Working On My Redneck ™ » kasey kahne

Martin-Hendrick: Could Get Ugly

Leon — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 16:23:13 +0000

(photo courtesy Geoff Burke/Getty Images)

If anyone doesn’t think that Mark Martin is a proud old warrior, you better rethink that thought! Martin made it clear last week in a very rare flare of anger after ESPN analyst, former crew chief and team owner, Ray Evernham, suggested that Mark Martin should bow out gracefully from the Hendrick Motorsports stable of drivers to allow Kasey Kahne into the #5 Chevy.

The audacity of that suggestion struck a very raw nerve in the 51 year old warrior. An irate Martin made it abundantly clear that he will not give up his ride without a fight! He has a contract with HMS and fully expects Hendrick to fulfill his part of the contract! Anything less than that is totally unacceptable to Martin.

Rick Hendrick created this mess by signing Kasey Kahne to a contract that is not starting until 2012. Granted, Hendrick needed to strike and sign Kahne early, however what is a driver of Kahne’s caliber to do for the 2011 season? Therein lies the confusion, the rancor, and a huge logistics problem. Hendrick has five drivers signed with the maximum of four race teams allowed by NASCAR. No problem according to Hendrick, Kahne will join the team after Martin leaves at the end of the 2011 season!

Obviously Hendrick wanted Kahne to join his company, no matter what the cost. However, it has been a disaster in the making from the start. Why make the announcement in early 2010 for the 2012 season? That announcement only fueled the fire of speculation over Kahne’s future employment status for 2011. The collateral damage from Hendrck’s announcement has caused the waters surrounding Mark Martin to become muddied, turbulent, and infected with alligators waist deep!

In 2010, Martin’s team has struggled with their performance, adding additional fuel to the fire, and magnifying this tenuous position that Martin has been thrust into! The outside speculation and pressure continues to mount weekly

So this is the deal. HMS has five very talented drivers, Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon, Dale Earnhardt,Jr.,Mark Martin, and Kasey Kahne, signed to drive four cars. It doesn’t appear that Hendrick has been able to line up a ride for Kasey Kahne for the 2011 season, at this point in time. A talented driver, such as Kahne, will not be willing to sit out an entire season waiting for the contract to become enforceable.

Therefore, having five drivers for only four race teams has put rick Hendrick into a very delicate situation. Martin has made it very clear that he is not “expendable”, and is not going to be pushed out of the #5 Chevy! Hendrick has been extremely busy trying to line up employment in 2011 for Kahne. As the season starts to draw to close, the possibilities for Kahne’s 2011 season are not looking so bright!

The Kanhe signing has had many side affects within the HMS organization. Nevertheless, you can’t fault Hendrick for grabbing Kahne when he could, even though it has turned into a car owners worst nightmare!

Hendrick’s options seems to be dwindling as the days tick off! What is car owner to do?

What are your thoughts as to how Hendrick could solve his delicate problem?

TIL NEXT TIME, I AM STILL WORKING ON MY REDNECK!

Kahne To Phoenix Racing’s 09 Car in 2011?

Leon — Sat, 12 Jun 2010 14:08:29 +0000

(photo courtesy Jerry Markland/Getty Images)

Breaking news from SI.com:

Hendrick Motorsports and James Finch are working on a partnership to put Kasey Kahne in the #09 car for 2011, SI.com has learned. Multiple sources indicate the deal could be completed within the next few weeks. Hendrick will not be allowed to own the car under NASCAR’s four-team rule, leaving Finch in the position of ownership, although engines and chassis would continue to come from Hendrick.

Once completed, the partnership solves the HMS dilemma of where to put Kahne next season. Signed to take over the #5 car in 2012, Kahne leaves RPM at the end of the year but Hendrick already has four signed drivers — Mark Martin, Dale Earnhardt, Jr., Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson — under contract for 2011. Stewart-Haas Racing was the first option for Kahne, but sources claim sponsorship and financial constraints for that team have made such a move impossible.

Instead, the partnership with Phoenix Racing is a compromise solution. Under a one-year deal, Kahne will be installed with a single-car team that gives him the opportunity to continue running full-time. Here’s the kicker: once Kahne moves to HMS, sources claim the man he’s replacing, Mark Martin, may be interested in purchasing the Phoenix team for 2012 as he scales back his driving career.

Spokesmen on both sides have denied a deal is in the works. According to Hendrick spokesman Jesse Essex, “Our position with regard to 2011 has not changed. We continue to be open to various options, and nothing has been determined at this time.” The 51-year-old Martin also remains uncommitted to his future beyond 2011.

