KASEY KAHNE

'Kasey Kenneth Kahne' (born April 10, 1980 in Enumclaw, Washington) is a driver in NASCAR's NEXTEL Cup series. He currently drives the #9 Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge Charger/Dodge Avenger for Gillett Evernham Motorsports with teammates Scott Riggs and Elliott Sadler. Off the track, Kasey is active in charitable work and is a member of the President's Council on Service and Civic Participation. He is also an owner in the World of Outlaws series, fielding a car for Joey Saldana.

Contents

Racing career

The beginnings

NEXTEL Cup career

2005

2006

2007

References

External links

Racing career

The beginnings

Kahne began racing open wheel sprint cars at Deming speedway in Deming, Washington, before moving up to Skagit speedway in Alger, WA then he moved to USAC. He was hired by Steve Lewis, who had also employed future NASCAR drivers Jeff Gordon and Kenny Irwin, Jr.. In his first year on the circuit, he was named Rookie of the Year, as well winning the national midget championship, . After that season, he continued to run USAC, as well as the Toyota Atlantic Series and the World of Outlaws.
Kasey Kahne made 20 starts in the Busch Series driving the #98 Channellock Ford Taurus for Robert Yates Racing. His best finish was a tenth-place finish at Cabela's 250. In 2003, he moved to the #38 Great Clips Ford for Akins Motorsports. He won his first pole at Michigan International Speedway and his first Busch race at the Ford 300. He also made a pair of starts in the Craftsman Truck Series in the #2 Team ASE Racing Dodge Ram for Ultra Motorsports, winning in both starts.

NEXTEL Cup career

Kahne replaced Bill Elliott in the #9 Dodge at the end of 2003 when Elliott announced a part-time schedule starting with the 2004 season. Due to the fact that Kahne was still under contract with Ford, a lawsuit began when Kahne decided to go to Evernham, driving a car that was being sponsored by Dodge. Ford eventually got money from Kahne, allowing him to go to Dodge. In 2004, Kahne surprised many by nearly winning several races (including five second-place finishes and 13 top-fives), winning four poles and captured the Raybestos Rookie of the Year award. He drove 30 races for Akins in the Busch Series, finishing fifteenth in points.

2005

He scored his first career NEXTEL Cup victory in his sophomore season of 2005, after a dominating performance in the Chevy American Revolution 400 at Richmond International Raceway. It was also the first victory for the Dodge Charger, which returned to NASCAR in 2005. He also scored two poles in back-to-back weeks at Darlington and Richmond during the same year. He made 22 starts in the Busch Series, splitting time with Akins and Evernham's new #6 team. He won the O'Reilly 300 at Texas Motor Speedway, and the United Way 300 at Kansas Speedway.

2006

On Monday, March 20, 2006, Kahne won the rain delayed Golden Corral 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Nearly three weeks later, he won the Samsung/Radio Shack 500 at Texas. He won four races after that, among them a season sweep at Lowe's Motor Speedway in the Coca-Cola 600 and the Bank of America 500, holding off Jimmie Johnson, who would go on to finish second in both events. He also won at California and Michigan.
On September 9 2006, Kahne successfully raced his way into the Chase for the NEXTEL Cup by finishing third at Richmond. Kasey was the 10th and last qualifier for the Chase, edging defending NEXTEL Cup Champion Tony Stewart out by 16 points. But a disappointing crash at Dover made an impact on Kahne's 8th place finish in the points. Kahne also won 2 Busch Series races in '06.

2007

During the qualifying sessions for the 2007 Daytona 500, officials found holes in the wheel-wells of his Dodge Charger. A crew member said it was just a tape that covered the hole fell off. Officials said that the tape had been cut. He was one of the four drivers among Matt Kenseth and his two teammates, Scott Riggs and Elliott Sadler whose cars had been found with aerodynamic-improving modifications. His team was one of the six teams found with illegal modifications in the Daytona festivities.
On March 9, 2007 Kasey Kahne won the pole for the UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400 making him eligible for the 2008 Budweiser Shootout.
On May 26, 2007 Kahne won the Busch Series Carquest Auto Parts 300 race at Lowe's Motor Speedway scoring his first win of 2007.
Team owner Ray Evernham has been negotiating with Budweiser to sponsor the #9 car in 2008, after Budweiser announced that they would no longer sponsor Dale Earnhardt, Jr. in 08.^[1]
On August 24, 2007 Kasey won the pole for the Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway, his second pole of the 2007 NEXTEL Cup season. Later that night, during the Busch Series Food City 250, Kahne passed Ryan Newman on the top side in a 3-wide pass that included Jason Leffler on the bottom. He held off the hard charging Leffler to win the Food City 250 for his 7th career Busch Series win and his 2nd of 2007.
The next day during the Food City 500, Kahne dominated most of the race leading 305 of 500 laps and finished 2nd to Carl Edwards. This is currently his best finish of the 2007 season.

References

1. Dodge may be willing to make room for Bud on #9 Dodge

External links

★ Stats at racing-reference

★ Official site

★ KlubKahne.com - Kasey Kahne's Official Fan Klub Site

★ Kasey Kahne at The Internet Movie Database

★ Evernham Racing's Website for More Info on Kasey Kahne

★ Interview with Kasey Kahne about his charitable work

★ Siemens website