One of the most intriguing stories of this summer was the future of Kasey Kahne and Mark Martin.
When Rick Hendrick signed Kahne to a 2012 contract it left out what the 30-year old driver was going to do in 2011 because his contract with RPM was up at the end of the year.
The situation was complicated by the fact that Mark Martin had a contract to drive the #5 Chevrolet until the end of 2011 and he was not stepping down. In fact Martin’s situation was so tense that he, uncharacteristically, lashed out at the media.
Not too long ago the masterful Mr.Hendrick worked out a deal with Jay Frye, of Red Bull Racing, to put Kahne with that team for next year, thus solving the dilemma.
On Tuesday Kahne spoke with the media about the tense days after he made his deal with Hendrick Motorsports and looking ahead to the end of this season and beyond.
“Yeah, I mean, definitely it went on a little bit longer than I would have hoped or expected. But I try just to focus on my car, focus on the Bud team. I think we did a pretty good job of that,” he said.
As a lame duck driver, so early in the year, there could be doubts on the team whether Kahne will give it his all as the season winds down, but, Kahne said everyone is pulling together.
“I think the guys building the cars and the road guys have done a pretty good job. Definitely hasn't been easy. I feel like everybody's done, you know, the best job they could. There's been some times where I wondered. But I wondered about me, too. I think they've done a fine job and I think, you know, it showed at Bristol. We got behind and we fought our way right back. We were pretty good over there.”
With only two races left in the “regular season” Kahne is focused on making the Chase and hasn’t had time to deal with the transition to a new team and from driving Fords to another manufacturer, rumored to be Chevrolet.
“But I don't know anything new for next year yet. I haven't really looked into it. I haven't really cared until we get through Richmond. I think at that point in time I'll be able to look at things and see where we're at, see where everybody is at, hopefully put some stuff together,” he said.
Since he’s 16th in the standing some 136 points behind 12th place Clint Bowyer with only two races remaining it’s a tall order to make the Chase.
Then again Kasey Kahne holds the record for biggest comeback to make the Chase with two races to-go, when he was 90 points out in 2006.
Can he do it, again?
“Hopefully we have a good shot,” he said. I mean, it's tough right now because everybody is running so well. You kind of earn your points position with many races in. You're in that position and it's tough to make up a lot of points. Two good tracks for us (coming up). I know we can go fast at both of them. If Clint has any type of a hiccup, we'll be right in the middle of it.”
When Rick Hendrick signed Kahne to a 2012 contract it left out what the 30-year old driver was going to do in 2011 because his contract with RPM was up at the end of the year.
The situation was complicated by the fact that Mark Martin had a contract to drive the #5 Chevrolet until the end of 2011 and he was not stepping down. In fact Martin’s situation was so tense that he, uncharacteristically, lashed out at the media.
Not too long ago the masterful Mr.Hendrick worked out a deal with Jay Frye, of Red Bull Racing, to put Kahne with that team for next year, thus solving the dilemma.
On Tuesday Kahne spoke with the media about the tense days after he made his deal with Hendrick Motorsports and looking ahead to the end of this season and beyond.
“Yeah, I mean, definitely it went on a little bit longer than I would have hoped or expected. But I try just to focus on my car, focus on the Bud team. I think we did a pretty good job of that,” he said.
As a lame duck driver, so early in the year, there could be doubts on the team whether Kahne will give it his all as the season winds down, but, Kahne said everyone is pulling together.
“I think the guys building the cars and the road guys have done a pretty good job. Definitely hasn't been easy. I feel like everybody's done, you know, the best job they could. There's been some times where I wondered. But I wondered about me, too. I think they've done a fine job and I think, you know, it showed at Bristol. We got behind and we fought our way right back. We were pretty good over there.”
With only two races left in the “regular season” Kahne is focused on making the Chase and hasn’t had time to deal with the transition to a new team and from driving Fords to another manufacturer, rumored to be Chevrolet.
“But I don't know anything new for next year yet. I haven't really looked into it. I haven't really cared until we get through Richmond. I think at that point in time I'll be able to look at things and see where we're at, see where everybody is at, hopefully put some stuff together,” he said.
Since he’s 16th in the standing some 136 points behind 12th place Clint Bowyer with only two races remaining it’s a tall order to make the Chase.
Then again Kasey Kahne holds the record for biggest comeback to make the Chase with two races to-go, when he was 90 points out in 2006.
Can he do it, again?
“Hopefully we have a good shot,” he said. I mean, it's tough right now because everybody is running so well. You kind of earn your points position with many races in. You're in that position and it's tough to make up a lot of points. Two good tracks for us (coming up). I know we can go fast at both of them. If Clint has any type of a hiccup, we'll be right in the middle of it.”