(Sports Network) - Kasey Kahne kept his championship Chase hopes very much alive by winning the first Labor Day Weekend Sprint Cup Series race at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Kahne passed Kevin Harvick for the lead following a double-file restart with 11 laps remaining, and then easily held off Harvick at the finish by 1.766 seconds for his second victory of the season and the 11th of his Sprint Cup career.

"I knew we could go fast for about 15 laps, faster than anybody," Kahne said. "It was just after that I would get a little bit too loose to hang with Harvick and Montoya. With 11 laps to go, just getting to the front was what I was thinking I needed to do. Once we did it, everything was perfect from there out."

Two weeks ago, Kahne finished 28th at Bristol and fell to 11th in points. After winning Sunday night's Pep Boys Auto 500 at Atlanta, the Richard Petty Motorsports driver jumped up to sixth in the standings with the 12-driver Chase field to be decided next weekend at Richmond.

"To win on a night like tonight when the Chase and everything has been so tight for the last two months, you know, this team just stepped up," he added.

Kahne also won the spring race at Atlanta in 2006.

Harvick, won has not won a Cup race since the 2007 Daytona 500, finished a season-best second. He won Saturday's Nationwide Series race at Atlanta.

"I knew we were in trouble there at the end, because it took our car 15 or 20 laps to get going," Harvick said. "But, hey, that's a long ways from where we've been. We led a bunch of laps tonight, something we haven't been able to do in a while.

Harvick had not led a Sprint Cup race since March at Las Vegas, where he ran in front for nine laps.

Juan Pablo Montoya finished third, followed by David Reutimann and Mark Martin. Montoya is hoping to make the Chase for the first time in his three- year Cup career.

"In the position we are in right now, it's just about going [to Richmond]," Montoya said. "We have a great car for there, just be smart and get a top 10."

With his sixth-place finish, Denny Hamlin joined Tony Stewart, Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon as those drivers who have already secured a position in the Chase.

Brian Vickers, Gordon, Ryan Newman and Greg Biffle completed the top-10.

Matt Kenseth finished 12th and kept the 12th spot in points. Kenseth dealt with a loose car and scraped the wall in the early stages, but rebounded nicely to keep his playoff bid intact.

Vickers moved within 20 points of Kenseth, while Kyle Busch fell 37 markers behind after his 13th-place run.

Just 122 points separate fifth-place Carl Edwards and 14th-place Busch heading into Richmond.

Edwards and Kurt Busch had an opportunity to clinch a spot in the playoffs, but are now on the bubble with disappointing performances at Atlanta. Edwards suffered engine trouble, with oil leaking from his car onto the track, on lap 83. He spent 23 laps behind the wall before his night ended with a 37th-place finish. Busch was involved in an incident with Reed Sorenson that ended his race on Lap 245. He wound up 38th.

"I had a very loose car," Busch said. "I was sideways and I guess Reed hit us. He had nowhere to go. It was real hard hit."

Johnson also had a frustrating night. The three-time defending series champion suffered a broken rear axle during a late-race pit stop. He later returned but settled for a 36th-place finish. In 2007 and '08, Johnson won the last two regular season races -- California and Richmond -- before dominating the Chase.

Martin Truex Jr., the pole sitter, led a race-high 68 laps but faded mid-way through to finish one lap down in 26th.











Copyright 2009 The Sports Network
All rights reserved

 Email To Friend