SONOMA, Calif. — Richard Petty Motorsports has made news this season for all the wrong reasons. Caught in the financial crunch of Chrysler's bankruptcy, the team had a recent round of layoffs and companywide salary reductions.
Star driver Kasey Kahne has been openly unhappy with RPM's slow development of an improved Dodge motor, and the organization can't shake whispers about its long-term stability.
A win can cure most of those ills.
Kahne returned team co-owner Richard Petty to Victory Lane for the first time in over a decade with a much-needed win at Infineon Raceway on Sunday.
It snapped a 37-race winless streak for Kahne, who last won at Pocono a year ago, and the first win for a Petty-owned car since John Andretti's victory at Martinsville in April, 1999.
"I feel just as good as (Kahne) does," Petty said. "It's great, man. It's great."
Petty's race team teetered on the verge of collapse at the end of last season and needed a January merger with Gillett-Evernham Motorsports to secure the storied NASCAR team. Rebranded as Richard Petty Motorsports, the four-car organization kicked off the season with a strong showing at the Daytona 500.
But it's been a rough ride since.
Team manufacturer Chrysler is in Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, and funding to RPM has slowed to a crawl as Dodge restructures. The team laid off nine employees earlier this month while slashing salaries across the board.
Just Saturday, majority team owner George Gillett agreed to sell the NHL's Montreal Canadiens in a deal that should help him fight any solvency issues.
It's made for a frustrating season for Kahne, the star of the team, who at times this year has been vocal about RPM's slow progress. His criticism prompted team officials to push out a new Dodge engine, and the improved motor had given Kahne hope that there's reason for optimism.
Now he has his first victory on a road course — a remedy for any disgruntled driver.
"To me, we started the season a little bit behind," Kahne said. "But it gave the guys that work at Richard Petty Motorsports a chance to build some better race cars, some better engines and work on the setups. It's paid off."
The victory moved Kahne to 13th in the standings, one spot shy of qualifying for the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship.
Stewart finished second and was followed by Marcos Ambrose, who blew a motor in Saturday's practice that forced him to start at the back of the field and forfeit his third-place qualifying position.
Kahne led the final 38 laps but had to stave off a final charge from Stewart on an overtime finish.
Scott Speed's spin with two laps to go set up one final restart, and under a NASCAR rule started three races ago, Kahne and Stewart were side-by-side on the restart. Kahne zipped to the front from the outside, then pulled down in front of Stewart to firmly take control.
NASCAR Sprint Cup Toyota/Save Mart 350
At Infineon Raceway · Sonoma, Calif.
1. (5) Kasey Kahne, Dodge, 113 laps, 132.4 rating, 195 points, $345,071.
2. (4) Tony Stewart, Chevrolet, 113, 128.1, 175, $211,096.
3. (3) Marcos Ambrose, Toyota, 113, 113.6, 165, $175,496.
4. (11) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 113, 101.1, 160, $175,274.
5. (24) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 113, 119.2, 160, $128,325.
6. (17) Juan Pablo Montoya, Chevrolet, 113, 107.6, 150, $142,896.
7. (20) AJ Allmendinger, Dodge, 113, 88.7, 146, $98,700.
8. (26) Clint Bowyer, Chevrolet, 113, 85.2, 142, $103,900.
9. (13) Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet, 113, 85.4, 138, $131,149.
10. (8) Elliott Sadler, Dodge, 113, 83.3, 134, $100,425.
11. (38) Patrick Carpentier, Toyota, 113, 71.1, 130, $96,800.
12. (33) Max Papis, Toyota, 113, 75.4, 127, $85,400.
13. (34) Carl Edwards, Ford, 113, 87.2, 124, $136,054.
14. (23) Jamie McMurray, Ford, 113, 77, 121, $95,050.
15. (27) Kurt Busch, Dodge, 113, 96.5, 123, $100,000.
16. (1) Brian Vickers, Toyota, 113, 92.6, 120, $119,621.
