(Courtesy Gillett Evernham Motorsports)

No. 9 Hellmann's Dodge Charger Atlanta Preview

The Hellmann's Dodge crew and driver Kasey Kahne race at the super-fast Atlanta Motor Speedway on Saturday in  NASCAR's Nicorette 300.

Kahne is renowned for running the high line through the long corners at Atlanta, and Saturday's 300-mile race should be no exception.  He has raced a Gillett Evernham Motorsports Dodge in his last two races at the 1.5-mile quad-oval never finishing outside the top-10. His average finish is 4.5.

The Ultimate Chargers team saw a change last weekend at Las Vegas. Patrick Carpentier received the call to fill in the seat of the No. 9, after Kahne's sinus infection became too severe for him to drive. Carpentier did the team proud and finished eighth, earning the Hellmann's Dodge its first top-10 of the season.

The Ultimate Chargers team gained nine spots last weekend and now sits 20th in owner's points after an eighth-place finish in Las Vegas.

DRIVER KASEY KAHNE QUOTES:

THOUGHTS ON GETTING BACK IN NATIONWIDE CAR "I'm excited. Last weekend was rough. It's really hard to be as sick as I was and still concentrate on what we have to do. I'm glad Patrick [Carpentier] was able to step in and get some seat time in the car and I know he was too. One of the best things I had going for me early in my Cup career was jumping into the Nationwide car for some races. There's a lot you can learn from that series. The Hellmann's crew and Patrick did a great job and earned our first top-10 of the season."

RACING AT ATLANTA "Atlanta is one my favorite stops on the schedule. It's wide and fast. The multiple grooves that it offers allows you move around on track, searching for the best and fastest line. It's a huge advantage to have those kind of options as a driver."

ON LAST YEAR'S PERFORMANCE AT ATLANTA "We had a strong qualifying effort and race at Atlanta last year in the Hellmann's Dodge. We took the outside pole and finished seventh. We're looking to repeat that performance this weekend. We've managed a top 10 there in every race that I've been with Gillett Evernham Motorsports so we're really looking forward to this weekend. There's no better place to get our first win of the season then at Atlanta."  

NOTES

Chassis

• Kahne will drive chassis No. 21 at Atlanta. It finished eighth in its first race at Las Vegas last weekend. Backup is No. 24 which finished 25th at Homestead in 2007.

• Kahne has six starts, three top-fives and five top-10s. He has averaged a finishing position of 7.5 and a starting spot of 15.3. Additionally, Kahne has led 54 laps at AMS.
• Kahne has two starts at AMS with Gillett Evernham Motorsports. In those starts his average finish is a stellar 4.5.
• Kahne has one victory at Atlanta in NASCAR's premier Sprint Cup Series.

• The No. 9 Wisk Dodge Charger gained nine spots in Owner's Points last weekend and is currently 20th in owner points.
• Patrick Carpentier earned the Ultimate Chargers team their first to-10 of the season after finishing eighth at Las Vegas last weekend. Carpentier didn't have any practice laps in the car before taking the green flag.

• The Ultimate Chargers team had two victories last year. They came at Charlotte and Bristol with Kahne behind the wheel.
• Since joining forces with Gillett Evernham Motorsports in 2005, Kahne has won at least two races each season in the Nationwide Series.

• Ray Evernham served as Jeff Gordon's crew chief from 1992-'99 winning 47 races and three Cup championships.
• Evernham founded Evernham Motorsports in 2000 and began first full season of competition in 2001 serving as the cornerstone of Dodge's return to NASCAR.
• George Gillett Jr. became co-owner with Evernham in October 2007. Gillett also owns the Montreal Canadiens in the NHL and the Liverpool soccer team in the English Premier League.
• Gillett Evernham Motorsports campaigns Kasey Kahne in the No. 9, Patrick Carpentier in the No. 10, and Elliott Sadler in the No. 19 in NASCAR Sprint Cup competition.
• The organization also fields the No. 9 in NASCAR Nationwide Series races with its Sprint Cup drivers plus rookie Chase Miller.
• Gillett Evernham Motorsports owns 13 victories and 24 poles in 532 Sprint Cup races.

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