Kahne has his momentum back

After more than a year without a win, he’s been to victory lane twice this season.

LONG POND, Pa. (AP) — Winning races used to be almost expected for Kasey Kahne.

No driver won more of them in 2006 — six — than Kahne when he raced his way into the Chase.

Then the victories dried up, and so did any hope of title contention. After more than a year when nothing seemed to go right for the popular driver, consecutive trips to Victory Lane could give him the momentum needed to make a push up the standings.

“We needed a little boost. We got that,” Kahne said Wednesday at Pocono Raceway. “I think everybody feels like we have a pretty strong company and pretty strong race cars, and we can keep building on that.”

Kahne won the All-Star race at Lowe’s Motor Speedway, then followed a week later on the same track with a victory in the Coca-Cola 600. The Sprint Cup victory snapped a 52-race winless streak in points events that stretched back to October 2006 — back when Kahne imagined wins would come more oftenthan this.

Kahne returned to the top 12 in the points standings and is only 32 points outside 10th. Kahne hopes his spot in the Chase is a permanent one and he can stick there long enough to run for the title over the final 10 races of the season.

“We have the team to do it, that’s for sure,” he said.

Kahne started the season strong with three straight top-10 finishes before recording only two more over the next eight races. He would look at the other drivers and their cars and wonder why the No. 9 Dodge couldn’t keep up.

“I didn’t necessarily lose confidence in myself or my team,” Kahne said. “But there were times I wondered, as a company, if we were doing some of the wrong things ... Everybody’s stuff is different. I just felt like maybe we were behind there.”

One thing Kahne never lost was his popularity. Even as he slumped in a winless 2007 and a 19th-place finish, Kahne’s fan base remained stout. Kahne never would have qualified for the All-Star race without them.

He didn’t qualify for the race because of his lengthy winless streak, never won the All-Star race before and couldn’t snag a spot among the non-qualifiers in the Sprint Showdown. His only other way was by fan vote.

The victory was the spark he needed to help him the next week. Well, that and Tony Stewart’s flat tire.

Stewart was leading the race until a flat with three laps left knocked him into the pits. Kahne was in prime position to take advantage and moved into Chase contention with the victory.

“I think we’re finally getting there to where we can contend at a lot of these racetracks, be in the top 10 and have a shot,” he said.