CONCORD, N.C. — Welcome to the Hendrick family, Kasey Kahne.
Kahne pulled away to victory in Sunday night's Coca-Cola 600, winning NASCAR's longest race for the third time and gaining his stripes for Hendrick Motorsports the only way that matters — taking the checkered flag.
Kahne wondered this year when that might happen.
The self-imposed pressure grew this week before Charlotte Motor Speedway at a party Hendrick threw to celebrate the owner's 200th career win, earned by Jimmie Johnson at Darlington Raceway two weeks back. Kahne was introduced after the 15 drivers who won races for Hendrick took a bow. Kahne said the gathering showed him what Hendrick has meant to the sport — and how much he wanted to add to that legacy.
"It's something I've been looking forward to for a long time," Kahne said.
And it was a popular triumph. Teammate Jeff Gordon rushed up to hug Kahne and told him, "Proud of you."
Hendrick saw that Kahne and crew chief Kenny Francis were frustrated by their early struggles when their best finish was 14th in California.
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In his 300th start in NASCAR's premier series, Kahne recorded his first win since joining Hendrick Motorsports before the season. He struggled at the outset with new team owner Rick Hendrick, posting a best finish of 14th in his first six starts with the NASCAR powerhouse.
He since has posted six consecutive top-10 finishes, and his 13th career victory stamps him as a contender to earn a wild-card bid for the Chase for the Sprint Cup.
"We're gaining. We're making big strides," said Kahne, 15th in the standings. "I have the greatest teammates to work with, which is something that I've really looked forward to coming to Hendrick Motorsports."
Kahne led 65 of the final 68 laps in his No. 5 Chevrolet after passing Hamlin for first on a lap 326 restart, giving up the lead on a green-flag cycle.
"I was driving with my eyes out and my hair on fire for 20 laps on that restart trying to catch (Kahne)," Hamlin said. "He just had a superior car."
A Hendrick car won for the third consecutive week as Kahne followed the Southern 500 and Sprint All-Star Race wins by Jimmie Johnson.
It was Kahne's fourth victory at the 1.5-mile oval and his third in the Coke 600.
"Denny was catching me. I saw him coming," Kahne said. "But I wasn't too worried. Because if you could take off really good, you'd get tighter as the night went. I thought about 15 laps (after pit stops), we'd be running the same times. And about 30 laps in, I'd be running two- to three-tenths faster than him."
Johnson entered the 600 as the favorite, but the five-time series champion was burned by a miscue on a pit stop with just under 50 laps to go. Johnson left his pit stall with a fuel can still in his No. 48 Chevrolet, and he returned to serve a stop-and-go penalty under green. He fell off the lead lap and wound up 11th.
"We had a couple mistakes on pit road tonight," Johnson said. "It happens."
Biffle's fourth-place finish was enough to up his series points lead to 10 over Kenseth, 16 over Hamlin and 18 over Earnhardt. Johnson is fifth in the standings, 48 back.
Biffle led a race-high 204 of 400 laps.
"Kasey got good as the night fell," Biffle said. "And we seemed to struggle a bit."
In another race emblematic of the 2012 season, the event was largely devoid of the multicar pileups that often have marred the longest event on the Cup schedule. There were five cautions, but four were for debris and one was for a single-car crash in Turn 4.
In her third start in NASCAR's premier series, Danica Patrick endured a long night, finishing five laps down in 30th.
After starting 40th, she struggled from the green flag, radioing her team that she thought her No. 10 Chevrolet was experiencing brake trouble.
After 80 laps, she had improved four spots but had fallen two laps off the pace.
"I don't see any big deal about trying some (stuff) out here," Patrick said. "I'm pretty far off, so I don't think it matters."
As usual, the 600-mile event was a race of attrition, as the longest race on the schedule took its toll on equipment.
Among the most unfortunate victims was Marcos Ambrose, who qualified second and snatched the lead from Richard Petty Motorsports teammate and pole-sitter Aric Almirola on the first lap.
Ambrose led 20 laps and was running in the top 10 when his No. 9 Ford developed a front-end wobble. He went to the garage on lap 220 to repair a broken hub, returned to the race more than 30 laps down and finished 32nd.
A.J. Allmendinger continued to endure a star-crossed season. The Penske Racing driver entered with high hopes after a strong second in last week's Sprint All-Star Showdown, but his No. 22 Dodge was plagued by problems with its brakes and front end. Early repairs relegated his car to a 33rd-place finish.
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