Kahne Fastest During First Day of NASCAR Testing
Tuesday, April 19, 2005

SONOMA, Calif. — Kasey Kahne (Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge) posted the fastest time on Tuesday during a NASCAR NEXTEL Cup test session at Infineon Raceway.

Kahne, who placed 31st in his first visit to Infineon Raceway in 2004, turned the 10-turn, 1.99-mile road course in 1 minute, 17.25 seconds. Jeff Gordon (DuPont Chevrolet) holds the track qualifying record of 1:15.968, set in 2004.

“I enjoy coming here and I really like the road course; it’s just a matter of trying different things and getting used to it,” Kahne said. “Hopefully we’ll come back here in June and perform a lot better than we did last year.”

The NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series will visit the Sonoma Valley, June 24-26, for the Dodge/Save Mart 350 weekend.

Kahne was one of three NASCAR NEXTEL Cup drivers testing the course on Tuesday. Carl Edwards (Office Depot Ford) was second-fast at 1:17.50, with Jose Luis Ramirez (Pro30.com) third at 1:20.54. Travis Kvapil (Kodak EasyShare Dodge) is scheduled to test on Wednesday.

“I’ve never seen this place before today but, man, it’s a lot of fun,” Edwards said. “There are turns and elevation changes everywhere. It should be pretty fun when we come back here (in June).”

Ramirez was involved in a single-car accident late in the day at Turn 4 on the raceway and was transported to John Muir Medical Center in Walnut Creek for precautionary reasons, according to a family member.

Testing resumes on Wednesday with a full day scheduled from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. (PDT). Great tickets are still available for the Dodge/Save Mart 350 by calling 800-870-RACE.