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Kasey Kahne Profile |
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Birth Date: April 10, 1980
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Birth Place: Enumclaw, Washington, USA
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Birth Name: Kasey Kenneth Kahne
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Height: 5'9"
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Biography |
Kasey 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
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. Kahne resides in Huntersville, North
Carolina with his younger brother Kale Kahne. Kasey also has
an older sister, Shanon Adams. He is also an owner in the
World of Outlaws series, fielding a car for Joey Saldana.
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.
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.
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 Busch, splitting
time with Akins and Evernham's new #6 team. He won at Texas
and 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 has
won four races since, 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 has 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.
Kasey finished 8th in the points, and also won 2 Busch
Series races.
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 caught cheating in the Daytona
festivities. Since Daytona, Kasey Kahne has had a hard time
keeping up with several back-to-back DNF's.
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Other Information |
Drives #9 Dodge for Evernham Motorsports in the NASCAR
Nextel Cup series. (2004)
2004 Nextel Cup Rookie of the Year.
Finished in second place five times in Rookie season, but
never got to Victory Lane.
Started in just 2 Craftsman Truck Series races and won them
both.
He is Nascar's Nextel Cup Rookie of the Year for 2004.
He has a younger brother, Kale.
Has an older sister, Shannon
Last name is pronounced "Cane"
Has won one race at the triplet tracks Atlanta, Texas, and
Lowe's.
His sister, Shanon Adams (Shanon Kahne), runs the Kasey
Kahne Foundation.
Brother, Kale Kahne, is the pit support specialist for
Kasey's No. 9 Dodge Dealers/UAW Team. |
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