17. (7) Ryan Newman, Chevrolet, 113, 86.3, 112, $112,902.
18. (10) Matt Kenseth, Ford, 113, 84.4, 109, $126,663.
19. (12) Joey Logano, Toyota, 113, 86.2, 106, $126,699.
20. (25) Bobby Labonte, Ford, 113, 61.6, 103, $112,052.
21. (30) Paul Menard, Ford, 113, 52.9, 100, $112,429.
22. (2) Kyle Busch, Toyota, 113, 90.4, 102, $126,546.
23. (21) Casey Mears, Chevrolet, 113, 53, 94, $95,600.
24. (9) Boris Said, Ford, 113, 87.3, 91, $76,100.
25. (6) Martin Truex Jr., Chevrolet, 113, 53.6, 88, $114,913.
26. (35) Dale Earnhardt Jr., Chevrolet, 113, 61.2, 85, $93,050.
27. (29) Ron Fellows, Chevrolet, 113, 58.3, 82, $77,700.
28. (15) Greg Biffle, Ford, 113, 53.9, 79, $93,525.
29. (16) Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet, 113, 59.8, 76, $114,818.
30. (41) John Andretti, Chevrolet, 113, 40.2, 73, $86,175.
31. (42) David Reutimann, Toyota, 113, 35.5, 70, $99,621.
32. (32) David Gilliland, Chevrolet, 113, 35.2, 67, $75,855.
33. (40) David Ragan, Ford, 113, 59.9, 64, $82,195.
34. (36) Jeff Burton, Chevrolet, 113, 45.7, 61, $120,484.
35. (14) Mark Martin, Chevrolet, 113, 51.8, 58, $80,995.
36. (22) Robby Gordon, Toyota, 113, 64.3, 60, $92,193.
37. (31) Scott Speed, Toyota, 112, 32.6, 57, $72,750.
38. (18) Sam Hornish Jr., Dodge, 106, 52.3, 49, $91,943.
39. (39) David Stremme, Dodge, overheating, 101, 35.7, 46, $105,563.
40. (28) Reed Sorenson, Dodge, 99, 36.5, 43, $110,274.
41. (43) Brandon Ash, Dodge, accident, 94, 28, 40, $72,225.
42. (19) Dave Blaney, Toyota, rear end, 3, 26.9, 37, $72,130.
43. (37) P.J. Jones, Toyota, steering, 2, 27.8, 34, $72,490.
RACE STATISTICS
Average Speed of Race Winner: 71.012 mph.
Time of Race: 3 hours, 10 minutes, 0 seconds.
Margin of Victory: 0.748 seconds.
Caution Flags: 7 for 20 laps.
Lead Changes: 10 among 8 drivers.
Lap Leaders: B.Vickers 1-16; Ky.Busch 17-26; T.Stewart 27-29; K.Kahne 30-32; D.Hamlin 33-36; Ku.Busch 37; D.Hamlin 38-66; T.Stewart 67-74; R.Gordon 75-77; S.Speed 78-79; K.Kahne 80-113.
Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Led, Laps Led): K.Kahne, 2 times for 37 laps; D.Hamlin, 2 times for 33 laps; B.Vickers, 1 time for 16 laps; T.Stewart, 2 times for 11 laps; Ky.Busch, 1 time for 10 laps; R.Gordon, 1 time for 3 laps; S.Speed, 1 time for 2 laps; Ku.Busch, 1 time for 1 lap.
Top 12 in Points: 1. T.Stewart, 2,364; 2. J.Gordon, 2,280; 3. J.Johnson, 2,207; 4. Ku.Busch, 2,084; 5. C.Edwards, 2,051; 6. R.Newman, 2,046; 7. D.Hamlin, 2,009; 8. G.Biffle, 1,992; 9. Ky.Busch, 1,962; 10. M.Kenseth, 1,957; 11. M.Martin, 1,926; 12. J.Montoya, 1,917.
