Kasey Kahne wins the Coca-Cola 600

Concord, N.C. -- Kasey Kahne steered his Dodge to the checkered flag Sunday night at the Coca-Cola 600 Sprint Cup auto race in Concord, N.C.

Kahne earned his eighth Sprint Cup win after Dale Earnhardt Jr. sustained a cut tire on lap 296. Earnhardt had led for much of the race up until that point.

Kahne became the sixth NASCAR driver to win both the Coca-Cola 600 and the all-star challenge in the same season, joining Darrell Waltrip, Davey Allison, Dale Earnhardt, Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson.

His No.9 Budweiser Dodge crossed the finish line 10.202 seconds ahead of Greg Biffle.

It was his first win on the circuit since October 2006, breaking a 52-race winless streak.

"This car was great all night long," Kahne said in a post-race interview. "It looked like Junior had us beat (but) the Gillette Evernham team really stepped up in the last week."

Kyle Busch took third place, Jeff Gordon was fourth and Earnhardt Jr. recovered enough to finish fifth.

Copyright 2008 by United Press International.