Racing Has Always Been a Family Affair for Kahne

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. – Video cameras, cell phones, tape recorders and digital recorders surrounded NASCAR Sprint Cup Series superstar Kasey Kahne at a Winner’s Circle press conference earlier this month at Fun Expedition in Johnson City, Tenn.

Certainly a long way from his early days of racing near his hometown of Enumclaw, Wash., the glitz, glam and lights of racing’s top tier series haven’t made this 29-year-old racer forget his roots.

“Family’s always been around racing with myself, and they still are to this day,” Kahne said. “They were right there with me, working on the cars, supporting, cheering in the grandstands.”

With the help of his father, Kelly, Kahne’s desire to drive caught on early. He started racing in 1994 at the age of 14, competing in a small number of micro-midget car races near his hometown. Kelly even owned Kasey’s first sprint car team. Alongside were Kasey’s younger brother, Kale, and his two cousins Willie and Kole.

Kasey credits his father for helping him turn his hobby into a full-time reality.

“[My father] was into racing, he worked on cars, so I grew up wanting to learn about race cars because that’s what he did,” Kahne said. “He got me to the next level.”

Kasey’s mother wasn’t too far from the action either. Tammy, who now oversees the Kasey Kahne Fan Club and merchandise store (Klub Kahne), supported her son as he made his way up through the racing ranks.

“She wasn’t teaching me how to drive or how to work on a car, but she was doing everything else that made it easy on us,” he said.

When success around the Northwest caught the attention of a larger team, 17-year-old Kasey moved to Indianapolis with his older sister, Shanon, who now runs the Kasey Kahne Foundation, established in 2005 as a way to give back to chronically ill children and their families as well as disadvantaged youth.

“We were winning a lot of races, and at that point in time, I said, ‘Man, I know I can do this for a long time,’ ” Kasey said. “[You] just hope [you] get the right opportunities for the right team owners because, at that point, that’s what you needed.”

By 2002, Kasey’s success in sprint cars landed him a part-time gig in the NASCAR Busch Series (now the Nationwide Series). By November 2003, he had won his first Busch Series race – the Ford 300 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

With less than two years of stock car racing under his belt, Kasey burst onto the Sprint Cup Series scene in 2004, and it has been a flight to the top for NASCAR’s boy-next-door ever since.

Kahne scored Rookie of the Year honors in 2004, grabbed his first Sprint Cup win at Richmond International Raceway in Richmond, Va., in the Chevy American Revolution 400 in 2005, and made the Chase for the Sprint Cup in 2006 and 2009.

Kasey has garnered 11 career Cup wins, 43 Top 5s and 79 Tops 10s to date and enters Sunday’s Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway sitting 17th in the point standings. He has no wins at Bristol’s famous half-mile, but has two Top 5s and four Top 10s.

Through it all, Kahne’s family has been right by his side for the wild ride.

Kasey’s success allowed him to purchase a first-class race shop in 2005 in Charlotte, N.C., where his cousins, Willie and Kole, now head the Kasey Kahne Racing (KKR) sprint car team. Kole also serves as the No. 9 team’s spotter on race days. Kasey’s brother, Kale, works on the pit crew as well.

“It’s kind of a big fan club that enjoys racing,” Kasey said.

Life in the fast lane hasn’t always come easy for Kasey – for instance, a 34th-place finish at Fontana this year and a 30th-place finish at the season-opening Daytona 500 due to an accident – but one thing has kept him grounded through the years – his family.

“[They taught me to] be a good person and treat people the way you want to be treated,” Kasey said. “And work ethic – you know, if you want something, work for it. [Just] work for it.”

Editor's Note: Published in the Bristol Herald Courier's Food City 500 Race Edition on March 18th