Kasey Kenneth Kahne (
/ˈkeɪn/; born April 10, 1980) is a NASCAR driver. He drives the No. 5 Farmers Insurance Group/Quaker State Chevrolet Impala for Hendrick Motorsports in the Sprint Cup Series and drives a limited schedule for Turner Motorsports in the Nationwide Series, driving their #38 Great Clips Chevrolet Impala.
Off the track, Kahne is active in charitable work and is a member of the President's Council on Service and Civic Participation. He also owns his own race team, Kasey Kahne Racing, that competes in the World of Outlaws series, fielding two cars, one for Joey Saldana, and the other for Cody Darrah. His team also fields a car in the USAC Sprint Car Series for Brady Bacon, and in USAC midgets for Brad Sweet. Kahne is a two-time Skagit Speedway winner of the Annual Jim Raper memorial Dirt Cup (2002 and 2003), and holds the current record for the fastest lap at Skagit.
Kahne began racing open wheel sprint cars at Deming Speedway at 17 in Deming, Washington, before moving up to Skagit speedway in Alger, Washington, and then he moved to USAC. In 2001, Kahne made a trip to Pennsylvania where he won the season opener at the historic Williams Grove Speedway. He was hired by Steve Lewis, who had also employed future NASCAR drivers Jeff Gordon, Jason Leffler, Tony Stewart, and Kenny Irwin, Jr. In his first year on the circuit, he was named Rookie of the Year, as well as winning the national midget championship. He continued to run USAC, as well as the Toyota Atlantic Series and the World of Outlaws.
Kahne made 20 starts in the Nationwide 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 Nationwide race at the Ford 300. In 2004, he also made a pair of starts in the Craftsman Truck Series at Darlington Raceway and Homestead-Miami Speedway, driving the #2 Team ASE Racing Dodge Ram for Ultra Motorsports, winning both races.
Kahne replaced Bill Elliott in the #9 Dodge at the end of the 2003 season 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 thirteenth in points.
Kahne scored his first career Sprint 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 that year. In addition, he became the first driver born in the 1980's to win a race in NASCAR's premier series. 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.
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 Cup by finishing third in Richmond. He was the 10th and last qualifier for the Chase. He edged defending Sprint Cup Champion Tony Stewart out by 16 points, but a disappointing crash at Dover made an impact on Kahne's 8th place finish for the season. Kahne also won 2 Busch Series races in '06.
On November 27, 2006 Kahne was honored by being invited to raise the traditional 12th Man flag prior to the Seattle Seahawks Monday Night Football game against the Green Bay Packers at Qwest Field in Seattle. The ceremony has been ongoing since 2003, and involves a different Seattle-area sports hero and/or beloved member of the community kicking things off before every Seahawks home game. The Seahawks beat the Packers 34–24.
During the qualifying for the 2007 Daytona 500, officials found holes in the wheel-wells of his Dodge Charger. A crew member said it was just tape that had fallen off of a hole in the tire. 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 May 26, 2007 Kahne won the Busch Series CARQUEST Auto Parts 300 race at Lowe's Motor Speedway scoring his first win of 2007.
On August 24, 2007 Kahne won the pole for the Sharpie 500 at Bristol, his second pole of the 2007 Nextel Cup Series. 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 Sharpie 500, Kahne dominated most of the race leading 305 of 500 laps and finished 2nd to Carl Edwards. This was his best finish of the 2007 season.
Kasey Kahne practicing for the 2007 Ford 400 at the Homestead-Miami Speedway.
On November 16, 2007 at Homestead-Miami Speedway Kahne was accused by Archibald Hutchinson, a 62 year old track security guard, of shoving Hutchinson to the ground. The incident occurred when Kahne was attempting to enter the motorhome lot and Hutchinson refused entry due to Kahne not having the proper credentials. Kahne claimed he had bumped into the security guard as he attempted to walk around the guard to enter the lot. Hutchinson was taken to the infield medical center following the incident complaining of elevated blood pressure. He was treated for scrapes and bruises and later released.[1] Kahne faced a misdemeanor assault charge over the incident which he pled not guilty to. Hutchinson also filed a civil suit against Kahne seeking more than $15,000 for medical bills, lost wages, and punitive damage.[2] In December 2008, the court agreed to dismiss the criminal charges and clear Kahne criminal record upon completion of 50 hours of community service and a donation of $50 to a court charity.[3] Hutchinson, through his attorneys, dismissed the civil suit in September 2009 following an undisclosed settlement.[4]
After a disappointing 2007 season Kahne finished 19th in points with no wins, 1 top 5, 8 top 10s and an average finish of 22.2.
With new sponsor Budweiser, Kahne started off the 2008 season strong as he finished in the top 10 in both the Budweiser Shootout and the Gatorade Duel.
