Birthdate: April 10, 1980
Hometown: Enumclaw, WA
Resides: Moorseville, NC
Height: 5’ 9”
Weight: 145
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 enters 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/Gillett Evernham Motorsports 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, Kasey 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.
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. Without an abundance of resources behind him, Kahne made the most of the year, 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™ 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 Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
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™.
The No. 9 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. LifeLock became sponsor of the No. 9 Gillett Evernham Motorsports Dodge Team for the 2008 NASCAR season. Armed with a new sponsor, Kahne and the No. 9 team look for redemption in 2008.
Other LifeLock Drivers
Patrick Carpentier
® 2008, LifeLock Racing, All Rights Reserved
