Kasey Kahne was racing strong this weekend, but was it enough?

This week’s winner may not have been Carl Edwards or Kasey Kahne. Instead, the real winner this weekend was Bristol Motor Speedway. With its newly re-paved surface, drivers were able to race three wide, which was an idea previously unheard of. Many seemed to pleased with the way their cars were able to handle on the new surface, but many in the media were also disappointed that the Bristol as they used to know it was gone, replaced with a calmer one that allowed for more “real” racing and less “bumping and banging” style racing.

Therefore, the question stands: is Saturday night racing at short tracks as we know it over? I don’t think so. It’s important to remember that many drivers were worried about their position in the points, not wanting to risk their position by getting wild at Bristol and wrecking their car.

For the first time this season, Kasey Kahne won the pole and led the field to the green flag. By lap five, fans were already getting a taste of what the new surface provided when Matt Kenseth, Ryan Newman, and Jimmie Johnson raced three-wide around the track.  Thirty laps later, Kahne remained the dominant car and began to lap the stragglers. Kahne and Edwards then swapped the lead twice before the first yellow of the night was dropped.

For a race that had not seen a yellow flag for the first 126 laps, two yellows were dropped within fifteen laps of one another. The first belonging to Denny Hamlin, who spun as his engine caught fire. Hamlin was already locked into the chase, and had nothing to loose this weekend other than pride. Before the race had started, Hamlin and his crew had changed the engine of the No. 11 FedEx Chevy, sending him to the rear of the field. On lap 163, he first reported the problem to his team, fearing that the engine may be blowing up and hung onto 12th until his engine finally gave way on lap 211.

The second in that series of cautions was caused by a chain reaction bump. Jimmie Johnson bumped Aric Almirola, and Almirola spun AJ Allmendinger. Both victims then spun up the track, not collecting any others as they did so.

At the halfway point of the race, Kahne still remained the dominant car and by lap 279, he had lead 250 of the race’s total 500 laps. It wasn’t until lap 336 when the lead changed hands for good this time. Carl Edwards lead the field through three caution periods caused by David Ragan spinning his car. Edwards barely lead ten laps before Robby Gordon called the seventh yellow flag of the night.

Since taking the lead from Kahne on lap 166, Edwards lead 56 laps under nine caution periods. The eighth of which occurred when Ricky Rudd was tapped by Martin Truex Jr. Rudd then slid up the track, got hit by Johnson, clogged the track and collected Matt Kenseth, Jeff Gordon, and David Gilliland. Two laps after the restart, debris on the track creates the ninth and final caution of the night.

For the second time this season, Edwards took the checkered flag, flipped off of his car, and locked himself into the Chase. He’s now currently fifth in the standings, and only three points out of fourth.

With a Busch Series win from Friday coming into the race, Kahne, who previously hasn’t lead a lap in ten races, lead 305 of Saturday’s 500, and also brought home a second place and top five finish: something he hasn’t done since Homestead last year. After the race was over, Kahne was not upset that he did not win; only smiles adorned the No. 9 crew and driver.

"To get a great weekend here like we did this weekend feels good. It was fun,” he later told the media, “It has been a while since we've had a top-five -- it's been a while since we've run up front all night long and had a pole.”

Could this weekend have been the first of Kahne’s comeback season?

“We want to finish this season strong and start 2008 with some momentum. We've struggled, so we want to have a strong end to this season and to look forward to the next one.”

He said that this weekend gave him some confidence. Hopefully Kahne and his team will carry this positive attitude and the momentum from this weekend into the rest of the season and land themselves in Victory Lane once again.

Kurt Busch finished sixth, behind Dale Earnhardt Jr. However, Dale only gained five points to be 158 points out of the coveted 12th spot in the standings. Dale says he is not worried about making the chase, he just hopes he can finish the season with a win.

"I'll be more upset if I don't win a race this year. I want to win. If I can't get in the Chase, I just want to win a race,” he admitted.

It’s been a while, 50 races, since Dale’s last been in Victory Lane. Next week, the teams head out to California for the Sharp AQUOS 500, another night race. Will Dale finally break his winless streak? Will Kahne’s solid weekend translate into a win next week? Will Busch finally clinch 12th in the standings? Whatever happens, be sure to come back next week and see who were the biggest winners and losers at California!

Questions and comments may be sent to larissasmith@sportsgrumblings.com