Ocean Speedway , formerly known as Watsonville Speedway , is a dirt oval located in Watsonville, California , United States, at the Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds .
70-397: The track was the brainchild of retired driver Bert Moreland and a small group of others in late 1959. They came up with a plan to put a 1/4 mile race track in the infield of the existing 1/2 mile horse track. The first race took place May 27, 1960 and was won by Art Eaton. Figure 8 racing was introduced to the area at the speedway in 1964 and was popular with fans and drivers. Ray Elder
140-640: A roll cage . A wing much like a sprint car is sometimes placed on the roof to increase downforce . The cars' bodies are typically made out of sheet metal . All manner of vehicles have been used. School buses have become popular, especially at county fairs , because of their extended exposure for crashes. The oldest operating figure 8 track in the United States is the Indianapolis Speedrome in Indianapolis . The track has been in operation since
210-452: A 3rd-place finish at Indianapolis. At Pocono in August, Kahne started 18th. He led 66 laps of the race and was involved in a tight battle with Tony Stewart for the lead in the final laps. A decision by Gordon to take the final restart on lap 158 on the inside lane gave Kahne the opportunity to draft past Gordon in turn 1 and then sail away to his second career Pocono race victory and second win of
280-525: A 9th-place finish in the Daytona 500. He would struggle throughout most of the year, and would only get 10 Top 10’s and three Top 5’s, his best finish being 4th at Phoenix, Dover, and the Kansas Chase race. Kahne finished the season in 18th-place in the final points standings. Kahne experienced a difficult 2016 season as he finished 17th in the final points standings with only three Top 5’s and 13 Top 10’s. During
350-518: A clause in his contract with Ford that stipulated that the manufacturer had to provide Kahne with a full-time ride on a Ford team that both parties mutually agreed upon. That clause also stipulated, that if an agreement could not reached by either party, then Kahne could seek a ride with a different manufacturer, without breaking the terms of his contract with Ford. In 2004, Kahne surprised many by nearly winning several races (including five 2nd-place finishes and 13 Top 5’s), winning four poles, and captured
420-423: A crash at Loudon. Early in the 2013 Sylvania 300, Kahne got loose, wheel-hopped and hit a barrier extremely hard. Kahne was uninjured but caused controversy when he acted like he could not hear a reporter in his interview which led many to speculate that Kahne suffered a head injury. Kahne apologized for causing the false alarm and said he was too angry to talk about it and that he was not injured. Kahne struggled in
490-654: A flat tire going into turn 1. This was Kahne's first points-paying win of the season. He also became the sixth driver to win the 600 and the Sprint All-Star Race in the same season. On June 6, 2008, Kahne won the Pocono 500 from the pole despite being 38th at one point during the race after a miscue in the pits. On June 20, 2008, he won another pole for the Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Infineon Raceway , his second pole in three races. However, after handling issues early in
560-551: A good run at Atlanta a few weeks later where he led the most laps in the race, and finished inside the Top 5. During the following couple of months, Kahne would be unable to compete for race wins as mistakes and wrecks put a dent into the team's Chase hopes. During the Gillette Fusion ProGlide 500 at Pocono Raceway he had a Top 5 car all race long, but due to a late race caution, some teams stayed out on track instead of joining
630-482: A part of the Winston Racing Series , where drivers could compete for national and regional points. Another NASCAR legend, Bobby Allison , raced at the track once, in 1983, in a late model. The Grand American Modifieds made their debut in 1990. Ken Schrader , Kenny Wallace , Geoff Bodine , Ernie Irvan and his father, Vic, ran a "Race of Champions" against each other in the modifieds in 1999 while they were in
700-943: A place in the Chase for the Championship. He was seeded 4th in points. After suffering an engine failure at New Hampshire and a crash in California, Kahne struggled to get back into contention for the championship and finished 10th in the final season standings, despite finishing second in the AMP Energy 500 at Talladega Superspeedway . On September 10, 2009, it was announced that Richard Petty Motorsports would merge with Yates Racing . Kahne would remain as one of four drivers of RPM alongside his current teammates Sadler and Allmendinger, as well as Yates Racing driver Paul Menard . The team changed manufacturers to Ford and received Roush-Yates engines and other equipment from Roush Fenway Racing . Driving
