{"id":22682,"date":"2018-01-26T08:44:36","date_gmt":"2018-01-26T13:44:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/?p=22682"},"modified":"2018-01-25T20:46:33","modified_gmt":"2018-01-26T01:46:33","slug":"kasey-kahne-interview","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/2018\/01\/kasey-kahne-interview\/","title":{"rendered":"KASEY KAHNE Interview"},"content":{"rendered":"

KASEY KAHNE, NO. 95 PROCORE CAMARO ZL1, met with members of the media at the Charlotte Media Tour and discussed being his expectations of being with a new team, winning at the Brickyard last year, his World of Outlaws team, and more. <\/strong><\/p>\n

QUESTION ON THE OFF-SEASON<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was pretty normal but it was a little different. I didn\u2019t go to Australia this off-season, which I have for the last couple of years. I had (his son) Tanner a ton. We went to Washington. We did a lot of stuff together and I really enjoyed that. And just starting over with a new fresh start with the team and a group of people learning that. But, it\u2019s been a little different. But, it\u2019s still two months kind of off, which in our racing season for 15 years, it\u2019s all pretty similar. Those two months are usually pretty similar.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

WHAT DOES TANNER UNDERSTAND OR NOT UNDERSTAND ABOUT YOUR JOB?<\/p>\n

\u201cHe understands that I race cars. He understands whenever I drop him off with his mom; he thinks I\u2019m flying to a race track. Like, no matter what. Even if I\u2019m coming here today, he\u2019s like Daddy\u2019s flying. He thinks I fly on airplanes all the time. I fly a lot but not as many as he thinks. And he loves airplanes. That\u2019s his favorite thing, by far, are airplanes and helicopters. He sleeps with them. He\u2019s with them all the time. He thinks that because I race cars that I fly on airplanes all the time. So, that\u2019s his big thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

WHAT\u2019S THE DIFFERENCE IN BEING A PART OF A 600-EMPLOYEE GROUP AND THEN MOVING TO A SMALLER TEAM WHERE YOU\u2019RE THE GUY? IS IT A LOT TO GET USED TO?<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think it\u2019s a lot to get used to, but it\u2019s definitely a different way. Our work is going to be different; like the way we look at things and the way we prepare. My whole mindset is the relationships and doing it together, and the chemistry of the group that we have. It\u2019s a small group compared to what I\u2019ve had the last six year and it\u2019s a group of people who all want to go in the same direction. And I feel like if we do that, and work together, no matter what it is, to make the No. 95 the best car that it can be, we\u2019re going to have success. And the guys all feel the same way. That\u2019s our plan. They\u2019re working really hard to get the new Camaro ZL1\u2019s ready and we\u2019re going to have our first one ready for this test coming up in Vegas next week and we\u2019ll get going from there.\u201d<\/p>\n

WHAT WOULD DEFINE SUCCESS?<\/p>\n

\u201cTo me, kind of what I was saying about the people and building those relationships and working in the right direction. If we can do that and keep that morale and that communication all season long, our success is going to be that we\u2019re going to have opportunities to win races and we\u2019re going to have an opportunity to make the Chase. We\u2019re going to run in the top 10 more often than what I have in the last few years. And I think if we can do all those things, it\u2019s going to be a very successful season.\u201d<\/p>\n

WHAT IS YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH CREW CHIEF TRAVIS MACK SO FAR? WHAT DOES HE BRING TO THE TABLE?<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been good. I\u2019ve always known the name Travis Mack, but I never knew the guy really, until something like three months ago. Now we know each other much better. He has a great family and he works hard. He\u2019s really into racing and Cup cars and being a crew chief. He\u2019s learned a lot over the years, so he brings a lot to the table from his knowledge. And also, just having a young guy who is super excited and enthusiastic and things like that will be really good for our whole team throughout the whole season.\u201d<\/p>\n

