Two drivers scheduled for photo appearance Thursday
By Joe Menzer, NASCAR.COM
May 9, 2007
10:54 AM EDT
-CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- As fate would have it, drivers Kasey Kahne and David Stremme have a photo appearance scheduled together for Thursday.
It's for Wrigley's gum, but don't expect the two to exchange pieces and make peace. They're more likely to chew on each other's reputation a little more than to chew a piece of sponsored gum together.
Actually, that goes more for Kahne than for Stremme, who has tried to take the high road in a dispute that flared after the two got together late in Sunday's Nextel Cup race at Richmond International Raceway (watch video).
"I don't like the guy. I've never liked him. Now we just have a lot more of a reason not to like him."
Kasey Kahne on David StremmeIn a video clip that quickly climbed in popularity on the Internet, Kahne blamed Stremme for causing the wreck that took both drivers prematurely out of the race. Stremme ended up with a 38th-place finish, and Kahne, who has had a difficult year, ended up 40th.
"We kept working on the car to get it better and better, but I got back there to battling with Stremme and those guys," Kahne said on the clip. "My car was better, but everywhere I went, Stremme went. So I was just confused where he was going.
"I don't know. He's pretty fat and out of shape. That's probably half the reason. It was pretty late in the race. He was probably pretty worn out."
On the video, Stremme replied: "I don't know where he says we were battling all day. He was a lap down. I easily could have passed him. He beat on me going into the corner, and then he runs me up in the straightaway. It's the second time it's happened in six months, eight months, whatever."
When the two visited Lowe's Motor Speedway for testing the two days after the Richmond race, it was assumed that the adversaries had enough time to cool down and all would be forgotten. However, that did not appear to be the case.
Reminded that he and Stremme had the photo appearance to make together Thursday, Kahne grimaced and acknowledged that he was aware of it.
"I've heard. I think we do," Kahne said. "It'll be interesting. I'll do what I've got to do; he'll do what he's got to do. And then we'll leave.
"I don't like the guy. I've never liked him. Now we just have a lot more of a reason not to like him."
Kahne then reiterated the latest source of his anger, again charging that Stremme was at fault for the Richmond wreck.
"He was just in the way for however many laps. He was holding up a lot of the cars there, including myself," Kahne said. "Every time I would go high, he would go high; every time I would go low, he would go low. He was just holding us up."
Reached outside his hauler at Lowe's Motor Speedway on Tuesday, Stremme said he didn't want to fan the flames of the simmering dispute.
"I don't want to talk about nothing to do with him," Stremme said. "I'll let him air his dirty laundry. I ain't got nothin' to say."
Told that Kahne said he doesn't like him, Stremme smiled and added: "That's all right. Everybody does like me except him. He'll find out he won't like me even more, too. But let him do the talking. I don't air my dirty laundry."
Kahne admitted that much of what he said on Sunday was said out of frustration. His poor finish at Richmond dropped him one spot in the point standings to 32nd. Stremme is 17th after dropping three spots because of his disappointing finish at Richmond.
"The year hasn't gone very good yet," Kahne admitted. "So I was frustrated to have problems, and then I was trying to battle somebody for 10 laps. When he doesn't know where he's going, you don't know where he's going. And finally, I gave him a couple of chances; he slid up in front of me and I had to either lift or crash him, one or the other. I let him go and then we get on the frontstretch and he's rubbing the wall, and comes off the wall. It's just tough to race with that guy no matter what.
"Our season hasn't been going that well. I thought we had a pretty good car in practice and then we go to the race and it was so loose you could hardly drive it. About Lap 300, we got it better and felt like we could make some moves and start coming on back through there. Then I sped on pit road and screwed up, but got back up to where I was and was trying to get a lap back -- and then I got involved with him.
"There's just a lot of things that have been going wrong -- whether it's my fault, the team's fault, David Stremme's fault. It's just all the kinds of things that make me frustrated."
