NASCAR

Kasey Kahne Salvages Decent Finish In NASCAR Return Despite Getting Caught Up In Others’ Mess

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By
Jared Turner
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Jared Turner Sports Editor

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Published20 Apr 2025

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Making his first NASCAR start in nearly seven years, Kasey Kahne had an eventful day in Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Rockingham Speedway, which hosted NASCAR for the first time in over a decade.

Kahne, an 18-time NASCAR Cup Series race winner, campaigned a fast No. 33 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet carrying primary sponsorship from HendrickCars.com. But any possibility of Kahne winning went down the proverbial tube in a hurry, well before the race’s halfway point.

So what happened to Kahne that put a damper on the long-time fan favorite’s comeback?

Where It All Went South For Kasey Kahne At The Rock

Not surprisingly, Kasey Kahne ran superb out of the gate at the 1.017-mile rural North Carolina track known as “The Rock,” where he tested his RCR car back in January in preparation for his cameo outing for NASCAR Hall of Fame team owner Richard Childress.

The good start to Saturday’s race proved to be short-lived, however, when he was involved in a Lap 53 accident not of his own making. Clipped by the lapped car of Katherine Legge that slid directly into his path after with William Sawalich, Kahne suffered extensive damage to his Chevrolet.

“I was directly behind the 18 (Sawalich), and the bumpers are so big I could not see anything in front of him at the time until he slowed way up,” Kahne told a scrum of reporters in a post-race interview shared on X by Noah Lewis and others.

“So, I slowed way up and went left, and then the car in front of him came left, and I hit (Legge).”

Kahne lost a lap in the ordeal, and his Chevy was never the same from then on.

“That was definitely a handful once the car was tore up,” Kahne said. “We were easily a top-five car prior to that. Maybe even better, but once the front end was tore off the right side and we had damage, it was a battle from that point on.”

Eventually, Kahne returned to the lead lap and took the checkered flag P15. NASCAR later scored him with a 14th-place finish after Jesse Love’s race-winning car flunked post-race inspection and was disqualified.

“I thought we did a good job of getting back to the lead lap and just avoiding wrecks, and we just kind of salvaged the best we could,” Kahne said.

His Rockingham Cameo In Arrears, Kasey Kahne Won’t Rule Out Future One-Offs

Even though his Rockingham result could have been much better, Kasey Kahne enjoyed the experience immensely and was thankful for the opportunity.

“I really looked forward to it and put a lot into it,” said Kahne, who abruptly retired from NASCAR Cup Series racing in the middle of the 2018 season due to complications from dehydration. “It was really fun working with the RCR group, going up to their shop.

“Just being part of a NASCAR team again, that was really cool, and all the people at RCR were great. I’m really glad I did this. I wish it would have went much different, but I think we were very competitive.”

Kahne remained somewhat competitive throughout the event despite being in a damaged car and feeling a little too warm for his personal liking.

“Long day,” Kahne said. “I was hot on Lap 60, and then we got some ice bags and started drinking more water and went fine from there. But I haven’t been that hot in a long time – seven years.”

Hot or not, Kahne loved having not only from RCR but from HendrickCars.com. The sponsor is the official website for the vast collection of new and used cars available at dealerships owned by legendary Rick Hendrick, Kahne’s former NASCAR Cup Series boss.

Would Kahne consider making another cameo NASCAR Xfinity Series start in the future, perhaps once again in a car fielded by RCR with HendrickCars.com sponsorship?

“I think that’d be pretty cool, just because we have kind of a relationship, a partnership started with this group now,” Kahne said. “So, yeah, I could see looking at that down the road.”

If Kahne does decide to enter another race, count Dale Earnhardt Jr. among those who would approve.