DOES HE SEEM LIKE THE WORK ALCOHOLIC MENTALITY?<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, he\u2019s definitely got that on whatever needs to be done. He\u2019s not starting now as a crew chief. He\u2019s had that ever since he has been the sport. That\u2019s just who he is. If a car needs extra work and he\u2019s got to be the guy to do it, he\u2019ll stay as long as he needs to and that\u2019s kind of always been his way. So, that\u2019ll be really good for him as a Cup crew chief because there\u2019s a lot of time that goes into it.\u201d<\/p>\n

WITH YOUR EXPERIENCE IN THE SPORT, WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU BRING TO THE TEAM THAT WILL HELP THEIR PERFORMANCE?<\/p>\n

\u201cJust the experience. From the highs and lows, I\u2019ve lived both of them a lot over the years. The cars and understanding what, as a driver, you need, and understanding the things that can hurt you and can help you from people to the way a car is driving. I\u2019ve learned a lot of that stuff over the years and put it away and I think as long as we can all be open with each other and work in their directions, my directions, and combine it all, it\u2019s going to be really successful.\u201d<\/p>\n

ON THE CHILI BOWL<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Chili Bowl was great. It always is. It\u2019s kind of an exciting week. It\u2019s a fun event and it feels like it keeps growing and it\u2019s a building. So, how does it keep growing inside that building when it\u2019s always had tons of cars and people? But, to me it just keeps growing and gets bigger and bigger. It\u2019s fun to see Lee Spencer, Bob Pockrass, Jeff Gluck, like these guys that we see at the Cup track all the time, at the Chili Bowl as well. They enjoy it to and it\u2019s not like oh, I\u2019ve got to be here. It actually seems like they really enjoy it when I talk to them. I feel like it\u2019s a breath of fresh air because we\u2019ve got a couple of months off and you want to get back in a race car and that\u2019s the perfect spot to start the year.\u201d<\/p>\n

TALK ABOUT WHAT RACING YOU ARE GOING TO BE DOING OUTSIDE OF THE CUP SERIES THIS YEAR<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve always had the two World of Outlaw teams we\u2019ve raced, and I love that stuff. It\u2019s that type of racing that I came from and learned. I have Daryn Pittman and Brad Sweet doing that full time. I plan on racing 20 to 30 races. I\u2019m going to do the first five in Florida, as long as it fits. We\u2019ll start there but the No. 95 is priority for me. I make sure that\u2019s all priority and then from there, I build my schedule as I go and I hope to get 20 to 30 races depending on how they all fit in at the right times of the year.\u201d<\/p>\n

IS IT MORE ENJOYABLE ON SOME LEVEL TO RACE FOR A SMALLER TEAM THAN ONE OF THE MEGA TEAMS?<\/p>\n

\u201cThe last time I raced for a smaller team was Red Bull and I loved it there. It was one of maybe my favorite years I\u2019ve had in the Cup series. The other years would have to be with Ray Evernham. But, that Red Bull year was awesome. I enjoyed it a ton. This year it would be great if it could feel something like that where we start together and we work together and we keep building it up. I felt like about half way through that season, we got to where we were very competitive and one of the best cars from that point on. We\u2019ll see how this year goes, but those are things that we want to shoot for, for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n

WHAT DOES IT TAKE TO BEAT THOSE WORLD OF OUTLAWS GUYS ON A YEAR-LONG SCHEDULE THAT RUNS 90-PLUS RACES?<\/p>\n

\u201cConsistency and winning more races. As a group, last year, my brother was on the No. 49. His car with Brad Sweet, they were super consistent and so strong the entire season, but they didn\u2019t win quite enough races. So, keeping that consistency and being really prepared, which KKR does a great job of, and then winning more races and winning more of the bigger races. That\u2019s something we need to do. If we can do that, it changes the whole way it all plays out. It\u2019s tough because Donny (Schatz) wins so much. And then if he\u2019s not winning, he\u2019s second or third. It\u2019s tough to beat the guy but we\u2019re not going to give up. We\u2019re going to keep trying.\u201d<\/p>\n