As a result of a 4th place finish in his duel, Kahne started 10th in the 50th running of the Daytona 500 on February 17, 2008. Kahne finished 7th behind teammate Elliott Sadler in the 2008 Daytona 500, this was a repeat of the 2007 race where Sadler and Kahne also finished 6th and 7th respectively.
During the early laps of the Auto Club 500 Kahne worked his way from 20th to 14th, but brushed the wall on lap 7. He however went on to finish a strong 9th after the long rain delay the race suffered. Kahne had to start in the back due to an engine change at the UAW-Dodge 400. He wound up 6th at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
On May 17, 2008, Kahne was voted into the 2008 Sprint All-Star Race XXIV by his fans via cell phone text messaging and online voting. After performing a required stop-and-go pit stop, Kahne began the fourth segment in second place on old tires. He went on to win the race and win $1,012,975. Kahne became the first driver to win the race from the fan vote and the third driver to race in the Sprint Showdown and go on to win the All-Star race.
On May 25, 2008, Kasey Kahne won the Coca-Cola 600 by passing Tony Stewart with 2 laps to go, as Tony had a flat tire going into turn 1. It was Kasey's first points-paying win of the season. He also became the sixth driver to win the race along with the All-Star Race the previous weekend.
On June 6, 2008, Kahne won the pole for the Pocono 500. He would go onto win the race despite being 38th at one point during the race after a miscue in the pits.
On June 20, 2008, Kasey Kahne won the pole for the Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Infineon Raceway, marking his second pole in three races. However, after handling issues early in the race, Kahne fell victim to pit road, went a lap down, and finished 33rd.
Following two 40th place finishes in a row (a Bristol Motor Speedway wreck, caused by miscommunications between Casey Mears and his spotter, and a Michigan International Speedway engine failure), Kahne found himself sitting outside of the top 12, out of contention for the Chase. At the start of the last regular season race, at Richmond International Raceway, Kahne, David Ragan, and Clint Bowyer were vying for that 12th spot. Unfortunately for Kahne, he was unable to make up enough points to put him into the Chase for the Sprint Cup. Kahne missed the 2008 Chase by 69 points and ended the season in 14th place.
Kahne's new team for 2009, Richard Petty Motorsports, was the result of a merger between his team's previous incarnation, Gillett Evernham Motorsports and Petty Enterprises. Kahne won the Toyota/Save Mart 350 event on June 21, 2009, for his first road course win. Kahne ran the fewest events in other NASCAR series, only seven (four in the Nationwide Series, three in the Whelen Modefied Tour). With less distractions, Kahne's track record improved, taking his second win of the season at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
After the first 26 races of the season Kahne was in the top twelve in points, earning him a place in the Chase for the Championship. He was seeded fifth in points. After suffering an engine failure at New Hampshire, Kahne struggled to get back into contention for the championship and finished 10th in the final season standings, despite finishing 2nd at the AMP Energy 500 at Talladega Superspeedway.
On September 10, 2009, it was announced that Richard Petty Motorsports would merge with Yates Racing. Kasey Kahne would remain as one of four drivers of RPM alongside his current teammates Sadler, Allmendinger, as well as Yates Racing driver Paul Menard.[5] The team changed manufacturers to Ford and received Roush-Yates engines and other equipment from Roush Fenway Racing.[6]
Driving the new Ford Fusion car, Kahne won the Gatorade Duel #2 at Daytona International Speedway on February 11, 2010, He also finished in second position in the 2010 Budweiser Shootout. Kahne ended up 30th in the Daytona 500 after being wrecked late in the race. He had been running up front for most of the race and had the fastest lap of the race. Kahne had a strong car at the Auto Club 500; however he spun late in turn 4.
Kahne had a good run at Atlanta a few weeks later where he led the most laps in the race, and finished inside the top five. During the following couple of months, Kasey would be unable to compete for race wins as mistakes and wrecks put a dent into the teams Chase hopes.
During the Gillette Fusion ProGlide 500 at Pocono Raceway he had a top five car all race long, but due to a late race caution, some teams stayed out on track instead of joining the leaders on pit-road. This put Kahne in the back end of the top twenty, and during the green-white-checkered finish Kahne tried to make it three-wide while battling for tenth place. However, he was blocked and ran down into the wet grass by his teammate A.J. Allmendinger. Kasey spun back into the racing surface and was hit by Greg Biffle and Mark Martin. The #9 car took off and landed on top of the outside wall, hit a tree behind the wall and span back onto the track on all four wheels. Kahne and Biffle both put the blame on Allmendinger for causing the huge crash.
