Kasey Kahne, who replaced veteran NASCAR driver Mark Martin in the No. 5 Chevrolet at Hendrick Motorsports, has spent the off season working with his new team both in the shop and testing at race tracks. Kahne told media member via a teleconference Tuesday that he is “just really excited to get started” at his new job with the elite NASCAR organization.
Hired over a year ago at Hendrick, Kahne spent 2011 in a Red Bull Toyota waiting for Martin to exit the No. 5 Chevrolet. The waiting has ended for Kahne and he took part in preseason testing at Daytona last month to prepare for the Daytona 500 with his new team. Kahne said Tuesday he is ready to start the season.
“Just really excited to get started,” Kahne said of his new opportunity. “We've had some really good tests. It's been awesome to be part of Hendrick Motorsports, and just excited to get to Daytona. It's a big race, and I can't wait to get rolling again. It's been a good off‑season, but I'm ready to go.”
Kahne will be sharing garage space at Hendrick with the No. 24 team of four-time NASCAR champion Jeff Gordon. Kahne sees that as both a learning and teaching opportunity for the two drivers.
“Well, I think it's really good,” Kahne said of sharing floor space with Gordon. “It's been fun to kind of talk with Jeff and try to pick his brain a little bit on certain things. You know, I've looked at things differently, as well, so some of the ways that I look at stuff will be different from Jeff, and I'll give him a different way to look at stuff every once in a while, too, because he's been in one spot for so long. He's so used to trying to do things certain ways. But he's been very successful, so I feel like working with him is a pretty great opportunity for myself, and it's been a lot of fun so far doing that and just pretty cool to be a part of that.”
Although Kahne failed to make the 2011 Chase for the NASCAR Championship, he finished a respectable 14th in the final points standings.
Rick Hendrick, owner of Hendrick Motorsports, said at the recent NASCAR Media Tour in Charlotte that he expects all four of his teams to be in a position to run for a championship. Kahne, along with Gordon, Jimmie Johnson and Dale Earnhardt, Jr. could all be championship contenders when the season ends.
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