“I have to say options are in the beginning stages of formulating for what ’12 would bring,” he said at a press conference Friday morning in Michigan. “With not a very high sense of urgency, since I have actually made it clear that I am going to be driving the #5 car next year. It’s still real early to talk about ’12. I don’t think that anything that we had initially had thrown up in the air works great with me driving the #5 in ’11 and getting involved with some other team… although you never know what might happen.”

The dominoes are starring to fall into place regarding Kasey Kahne’s 2011 driving future. Never underestimate the creativeness and power that Rick Hendrick possesses!

What do you think about this possibility for Kahne?

TIL NEXT TIME, I AM STILL WORKING ON MY REDECK!

Prelude Post Race Notes

Leon — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 17:05:40 +0000

(photo courtesy Images.com/Getty Images)

Eldora owner and event organizer Stewart elected to start in 27th starting spot, dead last, and navigated his way through the carnage to finish sixth. Each team had the option of sending a driver to the rear of the field and if that driver won from the back, that team’s charity would get an extra $50,000. “Smoke”, aka Tony Stewart, who was driving for Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, was the only driver that elected to go to the back of the pack.

Kasey “Homeless in 2011″ Kahne was the class of the field in the first qualifying heat, but an engine problem in his #9 Budweiser car forced him to a backup for the Prelude. But since he didn’t prepare a backup, he was forced to use a car from Eric Jacobson that Jacobson was going to use in the Dream race on Saturday night. Kahne wheeled the backup car to an eighth-place finish with the motor hitting on eight cylinders and fenders still intact!

Oh, and that backup car’s number, co-incidentally it happened to be # 5. Talk about dirt imitating asphalt, hummmm.

One operational note of interest, Eldora’s restart cone was the victim of repeated abuse during the innumerable restarts in Wednesday’s feature race. The restart cone, a staple of many dirt tracks, is designed to keep the drivers in a single file line until they cross the start finish line. However, as has been the case in the Sprint Cup Series over the years, cones tend to get run over by even the best drivers! On the last couple of restarts sans cone, it was a “hooligan” heading for the restart!

Ron Capps and David Reutimann, among others, ran over the restart cone enough that track officials decided near the end of the race that placing the cone out on the track before every restart wasn’t worth the effort anymore! It was an exercise in futility, to say the least!

And now you know the rest of the story, WOMR looked it up so that you wouldn’t have to!

TIL NEXT TIME, I AM STILL WORKING ON MY REDNECK!

Hamlin Prevails Again At Pocono

Leon — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 01:52:47 +0000

(photo courtesy Todd Warshaw/Getty Images)

Denny Hamlin won for the fourth time in just nine career races at Pocono Raceway. The driver of the Joe Gibbs Racing #11 FedEx Toyota Camry dominated the second half of the race after Clint Bowyer dominted the first half of the Gillette Fusion ProGlide 500 this Sunday afternoon.

With 22 laps to go, Hamlin restarted in 9th place and had to slice through eight very strong race cars. Nevertheless, he did just that and Hamlin took the lead for the final time with just 12 laps to go in the race when he passed Sam Hornish, Jr. Additionally, Hamlin had to survive one green-white-checkered restart. That green-white-checkered was the results of Kevin Harvick getting into the left rear bumper of Joey Logano in the tunnel turn and causing the JGR #20 Home Depot Toyota to spin. However, Logano was able to keep his race car off of the retaining wall and finish the race.

There was no damage to his car, however, “Logano had blown a head gasket” from his anger! This was not the first time that Harvick appeared to “dump Logano” during a race. After the race ended, Logano drove his car up to Harvick’s parked car and appeared to quite possibly discuss Kevin’s heritage, or quite possibly offered a dinner invitation!!

On the last lap of the race there was a huge crash on the Long Pond Straight involving Richard Petty Motorsports team mates Kasey Kahne and A.J. Almendinger. Kahne had a huge run on “The Dinger” and that group of cars, so he maneuvered his car to the inside to pass the group. Unfortunately, Dinger moved further left to block his team mate’s pass, and thereby, putting Kahne into the grass at 190 mph. As Kahne corrected the car’s path, it shot back up on the track heading directly for the retaining wall, and was T-boned on the passenger side by both Mark Martin and Greg Biffle. That sent Kahne airborne head-on into the outside retaining wall and collected many of the cars that was behind him. Some of those cars were Jeff Gordon, Marcos Ambrose,Ryan Newman, and Elliott Sadler to name a few.

Kahne blamed Richard Petty Motorsports teammate Allmendinger for forcing him off the race track.

