Racing newsmaker: Kasey Kahne

CONCORD, N.C. -- Kasey Kahne, a 25-year-old driver from Enumclaw, Wash., won his first NASCAR Nextel Cup Series race last Saturday night at the Richmond International Speedway.

After finishing second six times in his first 46 races, Kahne finally found his way to Victory Lane. And in the process, he became the final qualifier for this Saturday's Nextel All-Star Challenge at the Lowe's Motor Speedway.

Kahne spoke during a national teleconference this week about his victory and what it means to his young career. Here are excerpts of that conversation:

Question: Does winning make up for all the second-place finishes?

Kahne: It all felt so much better when I finally did get it. If I had won at Rockingham last year, that second race, it would have been awesome to win a Nextel Cup race, and I would have been excited. But there is nothing like winning Richmond. Richmond is a tough track and everything went our way that night. A year and a half and we had been so close, but to win felt that much better.

Question: You beat Tony Stewart, another USAC and Sprint Car driver. What was that like?

Kahne: To race against Tony all night -- and we exchanged the lead between each other like eight times --I really don't remember how many. I know it was a lot. It was fun to follow him and have him following me and just be racing all night. I enjoyed it. It was Tony.

Question: Will the second win be easier?

Kahne: I certainly hope it comes quicker than the first one.

Question: You earned a spot in the all-star race. You cut it kind of close, didn't you?

Kahne: That's special for me for no other reason than to be in the all-star race and have a chance at the million dollars and put a great race on for the fans and to give my team a shot to have a pit stop Friday night and start first in the all-star race. It's so cool how they do that. It gets everybody on the team a shot at it, and I'm pretty excited we were able to get in it and have a shot at the pit-stop deal.

Question: What did your parents say when you talked to them?

Kahne: I called them both as soon as I could. It took forever doing interviews and things, but once I had my first opportunity to call them, I did. They were both really excited and happy and probably relieved that it finally happened. I was excited to talk to them. It was pretty cool. I thanked them for everything they had done for me.

Question: Will you look at things differently now?

Kahne: I think the only thing that's going to change is when I show up at the race track, I know I've won a Nextel Cup race and know we can do it as a team. Other than that, nothing's changed. I'm excited. I'm happy we did it. I look forward to the all-star race this weekend and the 600 after that.

Question: Do you feel any different after winning?

Kahne: I just feel a little happier. I feel like I'm smiling a little more than I have been in the past six months. That's about it.

Question: Who do you hang out with in the garage area?

Kahne: When I do get time, it's probably Casey Mears and Jimmie Johnson. I like Greg Biffle and Jeff Gordon, Mayfield, McMurray, Elliott Sadler. There's a lot of guys I like and hang out with a little bit, Dale Jr., but probably Jimmie and Casey Mears. We're just about the same age and kind of like the same things. Casey and I get along pretty good when we're away from the track.

Question: Is it going to be a dogfight making the top-10 cut for the Chase for the Nextel Cup during the first 26 races?

Kahne: The way it ended up last year four or five cars had a shot at it. I don't see there being any more than that, but I don't see any less than that, either. It's going to be real similar. These cars are a little bit tougher to drive this year with some of the things NASCAR did. It's just tougher to race side by side with people and I think it's going to create for some weird things to happen at different points in the season and it'll keep a lot of people in the points.

Question: Your victory was very popular in the garage area. How did that make you feel?

Kahne: It makes me feel really, really good to know that the other drivers out there do all they can to beat me or beat anybody every race. They're not happy I won, but definitely somewhat pleased probably that we finally got it done. I've tried to respect all those guys. I tried to respect them if we were running good or bad. It paid off.

Question: What does the rock-star status feel like?

Kahne: It's different. I don't know what it feels like. It's just different. I'm getting more and more used to it. That was a pretty good-looking girl and there were a lot of cameras around, so I didn't know what to do.

Question: How did you learn to keep your professional composure?

Kahne: I don't know how I did that. I was pretty surprised I was able to get the sponsors out and remember some of the people I was able to remember. I think it's been coming for so long, and I really do thank those people and appreciate the sponsors at Evernham Motorsports. I appreciate Ray and my parents and grandparents and all that stuff. It just kind of came out.

Question: The all-star winner gets $1 million. What would you do with the money?

Kahne: I don't know what I'd do with it. I'd love to get it. I'd probably go buy a house. I'm still living in my apartment I got three-and-a-half years ago when I moved to Charlotte. If I won that money, I'd definitely go buy a house.