BROOKLYN, Mich. (AP) -- Pole winner Kasey Kahne was kicking himself mentally Saturday after slapping the wall during practice for the 3M Performance 400.
"I'm fine," Kahne said as he studied the damage to the right side of his No. 9 Dodge Charger. "I'm upset with myself for making that mistake and giving these guys a lot of extra work. But I think they'll fix it up as good as it was before."
Kahne was on his fifth lap of the session and driving off turn two on the 2-mile Michigan International Speedway oval when he suddenly slid up to the wall.
"I hit the right rear corner of the car and then it slapped the whole side after that," he said.
At first, Kahne was concerned that he might have to go to a backup car, meaning he would have to start from the rear of the 43-car field. Then he thought about the fact that this is a car he has won in and the one he considers his favorite among the fleet that team owner Ray Evernham provides during the season.
"This has been our lucky car," Kahne said. "I don't want to mess it up, but we've got a bunch of cars that are just as good. We just haven't won with them.
"It's not a big deal other than that we missed out on some practice today and it will hurt us in the race tomorrow a little bit. Hopefully, we'll make a well-educated guess on the setup and be pretty close."
The Michigan track has been a mixed bag for Kahne, who was 2004's top rookie but struggled through the 2005 season. He finished second and fifth in his two races here as a rookie, but slipped to 18th and 29th last year.
Heading into Sunday's race, Kahne is a solid fifth in the season points and running well almost every week.
"We need top 10s," he said. "We just need to keep doing what we've been doing. We're in the top five, but we have 12 races to go before the Chase field is set. I'm happy with what's going on and we just need to keep going."
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"I'm fine," Kahne said as he studied the damage to the right side of his No. 9 Dodge Charger. "I'm upset with myself for making that mistake and giving these guys a lot of extra work. But I think they'll fix it up as good as it was before."
Kahne was on his fifth lap of the session and driving off turn two on the 2-mile Michigan International Speedway oval when he suddenly slid up to the wall.
"I hit the right rear corner of the car and then it slapped the whole side after that," he said.
At first, Kahne was concerned that he might have to go to a backup car, meaning he would have to start from the rear of the 43-car field. Then he thought about the fact that this is a car he has won in and the one he considers his favorite among the fleet that team owner Ray Evernham provides during the season.
"This has been our lucky car," Kahne said. "I don't want to mess it up, but we've got a bunch of cars that are just as good. We just haven't won with them.
"It's not a big deal other than that we missed out on some practice today and it will hurt us in the race tomorrow a little bit. Hopefully, we'll make a well-educated guess on the setup and be pretty close."
The Michigan track has been a mixed bag for Kahne, who was 2004's top rookie but struggled through the 2005 season. He finished second and fifth in his two races here as a rookie, but slipped to 18th and 29th last year.
Heading into Sunday's race, Kahne is a solid fifth in the season points and running well almost every week.
"We need top 10s," he said. "We just need to keep doing what we've been doing. We're in the top five, but we have 12 races to go before the Chase field is set. I'm happy with what's going on and we just need to keep going."
SI.com