Kasey’s currently 16th in the Sprint Cup Series points. He’s only 66 out of 12th place, 12th is the cut-off position, of course, for qualifying for what we call NASCAR’s Playoffs, the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup. Last year, May was really, I guess you could say, magic for you as you won both the All-Star Race, then came back the next week and won the Coca Cola 600.
What’s the outlook for you and your team as you try to defend your title in the 600, NASCAR’s longest race?
KASEY KAHNE: It’s really exciting to be back to Charlotte for the 600. It’s always a really good weekend for our team. And for myself, we ran well in the 600 a few different times. So looking forward to it.
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Excited about having a new car and working on the engine and everything to be better. And I think this should be one of our better weekends we’ve had so far this year. So everything’s good.
Q Jimmie Johnson was talking about a while ago during his couple of years of dominance at Lowe’s that they found things that, for example, he was able to get through 3 and 4 quicker than anybody else. He found a way through there and he could pass a couple of cars a lap sometimes through there. And he also said that he thought the 9 car may have found some things in recent years. Have you guys found an edge at Lowe’s? And also does the All-Star Race last week indicate to you that you may have lost some of that edge, or you just didn’t get an opportunity to show it very much last Saturday night?
KASEY KAHNE: I would say on the years that we ran really well here, we definitely had an edge. And it’s mainly been in 3 and 4 for myself, too. I always worked really hard on that corner to get the car through there like I want it to. Let it make it handle the way we want. We do all that in practice.
At the All-Star Race, we didn’t have a bunch of time to really figure the car out like we wanted to. And we had one run in the All-Star Race where I felt we were one of the better cars. But the other two or three runs we weren’t.
So it will be nice to get some more practice Thursday with qualifying and then also on Saturday, where we really worked hard to get that feeling back in the car we need.
And I know what the feeling is. So it’s good when you know what you’re looking for. And whether we hit on it or not, that’s up to us and the communication that we have that weekend.
But I think we have a good shot at hitting on something and running pretty strong at Charlotte.
Q Is 3 and 4 more important than 1 and 2? And if so, why?
KASEY KAHNE: I feel like 1 and 2 to me has a little bit more grip. So it’s a little bit easier to get through. If you can get through 3 and 4, usually you’re really fast in 1 and 2 also. If you can get through 1 and 2, doesn’t always mean you’ll be good in 3 and 4.
For me, I always work on 3 and 4 to make sure that’s the most difficult corner. If you can make it work, hopefully you’re really good in 1 and 2.
Q This is one of the busiest race weekends of the year, obviously the Indy 500, F-1 at Monaco, World of Outlaw running a couple of races over the weekend. Fans always ask: Which race should I watch? What do you think? Why should they be watching the Coke 600 this weekend?
KASEY KAHNE: I would say you should be in Charlotte, because with the Outlaws and the Nationwide race, the 600 on Sunday, it’s a weekend full of racing, and exciting racing at that. I just enjoy the weekend here. The weather’s usually good.
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Charlotte’s a great city. And I think this is one of the weekends it’s fun to be around NASCAR. And I watch Indianapolis on TV throughout the day on and off as I’m running to appearances and things. Indianapolis is also exciting.
But I really like Charlotte and the way that the race is ran down here throughout Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
Q In reference to that, you get to observe your sprint car team this weekend while you’re busy also. How does the team ownership affect you and your role as a driver at the top level in NASCAR?
KASEY KAHNE: It gives me a little bit more to think about. You know, I have my cousin Willy who has raced with me since I started and he’s a big part of Kasey Kahne Racing. So he helps out a ton there and hopefully everybody works well together and I don’t have to worry about it as much as just making sure they have an opportunity to get the right parts and engines and things like that.
And when they’re close to a Cup track, it’s always nice to get out there and just hang out with the guys and relax and watch what they do each week. And it’s a tough series. So for them to run really well in it, it definitely makes me feel good.
Q Did you think that running in sprint cars is maybe one of the best ways to advance to the top level?
KASEY KAHNE: I think sprint car racing, I think dirt and pavement, is a great way. I think there’s lots of options. People, kids and adults, they come through all series anymore, I think, to get that experience.
The biggest thing to me is just being able to adapt track to track, surface, type of race car, tire, engine size. I mean, all that stuff. If you can adapt through all those types of race cars, whatever type of car you’re racing, when you get to the Nationwide or Truck series, hopefully you can adapt to that also.
To me that’s the biggest thing, just being able to adapt and learn fast.
Q Talk about your season overall this year and how you feel the team has progressed from where they were last year to now, the four-car outfit.
KASEY KAHNE: I feel like everybody’s worked really hard and they’re trying hard. I think engine-wise we’re still in the same spot as we were last year. Our cars are getting better each week. They’ve built some really nice race cars, Dodge Chargers, over the last month. And I’m really happy about that and how hard the guys have worked and tried to build one of the best cars on the track.
So that’s a huge deal there. But performance I would say is very close to where it was last year. And we need to keep working on that and picking that up. And when we get the R-6 for Dover, I think that’s going to be a big help.
I think that engine runs really well. If you look at the way Penske has ran this year. Hopefully we get that and that will really improve and show how good our cars really are.
Q As a follow-up to that, can you talk about the change in leadership that’s coming up?
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KASEY KAHNE: This was a change, with Foster coming back, he’s been working with Montreal Canadiens, one of the sports teams. He’s back now to be more day-to-day on the Cup side. It’s good. I’m glad that Foster decided to do something different. No, Tom Reddon decided to do something different, and Foster is now kind of taken that position over.
To me he’ll do a better job. He’ll be more in the middle of things and understand. He’s good to work. You understand what Foster’s talking about. And the guys respect him. And I think he definitely respects what everybody does and how they run their jobs as well. So hopefully it will make us better.
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