770-509: A required "stop-and-go" pit stop, Kahne began the fourth segment second on old tires. He went on to win the race and earn $ 1,012,975. Kahne became the first driver to win the race from the fan vote and the third driver to race in the Sprint Showdown and go on to win the All-Star race. On May 25, 2008, he won his second Coca-Cola 600 passing Tony Stewart with two laps to go, as Stewart had
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#1732856208843840-416: A slow start to 2013, finishing 36th and 19th at Daytona and Phoenix, respectively. However, at Las Vegas, he led 114 laps (which was almost twice the number of laps he had led in all of his previous Vegas starts) and finished second to Matt Kenseth despite an impressive charge in the last laps. Kahne was able to redeem himself for this near-miss the following week by winning at Bristol. After Bristol, he had
910-399: A strong run at Auto Club Speedway in which he finished 9th—he then had an even stronger run at Martinsville , where he had one of the best cars and finished 4th. He then finished 11th at Texas. At Kansas, Kahne again finished 2nd to Kenseth in a finish very similar to the finish at Las Vegas. Kahne's season also started with a number of run-ins with Kyle Busch , who wrecked him in three of
980-586: A trip to Pennsylvania where he won the season opener at the historic Williams Grove Speedway . He was hired by Steve Lewis , who had also employed future NASCAR drivers Jeff Gordon , Jason Leffler , Tony Stewart and Kenny Irwin Jr. In his first year on the circuit, he was named Rookie of the Year, as well as winning the national midget championship. He continued to run USAC, as well as the Toyota Atlantic Series and
1050-402: A weekly 360 sprint car championship along with other divisions including IMCA modifieds and sportmods , midgets , dwarf cars , hobby stocks, and four-cylinders . The track also holds around six "police-N-pursuit" races a year, in which police officers, detectives, and other officials representing local agencies compete to raise money for Special Olympics of Northern California. In 2017,
1120-580: Is an American dirt track racing driver and former professional stock car racing driver. He last competed in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series in 2018, driving the No. 95 Dumont Jets/ Procore Technologies Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Leavine Family Racing . Currently, Kahne competes in the High Limit Racing series , driving the No. 9 sprint car for his own team, Kasey Kahne Racing . Off
1190-646: The Budweiser Shootout , he was involved in an early accident in the first segment. His teammates Jeff Gordon , Jimmie Johnson , and Dale Earnhardt Jr. were eliminated in crashes during the second segment. Kahne qualified and ran well in his Gatorade Duel , but in the Daytona 500 was taken out in a crash on lap 188 involving Jamie McMurray , Regan Smith , Carl Edwards , Brad Keselowski , Tony Stewart , and Aric Almirola . He finished 29th. Kahne announced in late-March that he would compete for Turner Motorsports in
1260-518: The Toyota/Save Mart 350 event on June 21, 2009, for his first road course win. After a hot summer streak that saw three Top 10s in a row, Kahne climbed into Chase contention. During the Pep Boys Auto 500 on September 6, 2009, Kahne made a late race pass and held off Kevin Harvick for his second win of the season. Following the first 26 races of the season Kahne was in the Top 12 in points, earning him
1330-578: The World of Outlaws . In 2002, Kahne made 20 starts in the Busch Series driving the No. 98 Channellock Ford Taurus for Robert Yates Racing . His best finish was a 10th-place finish at Cabela's 250 . A year later, he moved to the No. 38 Great Clips Ford for Akins Motorsports full-time. He won his first pole at Michigan International Speedway and his first Busch Series race at the Ford 300 . Kahne finished 7th in
1400-502: The 1940s. It hosts the annual World Figure 8 race, which is considered the world championship event. The first three-hour endurance race was held in 1977. The national championship in the United States is held at Riverhead Raceway in Riverhead, New York . Many of these tracks have configurations that allow for both standard oval and figure 8 races. Kasey Kahne Kasey Kenneth Kahne ( / k eɪ n / ; born April 10, 1980)