(NO MICROPHONE) QUESTION REGARDING SPONSORSHIP<\/p>\n

\u201cWe lost Great Clips and I was committed to Daryn Pittman and told him that he had a two-year deal with me and this year was part of that. So, we went into this year with zero sponsors for his car and I was running them regardless because I made that commitment to him. And to get I-omni on his car now, for I think 40 races, is awesome. We\u2019re excited. The car looks great. They\u2019re excited and Daryn is in a great place. Hopefully we can build something from here. The NAPA deal with Brad is unreal to have that and know that they\u2019re going to be with us for a couple more years. That\u2019s such a neat deal. They race all over the United States in a lot of places that NASCAR and NHRA don\u2019t go to, so that helps a lot of their stores and the guys that come to North Dakota or South Dakota and these different race tracks that they normally wouldn\u2019t get to see racing. So, the NAPA side is great. And my car is always Bargain Outlet. We\u2019ve been great friends with Mark Butler for a long time. I opened up a lot of all these grand openings. Those stores are growing like crazy and I\u2019m looking forward to running the yellow paint scheme all year.\u201d<\/p>\n

YOU WON THE BRICKYARD LAST YEAR. HOW BIG WAS THAT? WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON THE DATE CHANGE THIS YEAR AND IT BEING THE LAST QUALIFYING RACE BEFORE THE PLAYOFFS?<\/p>\n

\u201cTo win Indy was nice. I\u2019d been close there since I came into the sport, for whatever reason. The first year in \u201904, we were as fast as Jeff Gordon, who won it. We just had to go to the back towards the end. Every year we\u2019ve been in the mix. So, to finally win it was a great feeling. I\u2019ll carry that win forever because that will be one of my biggest wins I get in racing. I was barely alive after that race. I was so worn out. It\u2019s because of how hot it is. The cars were hot. It was so hot and humid outside. And to sit in the grandstands has to be probably worse. So, to move it and hopefully give some of these fans and people that are actually attending and trying to watch a NASCAR race an opportunity to maybe enjoy it, I think is a good thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

WAS THAT THE MOST EXHAUSTED YOU\u2019VE EVER BEEN AFTER AN INDY RACE?<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, yeah it was. I\u2019ve ben pretty bad after some races, but not at that level. That stuck with me through like Wednesday and Thursday before I started feeling (better). Thursday was the first day I started feeling really good again. It was tough. I don\u2019t think I\u2019ve ever been that dehydrated, for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n

WITH THE NEW DATE BEING THE LAST RACE BEFORE THE PLAYOFFS, AND A LOT ON THE LINE FOR MANY TEAMS, ISN\u2019T THAT A TOUGH PLACE TO HAVE IT?<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, what\u2019s our normal last race? Richmond was our final race. I feel like Richmond is similar to that. You\u2019re going to have certain guys and certain cars that run good at Richmond all the time. Indy will be that same similar way. I bet Indy could have more of a wild card than Richmond even, really, I would think. I won it last year.\u201d<\/p>\n

(NO MICROPHONE) QUESTION ON COMING FROM WASHINGTON AND HIS FIRST RIDE WITH ROBERT YATES<\/p>\n

\u201cThat was kind of my first go in stock cars. Ford was pushing that pretty hard at the time. So that kind of forced Robert into doing a 16-race schedule with me. We just went from there. It started in a small little building in a small shop with little lighting and everything and a group of guys working hard to get cars ready for Daytona. It ended as part of Rensi Racing up the road, which helped us a good bit by the end of that year just with some speed and things. So it was cool to get to know Robert and Doug and Dale Jarrett at the time\u2026..Ricky Rudd, Elliott Sadler\u2026.it was a great experience. I wouldn\u2019t change it.\u201d<\/p>\n

