Kahne wishes he could spend week in Iowa
Oskaloosa, Ia. — A return to victory lane in the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series likely tops Kasey Kahne’s wish list.
But being able to spend all week, not just a few days, at the Knoxville Nationals is a heart-felt hope as well.
“I wish so much that Cup was racing closer and I could come back Friday and Saturday night to watch, also,” said Kasey Kahne, who planned to race in tonight’s Front Row Challenge at Southern Iowa Speedway in Oskaloosa.
“But that’s just not the way the schedules are right now.”
That regret about having to leave Knoxville and Oskaloosa before the Saturday night climax of the week says a great deal about Kasey Kahne’s affection for Nationals and his former sport, sprint-car racing.
“I just love being part of (it),” Kasey Kahne said.
The trip provides a measure of stress relief for the Evernham Motorsports driver, who is winless on the Nextel Cup circuit this season and ranks 27th in points.
“(Cup) keeps me going, but when you have a week at Knoxville, where you can basically take off a week and go enjoy sprint-car racing, that makes it all that much better,” Kasey Kahne said.
Last year at this time, Kasey Kahne had won four Cup races and later triumphed in two more.
“It’s been a rough year,” said Kasey Kahne, who will leave Knoxville late Thursday to prepare for Sunday’s Cup race at Watkins Glen, N.Y. “When you win a lot of races in one year it just seems like every time I go to the track this year I still have hope.
“I still think, ‘Maybe this is the week we can turn it around, get a top 10 or have a chance at winning.’ As bad as it’s been, I’ve thought pretty highly of our team and how hard we’ve worked. It seems like we have a shot, still, to win races or run up front.”
That’s obviously of prime importance to Kasey Kahne and his team, but Knoxville’s important, too.
And if Michigan again becomes the site of the NASCAR race weekend that coincides with the end of the Nationals, well … double-duty driving could be in order.
“If it were at Michigan again, I might try pulling a sprint car out for the Nationals,” Kasey Kahne said.
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