Kasey Kahne tried Turn 2. Then Turn 4. And then Turn 2, again.
Kahne pushed and pushed, but Clint Bowyer wouldn’t give.
From lap 135 to 171, Kahne charged, dived, went high and low, and did everything he could to try and overtake Bowyer.
In the end, the rain got in Kahne’s way.
The red flag was waved on lap 171.
Kahne was out of time.
“[Bowyer] shouldn’t be leading it right now; I just let him have it,” said Kahne, while the status of the race was still in limbo.
Kahne’s first serious move came on lap 143.
Taking his No. 9 Ragu Dodge car around Marcos Ambrose (No. 59 Kingsford Ford), Kahne looked like he’d found an opening at Turn 3.
It was an illusion.
Bowyer (No. 2 BB&T Chevrolet) pulled back ahead, and Kahne was again stuck in second place.
“The longer the run went, the better our car got, the better it turned,” Kahne said after the race was called. “I felt really good at the end. The last 30 laps there, we were by far the best car.”
Kahne again came close on lap 154, this time going low, high and low on Bobby Labonte (No. 21 Chevrolet).
But, again, Bowyer held out.
Laps 161-3 were the climax of the Kahne-Bowyer duel.
Kahne appeared to have the faster car, and he constantly slid high/low behind Bowyer in an attempt to shoot out and jump in front.
“I was in position to pass [Bowyer], but I would’ve had to beat up my car to do it,” Kahne said. “I was nervous that if the race kept going, that I would’ve screwed up and not had a shot later. I wasn’t sure how hard to force the issue.”
At lap 171, the heavy gray sky above BMS on Saturday evening made the decision for Kahne.