Kahne is able

Cup rookie ready to make his mark with breakout victory

Rookie Kasey Kahne is tied for the Nextel Cup series lead with three poles. Jamie Squire/Getty Images

2004 Cup Qualifying Track Driver Speed Daytona Greg Biffle 188.387 Rockingham Ryan Newman 156.475 Las Vegas Kasey Kahne 174.904 Atlanta Ryan Newman 193.575 Darlington Kasey Kahne 171.176 Bristol Ryan Newman 128.313 Texas Bobby Labonte 193.903 Martinsville Jeff Gordon 93.502 Talladega Ricky Rudd 191.180 California Kasey Kahne 186.940 Richmond Brian Vickers 129.983 Charlotte Jimmie Johnson 187.052 Dover Jeremy Mayfield 161.522 Average   165.916

Kasey Kahne's early season success -- three top-five finishes in his first four Cup starts -- made him the first driver to accomplish the feat in more than 40 years. Well on his way to challenging Ryan Newman's rookie-record six poles, Kahne set a qualifying record at Las Vegas for his first pole this year. He earned his second pole at Darlington just two races later, making him one of only five NASCAR drivers to earn multiple poles in their first five career starts.

What he is looking for is a win -- to be the best at the end of the race.

Kahne, who was leading last week at Dover when a spin took him out of the running, is 12th in the Nextel Cup point standings. He is 71 points out of the top 10 and 438 points out of first place.

"Last weekend didn't work out like we wanted, but I'm not going to let that bother me. When we ran the Busch race on Monday, the first lap was just as fast as the last lap we ran on Sunday. You've just got to keep looking forward, not backward.

Could Pocono provide Kahne with his breakout victory? Consider the track record of the recently launched American Thunder magazine. Its premiere issue featured cover boy Dale Earnhardt Jr.; he won the Daytona 500. The second issue had Rusty Wallace on its front; he ended a 105-race winless drought at Martinsville. Kahne is on the cover for the current double issue.

Kahne's average starting position (12.61) ranks seventh in the Cup series after 13 races. His three poles are tied for the series lead, and has qualified in the top-five six times.

"We tested up there [Pocono] last week and it went pretty good," Kahne said. "We learned a lot about the car we tested so we can bring a better car to the race. I like Pocono because of the difference corners. And I think the shifting will make it interesting.

"Bill Elliott has always been good at Pocono, and he's given me a lot of pointers. He's helping me learn how to get through the corners. He's got great insight on how to each corner is different and how I need to get through it."

Kahne is the series' top rookie this year and is only 38 points outside the 400-point barrier for qualifying for the final 10-race Chase for the Championship. And with the knowledge of team owner Ray Evernham in Kahne's corner, there is little doubt he will continue to challenge for a berth in the year-end playoff. But he's taking it one race at a time, focusing solely on his first race at Pocono Raceway.

"This weekend, we want to put ourselves in a position to finish in the top 10. We want to learn all day long, and if we learn enough, maybe we'll put our Dodge in the top five by the end of the race."

Around the Tracks

Rusty Wallace ran 228 mph at Talladega Superspeedway on Wednesday during a test for NASCAR, Nextel and Racing Radios.

"We hit 228 [mph] at the end of the straightaway and averaged 221 [mph] for that overall lap segment," Wallace said. "It was a helluva deal that I certainly will remember for the rest of my life. We'd all been wondering what it would feel like to run at Talladega again without the [restrictor-] plates and now I know. I'll bet we could be running speeds up to 235 [mph] without the plates if we spent time doing some tweaking.

"But I'll tell you this -- there's no way we could be out there racing at those speeds," Wallace said. "It was neat to be out there running that fast by myself, but it would be insane to think we could have a pack of cars out there doing that."

Wallace's speed far exceeded the official track qualifying record of 212.809 mph (44.998 seconds), set by Bill Elliott on April 30, 1987.

Pocono Primer

Ricky Rudd is expected to make his 50th Cup start at Pocono Raceway, more than any other driver. Rudd has competed in all but the first three races at Pocono (1974-76). Rudd's only Pocono victory occurred in June 2001 when he won from the pole.

Ten of the last 13 races at Pocono have been won from a top-four starting position (77 percent). ... Ken Schrader leads all active drivers with five poles at Pocono. Bill Elliott also scored five poles at Pocono. Elliott also had five wins at Pocono, the most of all drivers.

MAILBAG

There have been 14 different pole winners in the last 15 races at Pocono. Qualifying was rained out in the 2002 Pocono 500. ... There have been eight different race winners in the eight races at Pocono since June 2000. Bobby Labonte was the last driver to sweep Pocono, scoring victories in both races in 1999. ... Jeremy Mayfield is the only driver to score his first career Cup victory at Pocono Raceway.

Dale Jarrett has scored 13 top-five finishes, including three victories, in the last 17 races at Pocono; he finished 42nd and 21st there in 2003. ... Mark Martin has scored 14 top-10 finishes in the last 17 races at Pocono; he finished 41st there last July. Martin, who has never won at Pocono, has eight top-five finishes in the last eight spring races at Pocono. ... Tony Stewart has scored eight top-10 finishes in 10 races at Pocono, including a victory in the 2003 Pocono 500. However, he finished 37th there last July.

Jeff Gordon has led 811 laps in 22 races at Pocono, more than any other driver, but he has finished 12th or worse in his last three races at the track, and has not scored a top-20 finish in 10 races at Pocono. ... Robby Gordon has not scored a top-15 finish in six races at Pocono. ... Bobby Labonte has not scored a top-10 finish in his last four races at Pocono.

Mark Martin has a 6.6 starting average in 34 races at Pocono, the best among drivers with more than 10 starts at the Pennsylvania superspeedway. He also leads the way with a 10.3 average finish, the best among drivers with more than 15 races at Pocono. ... Tony Stewart has scored top-10 finishes in eight of his 10 races at Pocono, including a victory in this race one year ago. His 10.4 average finish is second only to Martin among active drivers. ... Kurt Busch has finished second in his last two July races at Pocono. He finished 36th in this race one year ago.

Sterling Marlin has posted top-10 finishes in his last four races at Pocono. ... Terry Labonte has posted top-10 finishes in his last three races at Pocono. ... Ryan Newman has finished fifth or better in his last three races at Pocono, including a victory last July. ... Elliott Sadler has been running at the finish in 10 races at Pocono Raceway.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. has scored top-10 finishes in six of his last seven races. ... Tony Stewart has scored three top-10 finishes in the last three races. ... Michael Waltrip has scored three top-10 finishes in the last three races. ... Jeremy Mayfield has finished eighth in his last two races.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. has scored eight top-10 finishes in the 10 superspeedway races in 2004, more than any other driver. ... Earnhardt Jr. and Ryan Newman both have posted 10 top-10 starts in the first 13 races in 2004, the most of all drivers. Newman has started second in the last three races. ... Jimmie Johnson is the only driver to lead at least one lap in 10 of the 13 points races in 2004. ... Four drivers have remained in the top 10 in the Cup point standings all season: Earnhardt Jr., Matt Kenseth, Tony Stewart and Elliott Sadler.

B. Duane Cross is a senior producer for SI.com.