1470-429: The 2013 season, bringing him up to 8th place in the points. His form didn't carry to Watkins Glen, though, where he was wrecked by Matt Kenseth on a late restart that saw him collide with Dale Earnhardt Jr. and finish 34th. Kahne then had a 7th-place finish at Michigan, and then a runner-up finish at Bristol behind Kenseth for the third time in 2013. He qualified for the Chase, but any chance of him winning ended with
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#17328562088431540-572: The 2015 Charlotte Truck race, he held off Erik Jones for the win by .005 seconds, the second-closest margin in Truck Series history. Kahne replaced Bill Elliott in the No. 9 Dodge for Evernham Motorsports at the end of the 2003 season when Elliott announced a part-time schedule starting with the 2004 season. Since Kahne was still under contract with Ford, the manufacturer filed a lawsuit against him after he joined Evernham Motorsports. U.S. District Judge Robert Cleland ruled in favor of Kahne; citing
1610-581: The 21st century. Kahne made his return to the Camping World Truck Series driving the No. 00 Haas Automation Silverado for JR Motorsports at Charlotte. Kahne beat 18-year-old Erik Jones by 0.005 seconds which was tied for the second closest finish in NASCAR Truck Series competition. The win was Chevrolet's 200th win in the Camping World Truck Series. In the Cup series, Kahne would start off with
1680-717: The Bank of America 500 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. On November 27, 2006, Kahne was honored by being invited to raise the traditional 12th Man flag prior to the Seattle Seahawks Monday Night Football game against the Green Bay Packers at Qwest Field in Seattle . The ceremony has been ongoing since 2003 , and involves a different Seattle-area sports hero and/or beloved member of the community kicking things off before every Seahawks home game. The Seahawks beat
1750-530: The Busch Series' Carquest Auto Parts 300 race at Lowe's Motor Speedway for his first win of 2007. On August 24, 2007, Kahne won the pole for the Cup Series' Sharpie 500 at Bristol , his second pole of the 2007 Nextel Cup Series season. Later that night, during the Busch Series' Food City 250 , Kahne passed Ryan Newman on the top side in a 3-wide pass that included Jason Leffler on the bottom. He held off
1820-523: The Camping World Truck Series at Rockingham Speedway in April, driving the No. 4 in the Good Sam Roadside Assistance 200 . In that race, he led 47 laps and went on to win. Kahne had a rough start to 2012, finishing no better than 14th in the first five races. However, he rebounded with seven straight Top 10 finishes, including a win in the 2012 Coca-Cola 600 in his 300th Sprint Cup Start. This
1890-480: The Chase for The Cup after finishing third in Richmond. He was the 10th and last qualifier to make the Chase. He edged defending Nextel Cup Champion Tony Stewart out by 16 points, but a disappointing 16th-place finish at New Hampshire, a crash at Dover , and running out of gas at Kansas ended his hopes for his first championship title. Kahne finished strong with five Top 10’s in the remaining seven races including winning
1960-601: The Golden State Challenge/King of California Series. The annual Trophy Cup was held once at the speedway in 2000. Former street stock and dwarf car driver Prentice took over operation of the track in 2006 and renamed it "Ocean Speedway", in alliance with the Ocean Chevrolet and Honda dealerships located in Santa Cruz County , where he worked as the general manager. Several years after Prentice acquired
2030-498: The Packers 34–24. During the qualifying for the 2007 Daytona 500 , officials found holes in the wheel-wells of his Dodge Charger . A crew member said it was just tape that had fallen off of a hole in the tire. Officials said that the tape had been cut. He was one of the four drivers among Matt Kenseth and his two teammates, Scott Riggs and Elliott Sadler , whose cars had been found with aerodynamic-improving modifications. His team
2100-776: The Raybestos Rookie of the Year Award. He narrowly missed the Chase for the Nextel Cup after Jeremy Mayfield , his teammate, claimed the final spot. In 2005, Kahne scored his first career Nextel Cup victory in his sophomore season of 2005, after a dominating performance in the Chevy American Revolution 400 at Richmond International Raceway . It was also the first win for the Dodge Charger, which returned to NASCAR that year. It
