Kasey Kahne was the class of the field Sunday, as the Washington-native drove to victory in the Pocono 500. After starting from the pole, Kahne was unable to lead the first lap, but made up for it by leading the last.

The win marked the second points-paying win for the Gillett Evernham Motorsports driver in 2008 - Kahne also won the non-points paying Sprint All-Star Race in Charlotte - and gave Dodge their 200th victory at the Cup Series level.

Sunday's victory did not come easily for Kahne or the entire No. 9 crew. Pitting under yellow on Lap 58, crew chief Kenny Francis made the call for two tires. With a quick stop from the crew, Kahne headed back onto the track in front of many others. The only problem? The front tire changer was not done his job.

With three lug nuts missing on the left front tire, Kahne was forced to come back to pit road to finish the job and restarted the race deep in the field.

"I was pretty down, pretty mad at myself," crew chief Kenny Francis said of the incident. "The biggest thing I was afraid of was if it was going to rain and we would not have time to get back up there. I figured if it went the whole distance, we would probably have time to get back up there.

"Then after we made a restart and he drove it up into like the, I don't know, Top 15 pretty quick; I thought we were going to be okay at that point," Francis continued. "I was a little bit relieved that we got back up there so I could stop kicking myself."

Luckily for Francis, his driver was able to remain patient and picked off cars as he made his way back towards the front. 

"It's tough racing all the way through these fields and 20 to 30, that's a tough spot to be because everybody is racing so hard," Kahne explained. "So just getting through there, but I could pull off, I could get into cars off of turn one, beat them into the tunnel and then I could pull under probably from 15th to 40th, somewhere in there; I could pull under somewhere into three and get on the old line and pass them."

By Lap 113, Kahne had made his way into the top-5 and reaffirmed his was the car to beat. The Budweiser Dodge went back to the point on Lap 123, when Kahne got around Jimmie Johnson's No. 48 Chevrolet for the lead.

On the race's final restart coming at Lap 182, Kahne was running third, behind race leader Brian Vickers and Dale Earnhardt Jr.  It did not take long for the No. 9 to move past Dale Jr. for second and set his sights on the lead.

Heading into the third turn on Lap 185, Kahne was able to slide in front of Vickers to reassume the lead. With fifteen laps remaining, Kahne never looked back and drove away from the rest of the field en route to his ninth career victory.

This team has truly turned up the heat ever since receiving the Sprint Fan Vote and then winning the Sprint All-Star Race. The entire No. 9 Gillett Evernham crew was able to carry that momentum on the next week to win the Coca-Cola 600 and proved they meant business.

"I definitely credit the fans getting us into the All Star Race and the car that we had that night was awesome," Kahne said. "That gave us the momentum. That gave the company, the excitement and the momentum that they needed, and myself, and that's when I personally feel like I started communicating better and I've done a much better job since then. I think we've hit on some things with the car."

With this victory, Kahne moved up three spots in the series standings and is now ninth overall. As the season moves closer and closer to the Chase, this team appears as focused as ever to contend for wins and ultimately the championship.