“I don’t know what A.J. was doing there,” Kahne said. “I don’t ever really talk to him much, but you can bet I’ll be talking to him this week.”

Allmendinger took responsibility for the incident.

“I’m not really sure what happened,” Allmendinger said. “Kasey had such a run on me, and I went to defend. By the time I defended, he was in the grass. That’s my bad. I feel bad about that — I really do. It is what it is, though.”

Pocono was a very good race and the dominate car won the race, which as we all know does not always happen. Even though the Poconos are generally a “honeymoon” destination for East Coasters, for many drivers Pocono was no “honeymoon” Sunday!

P.S. One question for “The Dinger”. When you go to “defend”, is that the same as blocking? What exactly is your definition of “defending”?

What is your take on “The Dinger’s” word defend?

TIL NEXT TIME, I AM STILL WORKING ON MY REDNECK!

RPM: Life Without Kasey Kahne

Leon — Sat, 17 Apr 2010 14:26:32 +0000

(photo courtesy Jason Smith/Getty Images)

Foster Gillette, co-owner of Richard Petty Motorsports, fully expects Kasey Kahne to fulfil his commitment to RPM and The Ford Motor Company for 2010.

Not only do I expect that, the one thing that I do know well is what a gentleman Kasey Kahne is,” Foster Gillett, son of team principal George N. Gillett Jr., said Friday morning at Texas Motor Speedway. “I really, really believe that not only will he fulfill his contract and his commitment to us, but he’ll do it to  the best of his ability. He’ll uphold all of the commitments that he has.”

“I think a lot of people explain him as kind of a racer’s racer,” Gillett said. “If you give him great equipment, he’ll go and win and I think that’s our focus. I really believe we have a championship-caliber team in the No. 9 team as a whole, with the driver and the sponsor and all the people that are a part of it. Our goals haven’t changed. We show up here to win with that car. We show up to win with all of our cars and we look forward to trying to get him into the Chase and compete for a championship.”

I think many different owners or teams in this sport would take a 30-race contract with Kasey Kahne to try and do the best they can,” Gillett said. “He’s probably one of the nicest people in this sport. He’s one of the greatest racers and we’re pleased to have had him for as long as we have, and we’re focused on our next 30 races with him to see what we can do. We want to win races. Obviously, when there’s a change like this it opens opportunities for others. I think we’re trying to focus more on what opportunities we have than what we might potentially lose.”

Gillett declined to say if Kahne has a non-compete contract that prevents the driver from taking Bud with him to another team. “That’s a contractual, private matter and we’re going to keep it there,” said Gillett, whose current lineup also includes Elliott Sadler, A.J. Allmendinger and Paul Menard. Of that group, only Sadler (three wins) has visited Victory Lane in NASCAR’s premier series.

Through all of this massive upheaval, Gillette talked very positively about the driver that is bolting from his stable.

However, one of the biggest fall-outs from all this upheaval at RPM is the possibility of loosing Budweiser as the big dollar sponsor for RPM. That could be a catastophic for RPM and possibly add to the already financial difficulties that they have had to endure.

Stay tuned gang, the Hendrick-Kahne saga still has a few more chapters to be written!

TIL NEXT TIME, I AM STILL WORKING ON MY REDNECK!

Is Kahne A Slow Packer?

Leon — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 21:12:30 +0000

(photo courtesy Leon Hammack)

Is it just me or do you think that it is odd that Rick Hendrick and Kasey Kahne announced the deal for their alignment for the 2012 Sprint Cup season after just seven races in the 2010 season? After all, Kahne can’t jump into the #5 HMS Chevy until the start of the 2012 season. So what was the rush to put this deal together and make the announcement?

Now Rick Hendrick must find a place for Kasey Kahne to be for the 2011 season. The obvious assumption is that Hendrick is working to put together a sponsorship package with Stewart-Haas Racing. Since there are only two race teams presently housed under the Stewart-Haas Racing shop, it could be packaged and put together under that banner.

It’s no secret that Petty Motorsports has struggled. It’s no secret that Kahne wants to drive for a winner, and no team has a better track record than Hendrick Motorsports. It’s a primo ride and Kahne will be a perfect fit in Hendrick’s galaxy of stars.

But again, why the big rush to make the announcement now, just seven races into the season? Especially since Kahne can’t join Hendrick until year after next.

We’ve read all the quotes from Richard Petty: he’s fond of Kasey, considers him a talented young driver, wishes him well, so on and so on … but the fact is that Kahne’s odd timing will not serve his team well. Petty Motorsports still has 29 races to run with its lame-duck driver, and that can not be good for the team.

