Kahne holds off Stewart for 1st road course win

Kasey Kahne figured a spot in the Chase for the championship was an unrealistic goal just two months ago. He wasn't running well, Richard Petty Motorsports was behind in its development, and the competition was steadily pulling away.

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Then came a strong five-race stretch, punctuated by Sunday's win at Infineon Raceway. It came at a road course, of all places, and snapped Kahne's 37-race winless streak.

It also moved him up two spots in the standings to 13th, just three points away from a berth in the Chase.

"The Chase is what we work for every year. We need to have a car in that Chase," he said. "We've run strong for the last six races ... top-five, top-10 material. Haven't finished there, but we've been there, and (Sunday) we did.

His win brought team co-owner Richard Petty to Victory Lane for the first time in over a decade. The last time a Petty-owned car won a race was John Andretti's 1999 victory at Martinsville.

So his return trip was special, in large part because it gave a much-needed boost to struggling Richard Petty Motorsports. Caught in the financial crunch of Chrysler's bankruptcy, the team had a recent round of layoffs and companywide salary reductions, and Kahne had been openly critical of the team's slow development on an improved Dodge motor.

Stewart, an accomplished road racer, finished second and was followed by Marcos Ambrose, who blew a motor in Saturday's practice that forced him to start at the back of the field and forfeit his third-place qualifying position.

Jimmie Johnson was fourth and was followed by Denny Hamlin and Juan Pablo Montoya, who moved up two spots in the standings to take the 12th Chase position.

AJ Allmendinger, Kahne's teammate at RPM, was seventh and Clint Bowyer, Jeff Gordon and RPM driver Elliott Sadler rounded out the top 10.

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Terra Autos / AP