Kasey Kahne nabbed his first win since May 27 at the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race in Loudon on Sunday.
Kahne edged out Denny Hamlin by 2.738 seconds for his 14th career win. Clint Bowyer, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Brad Keselowski rounded out the top five.
"I feel like we've been pretty tough all year; we just haven't finished them off a lot of times," said Kahne after Sunday's Lenox Industrial Tools 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
The success of Sunday's race have enhanced Kahne's chances of qualifying for the Chase, in which the top 10 drivers in the standings earn automatic berths.
"Today was another bonus," he said. "This should give the team some more confidence, myself some more confidence and carry some momentum into these final seven races (before the Chase begins)."
Greg Biffle, who finished in ninth, stands in the third position in the standings, and 40 points behind leader Matt Kenseth, as well as, 24 behind Earnhardt Jr.
Leader Hamlin and crew chief Darian Grubb faced the toughest conditions while changing tires during a stop on lap 235 to 301. Due to mismanagement of time, Hamlin lost 12th spot on pit road and restarted on 13th position. The error was large enough for Kahne to seize for the eventual win.
Kahne's first season with Hendrick started off with bad pole positions, as the driver fell as low as 32nd in the standings at NASCAR's highest level. But Kahne got back on track with a streak of seven consecutive top-10 finishes, including a victory in May in the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway in North Carolina.
"From here on we need some more top 10s and top fives the rest of the way. It doesn't get us in the Chase yet, but it does help with a win today," Kahne said.
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