Is there more to this story than meets the eye? Could there be some discontentment at RPM? Is the Gillette default loan problems just the tip of the iceberg? What is the future of Richard Petty Motorsports?

Or could it be that Kasey Kahne is just a very slow packer? You decide!

TIL NEXT TIME, I AM STILL WORKING ON MY REDNECK!

Is Martin A Lame Duck?

Leon — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 00:01:12 +0000

(photo courtesy Jason Smith/Getty Images)

The big news in the NASCAR garage this week is the Hendrick Motorsports signing of Kasey Kahne to drive the #5 HMS Chevy staring in the 2012 season. That headline puts Mark Martin, the current driver of the HMS #5 GoDaddy.com Chevy, in very precarious position.

It’s not like Martin is building this team for a very young inexperienced driver to take control of once Martin retires. Quite to the contrary, Martin will be turning over the reins of the #5 Chevy to a very capable and experienced driver, Kasey Kahne. Kahne is a proven winning driver, in waiting! If the facts are correct about this new Hendrick-Kahne contract, it would appear that the sooner that Kahne takes over the driving status of the #5 team, the better it is for the entire race team. No Lame duck!

This story has a very familiar sound to it. It mirrors a story that erupted back in 2004 when, this very same, Kasey Kahne make his entrance into the Sprint Cup scene with Evernham Motorsports. In 2004 Kahne took over the driving duties in the Evernham #9 Dodge from a very capable veteran, Bill Elliott. In the last 7 races of 2003, Elliott had an average finish of 4.56 including a win at Rockingham. Is this current Hendrick-Kahne situation deja vu?

Martin, like Elliott, has shown that he is still a very capable race car driver. But with this HMS logistical dilemma, what is Mark Martin supposed to do?

Does Martin stubbornly stay in the driver’s seat of the #5 car through the end of 2011? Should he volunteer to step out of the car at the end of 2010 and request to drive for JR Motorsports in the #88 Nationwide Chevy in 2011? Martin then could try to make an arrangement to race for a team that is closely aligned to HMS, Stewart-Haas, or Phoenix Racing, in selective Sprint Car races at Martin’s favorite tracks?

It is very obvious that Martin needs to formulate a good and graceful exit strategy for his Sprint Cup driving duties at Hendrick Motorsports! There are a number of options that must be explored and negotiated very soon!

What are you views?

TIL NEXT TIME, I AM STILL WORKING ON MY REDNECK!

Kahne To HMS A Leap Of Faith?

Leon — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 13:46:28 +0000

(photo courtesy Rusty Jarrett/Garret Images)

This newly announced deal between Kasey Kahne and Hendrick Motorsports is so full of holes that it looks like Swiss Cheese. Most people who might have been involved in this kind of deal, with so many details left undone, that they would not get involved at all from the very beginning. The contract seems to be knee jerk and half-baked at the very best!

In this day and age in which handshake deals are not worth the paper they are written on, in a time when leaps of faith in the business world are routinely rewarded with high speed plunges to the bottoms of rocky chasms, it is inconceivable that two parties would enter into this kind of multi-million-dollar, career-determining deal. But again this is Hendrick Motorsports making this deal.

There are so many strings dangling that anyone in their right mind would not get involved in this particular situation. But this deal is a done deal for one specific reason, it is Rick Hendrick making the deal!

Kahne summed this deal of a lifetime up in in just seven succinct words. “You dream of driving for Mr. Hendrick,” Kahne said. There is a powerful allure to drive for the man who has two four-time champions in his employ, and is affectionately know as just Mr. H. The mystique is so powerful that Kahne was willing to put his career in limbo just for the opportunity to drive for Rick Hendrick.

Since Mark Martin is under contract with HMS to drive the #5 GoDaddy.com Chevy through the end of the 2011 race season, where does that leave Kahne? He will be in the hands of Rick Hendrick Employment Services, and Mr. H has said that he, himself, is responsible for placing Kahne into a race team for 2011. Hendrick states further that there are “tons” of options.

So the guessing game starts as to where Kasey Kahne will land just for the 2011 Sprint Cup season. At Workingonmyredneck the view is that Stewart-Haas Racing has the inside edge for landing Kahne. But there are, at least, a couple more options that Hendrick has to explore.

But one thing is for sure, with the announcement of this deal there are at least a dozen drivers that are both angry and jealous.

There is now one less good job available!

TIL NEXT TIME, I AM STILL WORKING ON MY REDNECK!

