Saturday, March 12, 2005

LAS VEGAS Kasey Kahne stormed in and out of Las Vegas a year ago with his first career pole and a runner-up finish that cemented him as NASCARs newest hot shot driver.

It paved the way for upstart Evernham Motorsports best season, with Jeremy Mayfield earning a spot in the Chase for the Championship and Kahne scoring five runner-up finishes while winning Rookie of the Year honors.

It also raised expectations at Evernham, where both drivers are expected to contend for the Nextel Cup title this season. Instead, theyre off to a slow start and desperately need strong showings this weekend at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

We arent panicking by any means, car owner Ray Evernham said Friday. We know what we have, we know our stuff is as good as anyone else in the garage and we know what we are capable of.

Last year, we started off good and dropped off at the end of the year. This year, we are starting off slow. But its not where you start, its where you finish that matters.

Mayfield heads into the UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400 ranked 26th in the standings. Kahne is 34th after crashing in each of the first two races.

They werent equal in qualifying for Sundays race. Kahne posting the eighth-fastest lap, but Mayfield wound up 27th.

Ryan Newman won the 28th pole of his career, and Elliott Sadler and Greg Biffle were second and third. Kurt Busch, the Nextel Cup champion and a Las Vegas native, was sixth. His younger brother, Kyle, qualified 11th.

Meanwhile, the Evernham duo is refusing to focus on their early setbacks and their car owner points to an accident with two laps to go in the season-opening Daytona 500 that ruined the day for his drivers.

They were both running in the Top 10 with two laps to go when Kasey cut a tire and hit the fence, and then Jeremy hit Kasey, Evernham said. Im sitting there with one driver in sixth and one in eighth and the race about to end, then all of a sudden they are both coming down pit road in crumpled cars.

What can you do? We know we were good, which is a totally different situation than not even being competitive.

Mayfield is encouraged by how well his No. 19 Dodge crew responded in the first two races. He was caught for speeding three times in the Daytona 500, but overcame a trio of penalties to remain in contention before the late accident.

His team was off on its setup at California, but made constant adjustments during the race to salvage a 28th-place finish.

We just cant let the first two races bother us, thats part of it, Mayfield said. We kept rebounding in both those races, battling back. Thats the important thing, my guys never quit, and I was driving as hard as I could right down to the final lap.

Mayfield credits his patient approach to his relationship with crew chief Slugger Labbe, who moved to Evernham this season after winning two Daytona 500s with Michael Waltrip.

Were doing great, hes a good balance for me, Mayfield said. He keeps me calm and doesnt let me get out of hand.

So, despite the cars being far back of the standings, all is well in the Evernham camp and the owner believes both his drivers have an equal shot to win Sunday and both will be in the Chase for the Championship at the end of the season.

Bob Wildberger of Dodge Motorsports expects the same. The Evernham team is the flagship for Dodge, which sponsors both cars as well as Sundays race.

We think there is no reason whatsoever that both Jeremy and Kasey wont both be in the Chase, Wildberger said. Those teams have come so far and are right there, equal to anyone else in the garage.

And they are so important to us because they represent the people that make the cars, sell the cars and deal with our consumers.  Daily News ·813 College St. ·PO Box 90012 ·Bowling Green, KY ·42102 ·270-781-1700