2170-415: The acquisition, the No. 4 was made famous by Morgan-McClure Motorsports . Kahne won his first pole for Red Bull Racing the year prior at the 2010 season finale at Homestead driving the #83. On June 9, 2011, it was announced that Farmers Insurance Group would sponsor Kahne for 22 races in 2012. It was also announced that his current crew chief Kenny Francis will join him at Hendrick. Kahne dominated
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2240-584: The area for the NASCAR race in Sonoma . A year later, Mike Skinner , Sterling Marlin , Jimmy Spencer , Vic Irvan, and track sponsor John Prentice competed in the second edition of the event. Super modifieds made sporadic appearances at the speedway in the 1960s and 1970s. Sprint cars also made appearances at the track on a staggered basis with local series, including the Northern Auto Racing Club (NARC) and
2310-426: The closing laps to take his first victory of the season, his first victory for Team Red Bull, and Kahne's first victory in over two years. Kahne only led the final 14 laps of the race. Kahne finished the 2011 season 14th in points. In 2012, Kahne drove the No. 5 Farmers Insurance / Quaker State /HendrickCars.com Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports , consequent with Mark Martin 's move to Michael Waltrip Racing . In
2380-420: The conclusion of the 2018 season. It was announced a day earlier that long time engineer and Jamie McMurray's 2014 crew chief, Keith Rodden, would return to HMS and replace Kenny Francis as Kahne's crew chief. Francis had been Kahne's crew chief since the 2005 NASCAR Nextel Cup race at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Replacing Francis ended the second-longest driver/crew chief pairing in NASCAR in the first two decades of
2450-446: The crossover. In Canada, figure 8 racing often takes place as a part of demolition derby events. Boundary lines are marked to form a figure 8 track, and barriers are installed to protect light poles (if necessary), recovery vehicles, and the safety car. Figure 8 track racing began right after World War II , in the late 1940s. The track may have had an overpass so that the cars did not cross each other's paths. Most historians believe that
2520-425: The division were: Devon Ostheimer in 2008, Orval Burke Jr. in 2009–10, Tomas Bray in 2011, and Alexander Mead in 2012. *Denotes season still in progress. Figure 8 racing Figure 8 racing is a form of stock car racing in which automobiles race on a track that purposely intersects itself, increasing the risk of collisions. Figure 8 racing is most common and popular in the United States and Canada. Because of
2590-647: The early laps of the Auto Club 500 , Kahne worked his way from 20th to 14th, but brushed the wall on lap 7. However, he was able to finish 9th after the race went under a long rain delay. Kahne had to start in the back due to an engine change in the UAW-Dodge 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway , but he did go on to finish 6th. On May 17, 2008, Kahne was voted into the Sprint All-Star Race XXIV by his fans via cell phone text messaging and online voting. After making
2660-616: The early stages of the Brickyard 400 , but spun late in the race and had to settle for 18th position. He led 48 laps, a race-high. He did not make it into the 2011 Chase for the Sprint Cup, resting at 21st in points following the cut-off race, the Wonderful Pistachios 400 at Richmond International Raceway on September 10, 2011. On November 13, 2011, at the newly configured Phoenix International Raceway , Kahne held off Carl Edwards in
2730-467: The end of the 2010 season to race in 2012 with Hendrick Motorsports , driving the No. 5. On August 10, 2010, Team Red Bull officially announced that Kahne would drive one of their cars for the 2011 NASCAR Sprint Cup season, a tenure that would start in the 2010 season after Kahne was released from RPM. Kahne used the number 4 for his Red Bull Toyota, an homage to the number he used in Sprint Cars. Prior to
2800-408: The fact that his performances are affecting my own results." Kahne began ending rumors of his departure from Hendrick Motorsports with a sponsorship extension with Farmers Insurance for 12 races in the 2015–2017 seasons. At the Brickyard 400 , Kahne led 70 laps due to great track position but lost the lead on a restart with 17 laps left to Jeff Gordon and ended up 6th. At Atlanta, Kahne controlled