By Joe Menzer, NASCAR.COM
May 9, 2007
10:54 AM EDT
-CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- As fate would have it, drivers Kasey Kahne and David Stremme have a photo appearance scheduled together for Thursday.
It's for Wrigley's gum, but don't expect the two to exchange pieces and make peace. They're more likely to chew on each other's reputation a little more than to chew a piece of sponsored gum together.
Actually, that goes more for Kahne than for Stremme, who has tried to take the high road in a dispute that flared after the two got together late in Sunday's Nextel Cup race at Richmond International Raceway (watch video).
"I don't like the guy. I've never liked him. Now we just have a lot more of a reason not to like him."
Kasey Kahne on David StremmeIn a video clip that quickly climbed in popularity on the Internet, Kahne blamed Stremme for causing the wreck that took both drivers prematurely out of the race. Stremme ended up with a 38th-place finish, and Kahne, who has had a difficult year, ended up 40th.
"We kept working on the car to get it better and better, but I got back there to battling with Stremme and those guys," Kahne said on the clip. "My car was better, but everywhere I went, Stremme went. So I was just confused where he was going.
"I don't know. He's pretty fat and out of shape. That's probably half the reason. It was pretty late in the race. He was probably pretty worn out."
On the video, Stremme replied: "I don't know where he says we were battling all day. He was a lap down. I easily could have passed him. He beat on me going into the corner, and then he runs me up in the straightaway. It's the second time it's happened in six months, eight months, whatever."
When the two visited Lowe's Motor Speedway for testing the two days after the Richmond race, it was assumed that the adversaries had enough time to cool down and all would be forgotten. However, that did not appear to be the case.
Reminded that he and Stremme had the photo appearance to make together Thursday, Kahne grimaced and acknowledged that he was aware of it.
"I've heard. I think we do," Kahne said. "It'll be interesting. I'll do what I've got to do; he'll do what he's got to do. And then we'll leave.
"I don't like the guy. I've never liked him. Now we just have a lot more of a reason not to like him."
Kahne then reiterated the latest source of his anger, again charging that Stremme was at fault for the Richmond wreck.
"He was just in the way for however many laps. He was holding up a lot of the cars there, including myself," Kahne said. "Every time I would go high, he would go high; every time I would go low, he would go low. He was just holding us up."
Reached outside his hauler at Lowe's Motor Speedway on Tuesday, Stremme said he didn't want to fan the flames of the simmering dispute.
"I don't want to talk about nothing to do with him," Stremme said. "I'll let him air his dirty laundry. I ain't got nothin' to say."
Told that Kahne said he doesn't like him, Stremme smiled and added: "That's all right. Everybody does like me except him. He'll find out he won't like me even more, too. But let him do the talking. I don't air my dirty laundry."
Kahne admitted that much of what he said on Sunday was said out of frustration. His poor finish at Richmond dropped him one spot in the point standings to 32nd. Stremme is 17th after dropping three spots because of his disappointing finish at Richmond.
"The year hasn't gone very good yet," Kahne admitted. "So I was frustrated to have problems, and then I was trying to battle somebody for 10 laps. When he doesn't know where he's going, you don't know where he's going. And finally, I gave him a couple of chances; he slid up in front of me and I had to either lift or crash him, one or the other. I let him go and then we get on the frontstretch and he's rubbing the wall, and comes off the wall. It's just tough to race with that guy no matter what.
"Our season hasn't been going that well. I thought we had a pretty good car in practice and then we go to the race and it was so loose you could hardly drive it. About Lap 300, we got it better and felt like we could make some moves and start coming on back through there. Then I sped on pit road and screwed up, but got back up to where I was and was trying to get a lap back -- and then I got involved with him.
"There's just a lot of things that have been going wrong -- whether it's my fault, the team's fault, David Stremme's fault. It's just all the kinds of things that make me frustrated."
