Kasey Kahne Sets Las Vegas Motor Speedway Record

Kasey Kahne Sets Las Vegas Motor Speedway Record

Motorsport star Kasey Kahne starts from pole position after setting a track record on a fast day of qualifying at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

On Friday, Kahne had recorded a top speed of 190.456 mph (306.509 kph) on the 1.5-mile (2.4-kilometer) tri-oval to earn his 23rd career pole and first since joining Hendrick Motorsports.

Kyle Busch qualified second and will join Kahne on the front row for Sunday’s 400-mile (640-kilometer) race after a warm afternoon in the desert where 15 drivers eclipsed Matt Kenseth’s record of 188.884 mph set in 2011.

Kevin Harvick will start third and Dale Earnhardt Jr. will be next to him.

It was the fourth straight year the track record was broken at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Kahne has bounced around during his Sprint Cup car career, but managed to win 12 races despite his lack of a permanent team.

He signed with Hendrick Motorsports in 2010, but had to wait until this season to join the team because Mark Martin was under contract through 2011.

Kahne started last season with Richard Petty Motorsports and ended it with Red Bull Racing.

The motorsport athlete has had sporadic success at Las Vegas–top-10 finishes every other year since 2004.

He finally beat Busch’s time late in the session, turning a lap of 28.353 seconds that’ll give him a chance to start up front in Sunday’s race and, hopefully, jumpstart his season.

Posted by Andre Monohan on Saturday March 10 2012, 4:16 AM EDT. Ref: Yahoo. All trademarks acknowledged. Filed under World. Comments and Trackbacks closed. Follow responses: RSS 2.0