2870-752: The fastest lap record there. Kahne scored 18 career wins in the Cup Series, including 3 Coca-Cola 600s in 2006, 2008, and 2012, and the Brickyard 400 in 2017. He also was the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series Rookie of the Year in 2004. He retired from racing before the end of the 2018 Cup Series season for health reasons and was replaced at Leavine Family Racing by Regan Smith . Kahne began racing open wheel sprint cars at Deming Speedway at 17 in Deming, Washington , before moving up to Skagit speedway in Alger, Washington , and then he moved to USAC . In 2000, Kahne made
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2940-491: The final 15 laps of the race. With three laps to go, it seemed like he lost it when a caution came out. He lost four spots on pit road, but after two more cautions, sped by Matt Kenseth and won the race to clench a spot in the Chase. It was his first only win of 2014. He finished 15th in the standings being eliminated from round 2 of the Chase. Kahne received a three-year contract extension with HMS in November, which would run until
3010-488: The final lap. The margin was 0.021 seconds. Kahne has six career starts in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series , winning five of them; his lone non-victory is a second-place run at Pocono Raceway in 2010. In 2004, he made a pair of starts in the series at Darlington Raceway and Homestead-Miami Speedway , driving the No. 2 Team ASE Racing Dodge Ram for Ultra Motorsports , winning both races. At
3080-746: The first 11 races: at the Daytona 500, Kahne was running in the Top 5 when Busch turned him approaching turn 1 on lap 33, resulting in a seven-car wreck also collecting Tony Stewart , Juan Pablo Montoya , Jamie McMurray , and other cars. At Talladega, on lap 43, Kahne was in the outside lane when Busch turned him into the wall again heading towards turn 1. Kahne bounced off the wall and back into Busch and collected an additional 14 cars, including Kevin Harvick , David Reutimann , Brian Vickers , Tony Stewart , Marcos Ambrose , Greg Biffle , Jeff Burton , Casey Mears , Jamie McMurray , Jeff Gordon , Kurt Busch , David Stremme , and Scott Speed . Later, at Darlington, another incident happened when Busch sent Kahne into
3150-487: The first half of the 2014 season. He came close to a win at Pocono in June but hit the outside barrier late in the event, costing him his shot at the win. Kahne said that Kyle Busch was yet again responsible for the crash and Busch himself took responsibility that night. When Kahne heard that Busch apologized for the wreck he shrugged it off and said "I don't care to talk to him anymore about our wrecks. Tired of his aggressiveness and
3220-455: The first track where drivers crossed paths was the 1/5 mile-long Indianapolis Speedrome . The sport received nationwide publicity when it was frequently televised on ABC 's Wide World of Sports in the 1960s, usually from Islip Speedway in Islip, New York . The cars used are often stock cars , but are usually modified for lightness and safety, by removing the window glass and often adding
3290-492: The following week; and converted the pole position into a solid fourth-place finish; after bouncing back from a poor first stint, to post back-to-back Top 5 finishes. In qualifying for the 2010 Carfax 400 at Michigan International Speedway , Kahne earned his second pole position of the season. On October 3, 2010, Kahne started the Price Chopper 400 at Kansas Speedway from the pole position . On October 20, 2010, Kahne
3360-633: The group raised $ 34,000 for the charity. Travelling series that visit the track include the NARC/King of the West 410 sprint cars. The start of the 2020 season was delayed until June 19 due to the COVID-19 pandemic . The 2020 season was affected once more because of the CZU Lightning Complex fires burning nearby, cancelling races in August. Some notable drivers who have made appearances at Ocean Speedway over
3430-595: The hard-charging Leffler to score his seventh career Busch win and his second of 2007. In 2009, Kahne ran fewer events in other NASCAR series than previous seasons, only seven (four in the Nationwide Series, three in the Whelen Modified Tour). With less distractions, Kahne's Sprint Cup stats slightly improved that year. During the 2014 Nationwide season, Kahne scored an upset win at the Nationwide Series' Subway Firecracker 250 passing teammate Regan Smith on
3500-405: The leaders on pit-road. This put Kahne in the back end of the Top 20, and during the green-white-checkered finish Kahne tried to make it three-wide while battling for 10th place. However, he was blocked and ran down into the wet grass by his teammate A. J. Allmendinger . Kahne spun back into the racing surface and was hit by Greg Biffle and Mark Martin . The No. 9 car took off and landed on top of