DID YOU KNOW WHAT TO EXPECT WHEN YOU CAME EAST?<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, I was really excited. I wanted to race stock cars and see what it was like. So yeah, to get started there I was really excited. There were a lot of growing pains that first year in trying to figure it out. So, I still raced my Sprint Car a lot and I could win in the Sprint Car every time I went and raced. We had a shot at winning and that was really cool because it would give me a boost when I came back to the Stock Car and it kept me going there. But, we didn\u2019t run that great that year. But the next year when I got into the Akins Motorsports car and that was more of a team that had been racing and we instantly were fast right of the bat with that car.\u201d<\/p>\n

CHANGING TEAMS BUT STAYING WITHIN THE CHEVROLET CAMP, WHAT ARE YOUR IMPRESSIONS OF THE NEW CAMARO ZL1? HOW IS THE TEAM ADJUSTING?<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m excited to drive the Camaro next week. I know there has been a ton of work put into it through Chevrolet, through Ganassi, through Hendrick, and through RCR all together working to give us the best car that we can possibly have when we unload at Daytona. You know it\u2019s going to be better than what we had and we\u2019ll see how all that plays out. You don\u2019t really know for sure until you get behind cars and get in the pack. And that changes. But I know that the work that\u2019s gone into it by so many people has been a huge push and I think it\u2019s going to be good. It\u2019s going to be really good.\u201d<\/p>\n

NASCAR TURNS 70 THIS NEXT MONTH. WHAT DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THE OVERALL HEALTH OF THE SPORT?<\/p>\n

\u201cSeventy years is a long time. Sixty years at Daytona this year I think I heard, too. To me, the sport, for me growing up as a kid and loving to watch it every Sunday because I wanted to be a race car driver. I wanted to be part of this or Sprint Car racing or whatever it may be; you just want to be a race car driver. I remember it clear as day watching races with my dad. It was always at 9 o\u2019clock in the morning there because they must have started at noon here, I don\u2019t know. We\u2019d wake up and make breakfast and we\u2019d watch the NASCAR race and that was our Sunday. It was awesome. I feel like today there have to be kids out there still doing that same type of tying and just wanting to be part of the sport because it\u2019s a great form of auto racing. There is so much it offers to so many different people. I love every break that I\u2019ve had in this sport and the opportunities that I\u2019ve had to be part of it for so long. And again this year, it\u2019s the same thing. I have a great opportunity. Yeah, I think NASCAR is awesome and I\u2019m glad that I\u2019m part of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

IS IT AS VIBRANT AS YOU WANT IT TO BE?<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I first came into it, you go to any race track and the grandstands are packed. I thought that was just unbelievable to see that many people. Whether it was Bristol with maybe 165,000 people, Daytona was packed and Daytona is still packed today. We don\u2019t have as many of those anymore. There are certain tracks now that we have full houses and other than that, it\u2019s not as many people. I wish there were more people at the race that were involved and intrigued by it and wanted to be part of it. I wish we could get back to that for the excitement level, but I still think the racing is very good. It\u2019s super competitive. As a driver, every week I\u2019m thinking how can I get better, how can I help my team, and how can we be more competitive? That\u2019s because of the sport. That brings you back. You want to win. You want to win at this level and it\u2019s because of the previous 70 years is why you want it so badly. I think there\u2019s a lot of good things about it but I\u2019d love to see more people in the stands.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

KASEY KAHNE, NO. 95 PROCORE CAMARO ZL1, met with members of the media at the Charlotte Media Tour and discussed being his expectations of being with a new team, winning at the Brickyard last year, his World of Outlaws team, and more. QUESTION ON THE OFF-SEASON \u201cIt was pretty normal but it was a little […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2,16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22682","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-nascar","category-touring-series-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22682","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22682"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22682\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22683,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22682\/revisions\/22683"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22682"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22682"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22682"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}