Kasey Kahne
Kasey Kahne (Photo Credit: Sam
Greenwood/Getty Images for NASCAR)
Drivers successfully making the
transition from sprint cars to stock cars used to be the exception.
While the list of drivers that have found success in sprint cars and
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series cars isn’t long, Kasey Kahne is on it. As
Kahne embarks in his fifth season of NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
competition, he looks to the 2008 season as being a “new year with new
beginnings.” He begins 2008 with a new sponsor and a new car design in
a newly titled series. While the No. 9 Budweiser Team is all for
ushering in the new, they aim to return to the form that made Kahne
NASCAR’s Rookie of the Year in 2004 and one of the most promising
young drivers in the Cup Series.
Contending for championships is something with which Kahne has become
well acquainted. Before making a name for himself in NASCAR, Kahne was a
sprint car star in his own right. With support from his father, Kelly,
Kahne started racing at the age of 14, competing in a limited number of
micro-midget car events near his hometown of Enumclaw, Wash. Just two
years later, in 1996, Kahne got his first taste of success by capturing
the Hannigan (WA) Speedway Mini-Sprints championship and the Northwest
Mini Sprints championship.
Kahne honed his skills from 1998 to 2002 when he competed in the World
of Outlaws, All-Star Circuit of Champions, Gumout Racing Series and
Northern Sprint Tour winged sprint car series. In 2000 he enjoyed a
breakout season, winning the USAC Midget Series championship and earning
the title of National Midget Driver of the Year. Kahne built on those
accomplishments the following season by scoring four wins and 10
top-five finishes in just 11 USAC Midget Series starts. He also won his
second consecutive “Night before the 500” Classic at Indianapolis
Raceway Park, a feat previously achieved by only one other driver –
Jeff Gordon.
No. 9 Budweiser Dodge (Kasey Kahne)
(Photo Credit: Getty Images for NASCAR)
By 2001, Kahne’s successes in sprint cars had started to capture the
attention of the NASCAR community. As a result, Kahne landed a part-time
NASCAR Busch Series ride during the 2002 season, highlighted by a top-10
finish at Michigan International Speedway in August. One year later,
Kahne earned his first Busch Series win and scored four top-five and 14
top-10 finishes in route to a seventh-place finish in the series point
standings.
With less than two years of stock car racing experience under his belt,
Kahne’s talent and track record had attracted the attention of team
owner and former crew chief Ray Evernham. Evernham saw great potential
in the young driver, and his intuition proved to be correct.
Kahne burst onto the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series scene in 2004 by
contending for wins on a weekly basis. The 2004 Rookie of the Year
recorded 13 top-five finishes and completed the season 13th in the point
standings, missing the Chase for the Cup (TM) by a mere 28 points. Kahne
followed the 2004 season up by scoring his first career Cup Series win
during the 2005 season at Richmond International Raceway, followed by a
close second to Tony Stewart in the prestigious Allstate 400 at The
Brickyard.
During the 2006 NASCAR season Kahne established himself as a contender.
He won a series-high six races and started from the Bud Pole six times.
He finished the year with 12 top-five and 19 top-10 finishes and earned
an eighth-place finish in the driver point standings after qualifying
for the Chase for the Cup (TM).
The No. 9 Budweiser Dodge Team looks to build on what it accomplished
during the latter part of the 2007 NASCAR season. Kahne won Bud Poles at
Las Vegas Motor Speedway and Bristol Motor Speedway, finishing a
season-best second at Bristol after starting from the pole. Late in
2007, marketing giant Anheuser-Busch announced that it would sponsor
Kahne and the No. 9 Gillett Evernham Motorsports Dodge Team with its
Budweiser brand beginning with the 2008 NASCAR season. Armed with a new
sponsor, Kahne and the No. 9 Budweiser team look for redemption in 2008.
For more info on Kasey go to www.kaseykahne.com
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