Kahne rebounded from the disappointment at Pocono by leading laps in the following race at Michigan and finishing 2nd, behind the dominant Denny Hamlin. He also qualified on pole for the Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Infineon Raceway the following week; and converted the pole position into a solid 4th place finish; after bouncing back from a poor first stint, to post back-to-back top five finishes.
In qualifying for the 2010 Carfax 400 at Michigan International Speedway, Kasey Kahne earned his second pole position of the season.[7] On October 3, 2010, Kahne started the Price Chopper 400 at Kansas Speedway from the pole position.[8]
On October 20, 2010, Kahne was released from the remainder of his contract with Richard Petty Motorsports. The next day it was announced that Kahne would drive for Red Bull Racing Team for the remainder of the season as well as the full 2011 season starting with the TUMS Bring It On 500 at Martinsville Speedway.[9]
After the 2010 season finale in Homestead, Kahne went in for knee surgery due to discomfort and pain caused by plica syndrome.[10]
On April 13, 2010, Kahne announced that he would be leaving Richard Petty Motorsports at the end of the 2010 season to race in 2012 with Hendrick Motorsports. Kahne will be driving the #5 for Hendrick Motorsports.[11] On August 10, 2010, the Red Bull Racing Team officially announced that Kahne would drive one of their cars for the 2011 NASCAR Sprint Cup Season, a tenure that would start in the 2010 season after Kahne was released from RPM.[12] Kahne used the number 4 for his Red Bull Toyota, a homage to the number he used in Sprint Cars. Prior to the acquisition, the #4 was made famous by Morgan-McClure Motorsports.[13] On May 6, 2011, Kahne won his first pole for Red Bull Race and his 21st career pole at Darlington Raceway.[14] On June 9, it was announced that Farmers Insurance Group would sponsor Kahne for 22 races in 2012. It was also announced that his current crew chief Kenny Francis will join in at Hendrick. [15]
Kahne dominated the early stages of the Brickyard 400, but spun late in the race and had to settle for 18th position. He led 48 laps, a race-high.
He did not make it into the 2011 Chase for the Sprint Cup, resting at 21st in points following the cut-off race, the Wonderful Pistachios 400 at Richmond International Raceway on September 10.
On November 13th, at the newly configured Phoenix International Raceway, Kahne held off Carl Edwards in the closing laps to take his first victory of the season, his first victory for the Red Bull Racing Team, and Kahne's first victory in over two years. Kahne only led the final 14 laps of the race.
Kahne finished the 2011 season 14th in points behind Clint Bowyer.
In 2012 Kahne drove the #5 Farmers Insurance/Quaker State/HendrickCars.com Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports. In the Budweiser Shootout he was involved in an accident. Kahne qualified and ran well in the duel races for the Daytona 500 but was taken out in a late race crash involving Jamie McMurray and Regan Smith. He finished 29th.
Kahne announced in late March that he would compete for Turner Motorsports in the Camping World Truck Series at Rockingham Speedway in April, driving the No. 4.[16] On May 27th, Kahne picked up his first win of the season at Charlotte in the Coca-Cola 600 his 13th win of his career, first with Hendrick Motorsports.[17]
Kahne was featured in the premiere episode of the 2006 Biography Channel series, "Driven to Win".[18] This 30-minute program covered Kahne's childhood and entry into NASCAR, as well as his 2004 Rookie of the Year season and his first win in 2005.
Kasey Kahne Racing, NASCAR Media Group and Motorsports Management International partnered to produce the 2009 release, "The Rise of Kahne." This 90-minute biographical profile features interviews with Kahne, his family and other NASCAR personalities. Footage covers the stock-car racer's open-wheel roots and successes leading up to his June 2009 win at Infineon Raceway, his first for Richard Petty Motorsports. The DVD also shows his work with the Kasey Kahne Foundation and his own sprint car race team.[19]
| Year |
Races |
Wins |
Poles |
Top 5 |
Top 10 |
DNF |
Avg. Start |
Avg. Finish |
Winnings |
Position |
Team |
| 2012 |
12 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
6 |
2 |
7.1 |
17.0 |
$1,050,630 |
15 |
Hendrick Motorsports |
| 2011 |
36 |
1 |
2 |
8 |
15 |
4 |
11.3 |
15.6 |
$4,680,775 |
14 |
Red Bull Racing |
| 2010 |
36 |
0 |
4 |
7 |
10 |
4 |
13.5 |
18.9 |
$5,651,939 |
20 |
Richard Petty Motorsport |
| 2009 |
36 |
2 |
0 |
7 |
14 |
2 |
11.8 |
15.3 |
$7,005,551 |
10 |
Richard Petty Motorsports |
| 2008 |
36 |
2 |
2 |
4 |
14 |
4 |
16.1 |
18.1 |
$7,030,099 |
14 |
Gillett Evernham Motorsports |
| 2007 |
36 |
0 |
2 |
1 |
8 |
6 |
14.3 |
22.2 |
$5,750,131 |
19 |
Evernham Motorsports |
| 2006 |
36 |
6 |
6 |
12 |
19 |
6 |
12.8 |
15.5 |
$7,721,378 |
8 |
Evernham Motorsports |
| 2005 |
36 |
1 |
2 |
5 |
8 |
9 |
14.8 |
21.9 |
$5,183,697 |
23 |
Evernham Motorsports |
| 2004 |
36 |
0 |
4 |
13 |
14 |
7 |
13.6 |
16.7 |
$5,415,611 |
13 |
Evernham Motorsports |
|
| Totals |
300 |
13 |
24 |
60 |
108 |
44 |
13.5 |
18.0 |
$48,439,181 |
|
Statistics are as of May 28, 2012.[20]
- ^ "Kasey Kahne being sued for alleged Homestead assault". AutoRacing Sport. December 23, 2007. http://autoracingsport.com/kahne-being-sued-for-alleged-homestead-assault/. Retrieved July 6, 2011.