Hendrick Motorsports Talks About Signing Kahne

Leon — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 21:09:15 +0000

(photo courtesy Todd Warshaw/Getty Images)

The following press release was published by Hendrick Motorsports on Wednesday regarding Kasey Kahne driving for HMS in 2012:

Beginning with the 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season, Kasey Kahne will drive the No. 5 Chevrolets of Hendrick Motorsports after signing a long-term contract with the organization.

Mark Martin, 51, the current driver of Hendrick Motorsports’ No. 5 team, will complete the 2010 and 2011 seasons. When Kahne takes over in 2012, he will join teammates Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson and Dale Earnhardt Jr. in Hendrick’s four-car stable.

“In Kasey, we saw an opportunity to cement a big piece of our future,” said Rick Hendrick, owner of Hendrick Motorsports. “He possesses incredible talent and a tremendous dedication to his craft, and we know he’ll be a great fit within our company.

“Kasey has earned the respect of his future teammates by the way he’s handled himself on and off the racetrack, and we know he’ll be a contributor to the success of Hendrick Motorsports for many years to come. To have someone of his caliber join our team is an unbelievable opportunity for us.”

Kahne, who turned 30 on April 10, is an 11-time Sprint Cup race winner. Now in the midst of his seventh full-time season at NASCAR’s elite level, the Enumclaw, Wash., native also has earned 16 pole positions, 43 top-five finishes and 79 top-10s on the tour.

“I have a comfort level with Mr. Hendrick, my future teammates and the culture of the organization,” said Kahne, whose contract with Hendrick Motorsports will run through the 2015 Sprint Cup season. “For me, it’s the right fit on every level, and I think it gives me a great chance to win races and compete for championships.

“Determining the next step in my career has been an important process, and I’m excited and relieved to have the decision made and announced. Now it’s my responsibility to put all of my energy into winning races and having a successful 2010 with my current team and our sponsors.”

Although 2012 and beyond has been solidified, Kahne is not scheduled to drive a Hendrick Motorsports entry in 2011 due to NASCAR’s four-car limit. While who he will race for has not yet been determined, Kahne intends to drive a full Sprint Cup Series schedule next season.

“If this opportunity was going to happen, I knew having some unanswered questions would be part of the scenario at this stage,” Kahne acknowledged. “Hendrick Motorsports has a commitment to Mark Martin that they want to fulfill, and that’s important. It’s part of what attracts me to the team.”

What is left unsaid is where Kasey Kahne will land for the 2011 NASCAR Sprint Cup season. There is peculation that, because of the close relationship that Stewart-Haas Racing has with Hendrick Motorsports, Kahne could land at SHR for the 2011 season. SHR has only two race teams in the Sprint Cup series so there is room to expand to three race teams and still comply with the 4 race team maximum mandated by NASCAR.

Additionally, Furniture Row and Phoenix Racing are closely aligned with Hendrick Motorsports for engines and chassis alike. So these race teams are options for Hendrick and Kahne to consider as well. Hendrick says that he wants finalize where Kahne will be racing in the next 90 days.

Where do you think that Kasey Kahne will land for the 2011 race season?

TIL NEXT TIME, I AM STILL WORKING ON MY REDNECK!

Kasey Kahne Jumps To Hendrick Motorsports

Leon — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 06:43:32 +0000

(photo courtesy Jason Smith/Getty Images)

Kasey Kahne will leave Richard Petty Motorsports at the end of the 2010 season. More importantly Kahne will drive the #5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevy, but not until after Mark Martin retires at the end of the 2011 season. So beginning with the start of the 2012 season, Kasey Kahne is scheduled to jump into the driver’s seat of the #5 Hendrick Chevy!

Hendrick Motorsports would not comment on Kahne coming their stable in 2012. Also there was no statement on what Kasey Kahne’s 2011 season will entail. However, officials from Kahne’s current team, Richard Petty , did confirm that Kahne and RPM will go their separate ways at the end of the 2010 season.

Kahne began his Sprint Cup career with Evernham Motorsports in 2004. Over the next five years he has won eight races. In 2009 Evernham-Gillette Motorsports merged with Petty Enterprises and became Richard Petty Motorsports. After the 2009 season Richard Petty Motorsports merged with Yates Racing and switched manufacturers to Ford.

HMS currently has four drivers all locked into contracts through the end of the 20011 season, Jeff Gordon, Jimmie J0hnson, Mark Martin, and Dale Earnhardt, Jr. However Stewart-Haas Racing, who is very closely aligned with HMS, only has two race teams at this time.

Could Stewart-Haas Racing provide a position and race team for Kasey Kahne to compete in the 2011 season? That could be a strong maybe!

What do you think?

TIL NEXT TIME, I AM STILL WORKING ON MY REDNECK!