Calif. Policeman selected as Kasey Kahne's Assistant for a week

The selection process was tough and the interviews were intense, but the winner of the Kasey Kahne Dream Job contest was up to the challenge – and took home the top prize for his efforts.
David Metzger from Fremont, Calif., was named the winner after final interviews at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Saturday, March 9. Metzger, a policeman with the Atherton Police Department and a member of the San Mateo Narcotics Task Force, was one of three finalists who traveled to Las Vegas for the judging and the weekend’s NASCAR Nextel Cup Series race. Metzger was selected for his problem-solving skills, commitment to improving performance, creative thinking and ability to deal with pressure on the job.
“This is a dream come true,” said Metzger after learning of his selection on Sunday morning. “I can’t wait until Darlington.
I worked really hard to get the word out and get folks voting for me. I reached out to all the police on the force and had my family campaigning in their offices.
The contest, sponsored by Dodge Motorsports, offered contestants an opportunity to be Kahne’s assistant at the Dodge Avenger 500 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup race on May 12 at Darlington Raceway. More than 20,000 fans entered the contest, held online at www.kaseykahnedreamjob.com. Almost 116,000 people voted for the nine semifinalists. The top three finalists were Kelli Quattlebaum of Greenville, S.C., received the most votes with 33,251. David Metzger from Fremont, Calif., received 20,891 votes and Erin Coates of Dubuque, Iowa., received 13,028 votes.
Metzger said he wants to help make Kasey Kahne’s life easier and keep him looking good. On the track, Metzger said he would tell Kahne to drive fast and keep all four wheels on the ground.
Fans completed a questionnaire to show why they would be the best candidate to assist Kahne at Darlington. A panel of judges reviewed the applications and selected the best nine for the No. 9. Those nine semifinalists responded to questions submitted by Dodge on video and the video was used on the official website. Fans then voted online for the best contestants.
“I’m looking forward to working with David at Darlington,” Kahne said. “He’s got great skills and experience, and I think we’ll have fun together. And, it will be great to have a policeman around. Darlington is a race that I’d like to win. It’s a tough track, and you almost need a perfect day to win the Dodge Avenger 500. I’m sure my assistant will be ready for the challenge.”
Metzger will spend four days at the Evernham Motorsports headquarters in Statesville and work with the Marketing Department scheduling Kahne’s at-track activities for the Dodge Avenger 500 at Darlington Raceway. Duties will also include working with the marketing and public relations team to get Kahne to all the appearances, media interviews, on-track and NASCAR-mandated responsibilities on his schedule that weekend.

Breaking News for Kasey Kahne

KAHNE WINS COMMIT® TO WIN AWARD FOR SECOND STRAIGHT WEEK AT VEGAS
PITTSBURGH, PA (March 13, 2007) – For the second straight week, Kasey Kahne is the winner of the Commit® Lozenges Commit to Win Award. Kahne won the award by leading the first green flag lap of Sunday’s UAW Daimler-Chrysler 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
For his award at Las Vegas, Kahne will be presented with a check for $5,500 during pre-race ceremonies at this weekend’s Nextel Cup race at Atlanta Motor Speedway. A $101,000 bonus will be presented to the driver that wins the most Commit to Win Awards in 2007.
Kahne won the season Commit to Win Award in 2005 and 2006, and with his two awards in ’07 leads this season’s standings. Along with Las Vegas, Kahne won the Commit to Win Award the previous race at California Speedway.
GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) Consumer Healthcare has the only smoking cessation sponsorship in NASCAR history featuring the brands NicoretteÒ nicotine gum, NicoDermÒ CQÒ nicotine patches and Commit nicotine lozenges. GSK Consumer Healthcare’s NASCAR involvement also features the first-of-its-kind “QUIT Crew” program that provides smoking cessation coaching to NASCAR teams and fans. Hendrick Motorsports, Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates, Petty Enterprises, Joe Gibbs Racing, Richard Childress Racing and NASCAR officials have enrolled in the program. For more information, go to quit2winracing.com
2007 Commit to Win Standings
Driver Team Commit to Win Awards
Kasey Kahne Evernham Motorsports 2
David Gilliland Robert Yates Racing 1
2007 Commit to Win Award Winners
Date Race Track Winner
2/18/07 Daytona 500 Daytona International Speedway David Gilliland
2/25/07 Auto Club 500 California Speedway Kasey Kahne
3/11/07 UAW-Daimler Chrysler 400 Las Vegas Motor Speedway Kasey Kahne

Kahne, Dodges dominate at Vegas qualifying

Changes at Vegas don't bother Kahne

He breaks his own record on the revamped facility there and wins the pole position for Sunday's Nextel Cup race.
By Jim Peltz, Times Staff WriterMarch 10, 2007

LAS VEGAS — Kasey Kahne wasn't ready to relinquish the track record at Las Vegas Motor Speedway simply because they changed the track.Kahne won the pole position Friday for Sunday's Nextel Cup race as he and most of the field obliterated his previous track record, as expected, thanks to the revamped Las Vegas Motor Speedway.The track was repaved in the off-season and its corner banking was raised to 20 degrees from 12, lifting speeds for this year's UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400.Kahne set a lap record of 184.856 mph in his No. 9 Dodge for Evernham Motorsports, nearly 10 mph faster than his old mark, 174.904 set in 2004."I'm happy to not give the track record up here just yet," Kahne said. "I felt like we had a good car when practice was over."David Stremme qualified second at 184.193 mph and will start next to Kahne on the front row.Elliott Sadler, Kahne's teammate, was third, and Juan Pablo Montoya, Stremme's teammate at Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates, was fourth.All drive Dodges and, in fact, Chargers took seven of the top 10 starting spots.