- ^ "Kahne pleads not guilty in alleged shoving incident". http://www.nascar.com/2008/news/headlines/cup/01/07/kkahne.pleads.not.guilty/index.html.
- ^ "Kasey Kahne will have record cleared upon completion of community service". Scene Daily. December 8, 2008. http://www.scenedaily.com/news/articles/sprintcupseries/Kasey_Kahne_will_have_record_cleared_upon_completion_of_community_service.html. Retrieved July 6, 2011.
- ^ "Security guard ends civil suit against Kasey Kahne, NASCAR". Scene Daily. September 3, 2009. http://www.scenedaily.com/news/articles/sprintcupseries/Security_guard_ends_civil_suit_against_Kasey_Kahne_NASCAR.html. Retrieved July 6, 2011.
- ^ "Richard Petty Motorsports to Race Fords in 2010" (Press release). Richard Petty Motorsports. September 10, 2009. http://www.richardpettymotorsports.com/main.cfm?pagename=article&articleId=11793. Retrieved September 13, 2009.
- ^ Newton, David (September 11, 2009). "RPM taking over Yates Racing". ESPN.com. http://sports.espn.go.com/rpm/nascar/cup/news/story?id=4466212. Retrieved September 13, 2009.
- ^ Ryan, Nate (August 15, 2010). "Kasey Kahne cruises to pole position at Michigan". USA Today. http://www.usatoday.com/sports/motor/nascar/2010-08-13-michigan-qualifying-kahne_N.htm. Retrieved October 3, 2010.
- ^ "Kahne takes Kansas pole". Sky Sports. October 3, 2010. http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,15775_6424199,00.html. Retrieved October 3, 2010.
- ^ "Kahne to drive the No. 83 for Red Bull Racing." (Press release). ESPN.com. October 20, 2010. http://sports.espn.go.com/rpm/nascar/news/story?id=5709082. Retrieved 20 October 2010.
- ^ [1], November 19, 2010.
- ^ "Kahne going to Hendrick in '12; next season uncertain" (Press release). NASCAR.com. April 13, 2010. http://www.nascar.com/2010/news/headlines/cup/04/13/kkahne.rpetty.split.2011/index.html. Retrieved 13 April 2010.
- ^ "Kahne in a Red Bull Toyota for 2011". Red Bull Racing. August 10, 2010. http://www.redbullracingusa.com/article.php?id=298. Retrieved August 10, 2010.
- ^ [2]
- ^ [3]
- ^ http://sports.espn.go.com/rpm/nascar/cup/news/story?id=6635685
- ^ Harris, David (March 29, 2012). "Kahne Revealed Truck Plans On NASCAR Race Hub". SPEED Channel. Fox Sports. http://nascar.speedtv.com/article/trucks-kahne-revealed-truck-plans-on-nascar-race-hub/. Retrieved 2012-03-30.
- ^ "Kahne scores third 600 win, first at Hendrick". NASCAR.com. NASCAR. May 27,2012. http://www.nascar.com/news/120527/kkahne-wins-charlotte-600/index.html. Retrieved 2012-05-27.
- ^ [4] Episode Guide, Biography Channel: Driven to Win
- ^ [5] "The Rise of Kahne," Motorsports Management International, November 24, 2009
- ^ "Sprint Cup Series Statistics: Kasey Kahne". Racing-reference.info. http://www.racing-reference.info/driver?id=kahneka01. Retrieved May 28, 2012.
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| Persondata |
| Name |
Kahne, Kasey |
| Alternative names |
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| Short description |
American racing driver |
| Date of birth |
April 10, 1980 |
| Place of birth |
Enumclaw, Washington, USA |
| Date of death |
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