RACE REPORT.(Motorsports)

If you find a good nag, ride that thing until it breaks down. That plan has carried Kasey Kahne to three NASCAR wins this year, all in the same No. 9 Dodge Charger on mile-and-a-half, double-dogleg speedways owned by Bruton Smith. The streak began at Atlanta in March, continued at Forth Worth in April and kept going in the Coca-Cola 600 at Lowe's Motor Speedway on Memorial Day weekend.

Kahne dominated for his fourth career win, all for Evernham Motorsports in the last 38 races. He led seven times for 158 laps, including the final 30, when he left Jimmie Johnson and Carl Edwards in his dust. They never had a chance, especially after losing precious time scrapping for second as Kahne drove away.

"I can't believe the speed Kasey had at the beginning of a run and still had at the end,'' said Johnson, winner of the previous three 600s. "If my car had been that secure at the start of a run, it would be so tight at the end it wouldn't be competitive.'' Edwards agreed: "Kasey's car was awesome at the end,'' he said. "My car was decent right then, but I couldn't keep up.'' Mark Martin and Matt Kenseth completed the top five.

"At that time, the car was handling great,'' Kahne said of his late sprint. "The car was turning 10 times better than it had been the pit stop before. By then, I knew we had a car that could race. That's all I've ever wanted here, a car that could race with Jimmie. Every time you get to the end, you know Jimmie is the guy to beat. We got to that point and had a car that could race him.''

Seldom have so many teams entered the 600 with so many questions. The speedway was recently repaved, made silky smooth and wicked fast. After testing, Goodyear brought tires hard enough to shatter a diamond. (Anything softer would have produced dangerously high speeds.) Fourteen-gallon fuel cells (instead of 22) created short runs and kept teams from pushing the tire envelope. Instead of pitting every 60 laps, the window was about 40.

The result? Sixteen drivers swapped the lead 37 times, but six led just one lap and most of the changes were on pit road. Strategy involved four tires, two tires or none-but gas at every opportunity. Kahne, Edwards, pole-winner Scott Riggs, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jeremy Mayfield and Clint Bowyer were penalized for pit violations. Every round of stops produced near-hits, unorthodox strategy and jumbled scoring. In effect, the year's longest race morphed into a series of sprints.

Jeff Gordon was almost a lone voice in criticism of the track/tire combination. "I can't believe this is the kind of tire we have to race on,'' he said after crashing out due to a suspension failure. "Goodyear can do better than this, and we could put on a better race. The track was great, but the tires were terrible, the worst I've ever driven on. I know Goodyear can do better than this.''