Kahne makes late pass, wins Sony 500

FONTANA, Calif. -- Kasey Kahne figured that winning the NASCAR Nextel Cup race at California Speedway was the one way he could assure himself of remaining in the fight for the upcoming playoffs.

"I came here telling myself, 'You've got to win. You've got to win. You have to go out there and lead laps,"' Kahne said. "That's all you can do if you want to make this Chase."

Still, the 26-year-old Cup star thought he might be setting his sights a little too high.

"You can't expect to win. You can't expect to lead the most laps just because you want to," he said. "It's way too tough competition. But we just hit everything right this weekend."

Kahne led a race-high 132 of 250 laps Sunday on the way to his series-leading fifth victory of the season. He closed in on a spot in the Chase with one race remaining to get it done.

To win Sunday, Kahne had to overcome a penalty, a series of challengers and a daring fuel gamble by rookie Reed Sorenson at the end.

Not even a penalty for speeding on pit road halfway through the 250-lap race could stop Kahne, who fell back briefly to 24th. His No. 9 Evernham Motorsports Dodge stuck with the leaders and, thanks to a two-tire pit stop on lap 176 that got him up to second, Kahne was in position to drive past Dale Earnhardt Jr. for the lead after the green flag came back out on lap 180.

After falling back again when several other cars made two-tire pit stops, Kahne outdueled new teammate Elliott Sadler to regain the top spot on lap 197. But there was yet another challenge.

Several drivers tried to stretch their final tank of gas to the finish and the 20-year-old Sorenson, who drives for Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates, almost pulled off his first victory and the first for the team since 2002. He took the lead on lap 241 after most of the top cars pitted for a splash of gas and two tires.

Kahne, who gave up the lead when he made his final stop on lap 238, found himself in fifth, nearly 14 seconds behind Sorenson. Kahne charged hard, grabbing second from rookie Clint Bowyer on lap 247, but was still more than 7 seconds behind the leader.

But Sorenson lost his gamble, running out of gas starting lap 249. Kahne zoomed past and raced away for the sixth victory of his career, beating Earnhardt to the finish by 3.428 seconds. Sorenson wound up 21st.

-- AP