Kasey Kahne focused on present not future at Hendrick Motorsports
CHARLOTTE — Kasey Kahne isn’t looking over his shoulder after Hendrick Motorsports signed rising star William Byron.
Kahne’s only concern, he said Wednesday, is improving his results.
“If I haven’t performed by 2018 (when his contract expires at the end of the season), I need to leave,” Kahne said. “It’s pretty simple. So that will have nothing to do with William Byron or anyone else. If I haven’t performed by then, it’s time to go do something different.”
William Byron, 18, signs with Hendrick Motorsports
Kahne, at the NASCAR Hall of Fame as sponsor Liftmaster unveiled a throwback Terry Labonte paint scheme for next week’s Southern 500, praised Byron and team owner Rick Hendrick for the move. He said Hendrick called to inform him of the team’s decision and Kahne’s response was “Way to go.”
“That’s a good kid to have,” Kahne said. “There’s got to be other people who wanted him as well. There’s no way we were the only ones.”
But with no room for a driver currently at the Sprint Cup Series level, it’s unclear where Byron will end up after he runs a season in the Xfinity Series for JR Motorsports next year. Kahne’s name got thrown around as a possible nominee for the hot seat, but his contract doesn’t expire for two more seasons.
Before that happens, decisions will have to be made on the futures of Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Jimmie Johnson.
Regardless of where Byron ends up, Kahne wants to improve his performance anyway. He’s tired of running in the middle of the pack every week, he said, and tired of talking and thinking about his frequent bad luck.
“From my side, all I can do is keep doing the things I’m doing and keep working as hard as I can and preparing and being at all the meetings we’re having,” he said. “That’s what I’m doing and that’s what the team is doing. We just stay on each other’s side and work together, and eventually it’s going to be good again.
“It’s no fun running 13th to 17th every week. But it’s kind of just where we’re at. I don’t like it at all, but it’s where we’ve been for a period of time now.”
When a reporter observed Kahne had yet to lead a lap this season, the driver said that statistic was “terrible” and vowed to change it before the year ended. But he also cited Martin Truex Jr., who went from one lap led in 2014 to 567 laps led last season — with the same team.
“If you can hit on a couple little things, you’re right where you need to be,” he said. “… Things can change tomorrow if you find something and figure it out. We could be back in no time.”
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