3570-496: The new Ford Fusion car, Kahne won the Gatorade Duel No. 2 at Daytona International Speedway on February 11, 2010. He also finished in second position in the 2010 Budweiser Shootout. Kahne ended up 30th in the Daytona 500 after being wrecked late in the race. He had been running up front for most of the race and had the fastest lap of the race. Kahne had a strong car at the Auto Club 500 ; however he spun late in turn 4. Kahne had
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#17328562088433640-499: The new sponsor Budweiser , Kahne started off the 2008 season strong by finishing in the Top 10 in both the Budweiser Shootout and the Gatorade Duel . As a result of 4th-place finish in the duel, Kahne started 10th in the 50th Daytona 500 on February 17, 2008. He finished 7th behind teammate Elliott Sadler in the 2008 Daytona 500 ; this was a repeat of the 2007 race where they both also finished sixth and seventh respectively. In
3710-411: The outside wall, hit a tree behind the wall and span back onto the track on all four wheels. Kahne and Biffle both put the blame on Allmendinger for causing the huge crash. Kahne rebounded from the disappointment at Pocono by leading laps in the following race at Michigan and finishing second, behind the dominant Denny Hamlin . He also qualified on pole for the Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Infineon Raceway
3780-453: The points standing. With his move to full-time competition in the Cup Series in 2004, he also drove 30 races for Akins in the Busch Series, finishing 13th in points. In 2005, he made 22 starts in the Busch Series , splitting time with Akins and Evernham's new No. 6 team. He won the O'Reilly 300 at Texas Motor Speedway and the United Way 300 at Kansas Speedway . On May 26, 2007, Kahne won
3850-496: The points standings to 12th. Following the DNF at Michigan, Kahne rebounded with a 6th-place finish at Sonoma and an 11th-place finish at Kentucky. At Daytona, Kahne was running behind Jimmie Johnson for most of the race until he got tagged by Marcos Ambrose on a late restart, sending him into the inside wall on the back straightaway and relegating him to a 32nd-place finish. This was followed by an 11th-place finish at New Hampshire, and
3920-551: The race, Kahne fell victim to pit road, went a lap down, and finished 33rd. Following two consecutive 40th-place finishes (a Bristol Motor Speedway wreck caused by miscommunications between Casey Mears and his spotter, and an engine failure at Michigan International Speedway ), Kahne found himself sitting outside of the Top 12, out of contention for the Chase. At the start of the last regular season race, at Richmond International Raceway , he, David Ragan , and Clint Bowyer were vying for that 12th spot. Unfortunately for him, Kahne
3990-600: The rain-delayed Golden Corral 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway . Nearly three weeks later, he won the Samsung/Radio Shack 500 at Texas. After that, he won four more races — a season sweep at Lowe's Motor Speedway in the Coca-Cola 600 and in the Bank of America 500 holding off Jimmie Johnson (who finished second in both races) and victories at California and Michigan. On September 9, 2006, Kahne successfully raced his way into
4060-420: The risk of collisions, figure 8 racing bears some similarity to the chiefly European sport of banger racing . Racing is done on a track shaped like an 8 . The cars cross paths at the center of the 8 , which is known as the "crossover" or the "X". Because of this layout, crashes are common. Figure 8 racing is a unique form of motorsport that requires strict attention to detail and timing to successfully navigate
4130-515: The track in a USAC Jr. Ford Focus midget in 2011. Super Bowl XXIII champion linebacker , Sam Kennedy , races at the track in the hobby stocks on a now-and-then basis. Track championships have been awarded since the track opened in 1960 in the Claimer Division. The division was discontinued in 1964 in favor of the sportsman class. The micro 600s was a short-lived division at the track, awarding championships from 2008 to 2012. Champions in
4200-531: The track, Kahne is active in charitable work and is a member of the President's Council on Service and Civic Participation . He also owns his own race team, Kasey Kahne Racing , which competes in the World of Outlaws series, fielding two World of Outlaws sprint cars for himself, and Brad Sweet . Kahne is a 2-time Skagit Speedway winner of the Annual Jim Raper memorial Dirt Cup (2002 and 2003) and currently holds
