ON THE RISE: KASEY KAHNE IS QUICKLY BECOMING ONE OF THE NASCAR ELITE

摘要

IT'S PROBABLY TOO early to put Kasey Kahne in the class with Dale Earnhardt Jr., Tony Stewart and Jeff Gordon among NASCAR drivers. He is only three-for-79 all-time, has been 13th and 23rd in points and has never dominated like they have. But check back, say, in a couple of months. We may have turned the Big Three into the Big Four. Kahne's win at Texas Motor Speedway will help. After all, he won the pole, ran in the top-10 all afternoon and led 64 of the 334 laps, including the final 27. Kahne beat former Cup champ Matt Kenseth by more than five seconds and reigning champion Stewart by almost seven. It was easily the largest win margin this year, but Kahne had to work for it.