Like any of the 43 NASCAR Sprint Cup driver’s in Sunday’s CARFAX field, Kasey Kahne would like to win. But putting the No. 9 Budweiser Dodge in Victory Lane in Michigan would be special.

“I feel like this is one of the races…being in Michigan and Detroit…you always want to perform for your manufacturer, but this year it seems like a win would really benefit (the manufacturer) and excite some people that are a huge part of Dodge,” the Enumclaw native said.

Kahne knows what it feels like to win at Michigan International Speedway. He put the No. 9 in the winner’s circle in June 2006. It was one of a series-high six wins for the No. 9 Dodge team that season. He started from the pole in the rain-shortened event. Kahne also has five top-five finishes in 11 outings at the two-mile track.

He finished 17th on the twists and turns of the Walkins Glen road course, but it isn’t indicative of how the No. 9 has been running. Kahne has Top 10 finishes in five of the last seven races.

In the Chase for the Sprint Cup Championship, he sits in eighth with 2,754 drivers’ points, dropping one spot after the Aug. 10 race. He is 629 points behind leader Tony Stewart but, more importantly, just 89 points separate Kahne and Matt Kenseth, who rests in the No. 12 spot. After the Sept. 12 race in Richmond, Va., the top 12 drivers in points standings are eligible to vie for the Sprint Cup title in the final 10 races.