It's been a season to forget for Kasey Kahne. A year after leading the Cup garage with six victories, one of the circuit's most popular drivers sits all the way down in 19th place in the points standings, out of the Chase and out of the general conversation. His problems began well before the Daytona 500, when off-season testing by his two-car Evernham Motorsports team produced a bunch of faulty data. The setups that resulted left Kahne and teammate Elliott Sadler driving ill-handling racecars that wobbled dangerously any time they got into traffic. The two drivers then spent nearly half the season conducting race-day test sessions, trying out new setups in Cup races in a bid to set things right.

It was an awful run, but there are indications that Kahne's team is coming around, and even more signs that point to a turnaround in 2008. In his last 12 races, the 2004 rookie of the year has six top-10 finishes. In his first 23 races this year, he had just two. So it would seem that the setup problems that have bedeviled Kahne and crew chief Kenny Francis so much this season are finally behind them. Also, two of those top-10s came in Car of Tomorrow races, a sign that the Evernham CoT program is also coming up to speed. In nine previous CoT races, Kahne had zero top-10 finishes.

Kahne can also look forward to having more resources on hand thanks to owner Ray Evernham's decision to bring in a business partner, in this case, Canadian businessman George Gillette Jr. The new Gillette Evernham Motorsports will also have a new sponsor for the No. 9 in 2008, Budweiser, fresh off a highly profitable run with Dale Earnhardt Jr. After spending the 2007 season as one of the Nextel-Cup garage's have-nots, Kahne is suddenly awash in an embarrassment of riches.

One way for Kahne and Francis to avoid the sort of testing gaffe that compromised them this season is to get more data. The only way that is really going to happen is if GEM can expand beyond a two-car operation. Discussions for a merger with Petty Enterprises -- a two-car-team -- are ongoing, but have stalled. My guess is that this is because Petty Enterprises is still a fiercely independent outfit. I talked with Kyle Petty last month about the possibility for a merger with another team, and he was adamant about the fact that he didn't want to merge and then suffer contraction, which is what happened earlier this year when Dale Earnhardt Inc. merged with Ginn Racing, resulting in the dissolution of two teams. Petty Enterprises has a proud legacy to protect, so its understandable that they would be very careful about joining forces with anybody.

However things shake out, things are already looking up for Kahne. And if his team has the resources available that they seem to, I see no reason why he can't return to the Chase in 2008. He had to suffer to get to this point, but the there's light at the end of the tunnel. I can see it.

J.J. Yeley talks about the challenges drivers face in the final race of the Nextel-Cup season:

"It's still a mile-and-a-half race track, but it's more of an oval track than a lot of the tri-oval mile-and-a-half race tracks we go to. We start the race during the day and finish up at night, so there are a lot of changes in the racetrack over the course of the race. You really have to build in the adjustability into the racecar. We are taking a new racecar there to try to finish out the year strong. Some of the intermediate racetrack cars that we have finished up the season with have been really good cars, numbers-wise, but maybe not the best fit for my driving style. Steve Addington (crew chief) decided to change it up a bit and go for broke for the last one of the season."

• 18: Lowest possible finish for Jimmie Johnson this weekend that would allow him to hold onto the top spot in the Nextel-Cup standings.

• 4: Times this year that Jeff Gordon has outpointed Johnson in a single race.

• 1: Number of times that Gordon has outpointed Johnson by more than 86 at Homestead in six races.

It appears that the ol' meter will be ending the season pointing down once again. It had a nice run this season, but with everybody looking ahead to next year, things have been awfully quiet lately-perhaps if we'd had more than two guys duking it out in the Chase for the last six weeks. The meter would like to take the opportunity to thank those who kept things interesting this year, including Mr. Furious himself, Tony Stewart, in whose honor it was created. Good luck at Homestead, Furio.

Reigning NBA MVP Dirk Nowitzki drums up a little excitement for the season with a stop at Texas Motor Speedway, where he was happy to offer his signature, even if it was a little difficult to write.

November 14, 1999: Cup Rookie Tony Stewart cruises to victory in the Pennzoil 400 Presented by Kmart, his third victory of the season, and his second in a row after a win at Phoenix the week before.