4270-510: The track, a lawsuit was filed against the speedway and the fairgrounds by a neighborhood group called the Community Alliance for Fairgrounds Accountability, or CAFA, alleging the track was a nuisance due to the noise the cars produced. After being stayed three times while both parties looked for common ground, the lawsuit was dropped and races were allowed to continue with stricter sound rules and an earlier curfew. The track currently hosts
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#17328562088434340-481: The track, along with Cheryl Glass , Doug McCoun , Ron Shuman , Lance Norick , Gio Scelzi , Jesse Love , Logan Seavey , Tanner Thorson , Shane Golobic , James Bondurant , David Gravel , Jac Haudenschild , Kerry Madsen , Joey Saldana , Lucas Wolfe , Dale Blaney , Johnny Herrera , Cory Kruseman , Brady Bacon , Brandon “bud” Kaeding, Brent Kaeding, Michael Pickens , and Olympic athlete Josh Lakatos . 2023 NASCAR Xfinity Series champion Cole Custer won at
4410-500: The wall while being challenged for the lead late-race, causing a caution. At the Coca-Cola 600, Kahne had influenza and there was doubt he could finish the race. This didn't stop him from leading the most laps and nearly winning the race, but Kevin Harvick got by him on a restart with 11 laps to go. At Michigan, Kahne led the race, but slid into the turn 2 wall, and the car caught fire. Kahne finished 38th, and dropped down four spots in
4480-423: The years include World of Outlaws champions Steve Kinser , Sammy Swindell , Mark Kinser , Danny Lasoski , Donny Schatz , Daryn Pittman , and Brad Sweet . Indianapolis 500 competitor, Bryan Clauson made his winged sprint car debut at the track in 2011. Current NASCAR driver Kyle Larson , former NASCAR drivers Kasey Kahne , Rico Abreu , Kraig Kinser , Tayler Malsam , and Tyler Walker have also raced at
4550-465: Was also his first win with Hendrick Motorsports . On July 15, 2012, Kahne won the Lenox Industrial Tools 301 at Loudon , and along with teammate Jeff Gordon made the Chase through the two Wild Card spots. During the Chase, Kahne won poles at Talladega and Kansas. He ended the season a career-best fourth place in the points, with two wins, four poles, 12 Top 5’s, and 19 Top 10’s. Kahne had
4620-444: Was not able to make up enough points to put him into the Chase for the Sprint Cup. He missed the 2008 Chase by 69 points and ended the season finishing 14th. Kahne's new team for 2009, Richard Petty Motorsports, was the result of a merger between his team's previous incarnation, Gillett Evernham Motorsports and Petty Enterprises . The year started off inconsistent for Kahne, with early Top 10 finishes at Atlanta and Bristol. Kahne won
4690-409: Was one of the most notable drivers to compete at Watsonville Speedway in its early days. The track then turned to stock cars in the 1970s. Future NASCAR driver and Daytona 500 winner Ernie Irvan was turned away by the track for having illegal parts on his car, so he turned his attention to pavement-racing elsewhere. In the 1980s, the NASCAR late model stock cars were the feature division and were
4760-544: Was one of the six teams found with illegal modifications in the Daytona festivities. At the Sharpie 500, a day after winning the pole and the Busch race, Kahne dominated most of the race leading 305 out of 500 laps and finished 2nd to Carl Edwards . This was his best finish of the 2007 season. After a disappointing 2007 season , Kahne finished 19th in points with zero wins, one Top 5, eight Top 10’s, and an average finish of 22.2. With
4830-623: Was released from the remainder of his contract with Richard Petty Motorsports . The next day, it was announced that Kahne would drive for Team Red Bull for the remainder of the season as well as the full 2011 season starting with the TUMS Bring It On 500 at Martinsville Speedway . After the 2010 season finale in Homestead, Kahne went in for knee surgery due to discomfort and pain caused by plica syndrome . On April 13, 2010, Kahne announced that he would be leaving Richard Petty Motorsports at
4900-421: Was the first time a Dodge won a race at Richmond International Raceway since Richard Petty did so in 1975. In addition, he became the first driver born in the 1980s to win a race in NASCAR's premier series. He also scored two poles in back-to-back weeks at Darlington and Richmond during the same year. Despite this, he was plagued with inconsistency and slumped to 23rd in the points. On March 20, 2006, Kahne won
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