ultimately stealing the runner-up spot with a bold outside pass in the closing laps. The race marked Kahne's first appearance in a USAC Midget event since last November's "Turkey Night Grand Prix" at Irwindale Speedway in Southern California, where he also placed second.
While Kahne had a great night behind the wheel at Raceway Park, the two full-time drivers for Kasey Kahne Racing, Brady Bacon and Brad Sweet, finished 13th and 17th, respectively. Some of the biggest news of the night concerned a driver who wasn't in the starting field. Two-time defending USAC Midget champion Jerry Coons Jr. barely missed the qualifying cut in both his heat race and the semi-feature, and thus sat out the main event, a rare event for the popular Arizona veteran.
Sweet currently sits fifth in the Mopar Midget National Championship standings, with Bacon eighth and Coons dropping to 10th. The series moves next to Kansas and the 31st annual "Speedway Motors Belleville Midget Nationals," one of America's most prestigious short-track races, set for Aug. 1-2 on the famed Belleville High Banks. For more info on USAC Racing, visit usacracing.com.