Kahne Wins Busch; Cup Race Could Be Friggin' Amazing

Kasey Kahne has had a pretty darn good Friday at Bristol Motor Speedway.

Friday afternoon, Kahne topped the Nextel Cup Series in qualifying and will start out front for Saturday night's Sharpie 500. Later Friday night, Kahne took home his first Busch Series short track victory with a win in the Food City 250.

And boy did the 250-lapper set a tone for the weekend.

Kahne won Friday night after battling three-wide with Ryan Newman and Jason Leffler with less than 15 laps to go, just before Newman blew a tire after contact and fell out. At the line, it was Kahne crossing first, Leffler spinning sideways, and David Reutimann third -- all of them close enough to fall under a blanket.

The finish, though, only tells half of the story.

All night long, cars found two and three different grooves they could handle and run quickly in. Instead of the normal Bristol freight train on the bottom of the groove, cars spread out and actually ran two-wide easily. Kahne was able to hold on to the race win even with tires going away by running the top groove of the race track -- which is certainly something Bristol hasn't seen in a long while.

The track itself is indeed a little wider and the banking up top is a smidge steeper than the bottom. In all reality, Friday night it was the perfect combination.

Even a guy who shares the title of the most race wins of any current driver at BMS felt that the changes were for the better:

"I'm telling you, I'm driving around here thinking this is the first time I've ever been here. I didn't think you could make Bristol any cooler or more fun, but they have. They've basically made this track have more room to race on," said five-time BMS winner, Jeff Gordon.

I'd say look for more the same Saturday night when the Cup boys hit the track, and also look for some guys up front who aren't normally there at Bristol. The track has changed enough that it might play into a few new guys' hands.