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CUP: Will Kahne Leave RPM? Future In Doubt
Written by: Tom Jensen   
11/20/2009
Homestead, FL
 
Kasey Kahne is currently in tenth position in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series points standings. (Photo: Getty Images) ยป More Photos

Kasey Kahne has spent his entire NASCAR Sprint Cup career with one organization, but Friday at Homestead-Miami Speedway he sure sounded like a man with one foot out the door.

Kahne signed with Evernham Motorsports in late 2003, getting sued by Ford Motor Co. when he left that automaker’s NASCAR Nationwide Series program, a lawsuit Kahne won.

From there, he stayed in the No. 9 Dodge after team founder Ray Evernham sold the team in 2007 to George Gillett, who earlier this year brought in Richard Petty as a minority partner and renamed the team Richard Petty Motorsports. And recently, RPM announced it’s switching to Fords for 2010 and attempting to merge with Yates Racing’s floundering program. Maybe the team will run four cars, maybe three, depending on available sponsorship.

Through all the myriad changes, Kahne may finally had enough, especially with the team’s management, which he has been openly frustrated with.

“I use to try and stay in the loop and then things don’t happen that they say will,” Kahne said Friday morning at Homestead-Miami Speedway. “At this point, I have one year left (on my RPM contract). I want to do the best job for Richard Petty Motorsports in my final year. It’s up to them what happens. They do their thing and I’ll do mine. All I can do is make myself better at driving race cars and communicating with (crew chief) Kenny Francis. If I do that, I’ll be happy next season.”

Asked if he’d be seeking out opportunities elsewhere next season, Kahne said, “Yeah.”

Certainly the talented Kahne will be one of the prize catches of the 2011 free-agent class, a driver who will command
top money from a top team, should he choose to move elsewhere.

Kahne hedged his bets on what the future might hold for him after his RPM contract expires at the end of 2010.

“That’s hard to say. Come January, I can start looking around. I can talk to other people,” Kahne said. “I would imagine the Gilletts are going to talk to me at that point. But as of right now, the Gilletts haven’t talked to me and I’m just kind of doing my job, doing the best that I can through the end of the season. The ups and downs of the team has made it difficult for me to really say, ‘Man, I’m going to be here for 10 more years.’ I really don’t know what’s going to happen. Truthfully, I don’t know what’s going to happen right now.”

Tom Jensen is the Editor in Chief for SPEEDtv.com, the former Executive Editor of NASCAR Scene and a contributing Editor for TruckSeries.com. He is the author of ?Cheating: The Bad Things Good NASCAR Nextel Cup Racers Do In Pursuit of SPEED,? and has appeared on television and radio shows to discuss NASCAR racing. Jensen is the past President of the National Motorsports Press Association. Jensen is the 1997 National Motorsports Press Association Writer of the Year and has won numerous national and state awards for news reporting, columns and feature writing. The Answer Man is back at SPEEDtv.com. Tom Jensen answers your questions during every race week and looks forward to hearing from you - please e-mail it to



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