His truck stats is impressive. 5 wins out of his 6 starts making his worst finishing position 2nd.

He was incredibly underrated. Just got caught up in some bad situations when trying to land a ride. The collapse of Evernham Motorsports after the Crocker Chronicles, as well as the beginning of the collapse of Hendrick Motorsports, not to mention his health problems.

As a past Kasey Kahne fan, of course I'm going to say he was awesome. But he really is a good racer. Besides his health issues.

Seeing any video about Kahne makes me wish he won all those races he finished second or had issues while leading in 2004. Dude was crazy fast for a rookie

Kasey got shafted at HMS. Had three solid seasons and then Hendrick made the idiotic decision to remove Kenny Francis for Keith Rodden, who had not won a race as the crew chief for a underperforming Jamie McMurray. After that it was all downhill. I firmly believe he was in the worst HMS car and was used as a test dummy those last three years. Kasey had an offer for the 41 car at SHR and I honestly believe that he would’ve seen a huge career resurgence at SHR. They are so good at bringing the vets back to prominence. Kasey was one of the better racers of the 2000’s and 2010’s. It’s really a shame that his career was cut short due to health but hey, I’m happy that he is doing what he loves. Take care of his son and run some dirt races.

Honestly if Kahne had more consistency to go with his 6 wins in 2006, he could have easily been closer to the title or even won it.

Another interesting note about Kahne is that he ended up with almost the exact same career stats as Greg Biffle. Kahne had 18 W, 93 T-5s & 176 T-10s, while Biffle had 19 W, 92 T-5s & 175 T-10s. The fact that they're both from Washington adds to the strangeness.

He got Hendricks worst equipment I feel like. Byron is getting about the exact same results as Kahne did, and it technically is the same car....🤨I see a trend, not to be Larry McReynolds

I was a Kahne fan for years. I think the most telling thing was when he got let go from HMS in 2017 he said "I've pushed for a year and a half that we need a couple of things different on our team and we never got any of that". The man literally knew what he needed to be competitive but Hendrick wasn't willing to give it to him. A very talented driver that just never got the right situation.

He won the hearts of many female fans, that's for sure

Question: How good was Kasey Kahne?? Answer: look at his 2006 season

Idk if it’s just me but Kahne always finishes second to Matt Kenseth a lot lol

Guys: Sure...Kahne is a good driver Girls: *OMG YES HE IS AN AMAZING DRIVER!!!*

When Kahne was the main focus of a race team he would absolutely shine. 2006 is a great example of how good Kasey Kahne could be.

This guy is really damn confusing to think about, when trying to sort out his career. He was promising star, who for more or less, really, disappointed in the equipment he was given. As Jaret said, a midpack driver, though had flashes of brilliance. It only gets more puzzling when you think about his 2006 & 2012 campaigns. He had the ability of a championship contender but ironically, fell through both seasons due to the one thing that ultimately hampered his entire career: Inconsistency. I just don't understand. He was the driver people wanted to see pull through but couldn't, even when things were going his way. The health problems he had over the course of his final years only adds onto this as well. In conclusion, in my opinion, Kasey Kahne is essentially the more consistent version of Jamie McMurray, who was a driver with rather lowlight stats but yet many highlight moments & performances. You look at the fact that Kasey has 18 wins and it makes me wonder: Was Kasey the problem to his own success? He had the talent, but yet looking at his career he seemingly couldn't harness it, much like Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. has over the course of 8 seasons in Cup. Now it's not to say it was completely of his own doing that his career was hampered significantly, I mean he was in a downfalling Evernham Motorsports and was given Keith Rodden in 2015 by Hendrick to fix the struggles of the year before. Regardless of how things went or how you put it, Kasey Kahne pretty much got as close to being as legend in any capacity, without noticeably reaching that level though. The three major wins that highlight his career are the 3 Coke 600 victories he scored. If it weren't for those then I say his career is much worse off, considering the Charlotte 600 is a crown-jewel race, just like the Daytona 500 & Brickyard 400 pre-2008. Hopefully time can heal and make his legacy more everlasting than it has been since 2018, which is likely the case. Whether that happens or not, I'm proud to have seen it happen, because had I not he would likely be the clone to Ernie Irvan, in terms of post-career reputation.

Growing up watching NASCAR at the start of Kahne‘s career, I always remember watching that red number 9 seemly fly around the track faster than anyone else. He will always be one of my personal favorites. The way he was able to run up inches from the wall always fascinated me as a kid and made me a lifetime fan.

As a Kasey fan I've always said there were a couple things that doomed his career. You didn't mention the first Evernham merger when George Gillette bought into the team, taking away Ray from being around as often hurt Kasey, I've heard Ray say that in interviews. Second was crew chief related, he held on to Kenny Francis waaaay to long at Hendrick when a change was clearly needed and Keith Rodden is a good engineer but a terrible crew chief. In the end when you look at the names around him on the wins list it's some pretty major names including some that are hall of famers. Kasey may have never won at Daytona but he has 4 crown jewel race wins with 3 wins in the 600 and 1 Brickyard. Crashing was definitely a problem for him but many times those were caused by other drivers, *glares at multiple drivers at JGR, and others were just horrible luck, blowing a tire while dominating at Charlotte, spinning in oil leading late at Dover, straight dumped by Stewart at Chicagoland. I think history will look at him as a positive winning driver

Kasey Kahne's early seasons remind me of how Kyle Larson was at the beginning of his career

Kasey was one of those drivers that could never find comfort in a reliable team that showed they wanted him. Had he been able to stay with Red Bull, instead of just being on loan with them, I think he would have been okay. It just seemed like he was Hendricks other guy. 3 biggest stars in the sport and the 4th has a technical alliance with the team, Kasey was kind of lost in the shadow. Despite them not being that competitive, it was nice to see Kasey end his cup career with a team that seemed to be happy to have him there.

I was waiting for the “nice” after the 69 and of course you didn’t disappoint.

Kasey Kahne was underrated. Sucks that he had dehydration problems

Got a lot of girls screaming for him... As for on track, he was no slouch. I kinda viewed him as the Kyle Larson before Kyle Larson. It's just he always got the crappy end of the stick.

Personally thought he and Newman were on their way to stardom.

He’s never been my favorite driver, but I’ll always have a soft spot for Kasey. He was so damn talented, but he was always plagued by bad luck. I don’t think the numbers show how good he was. He should’ve won a championship, or at the very least won significant more than he did. I think he’s a hall of famer, and it’s not even a question for me, but it’s debatable for others.

At the very least, he consistently had one of the best looking cars during his Evernham tenure. The Mopar schemes on his gen 4 Charger were always especially stunning!

It was so stressful being a Kasey fan, but man when he would win it was like winning the lottery, I would be so hyped up! To this day I still don't care for a driver as much as I did Kasey. I miss him in cup so bad!

Kahne was my favorite driver when I got into the sport and likely always will be. It was at times so frustrating being a Kahne fan but also so rewarding. I’d say he was a good driver, better than most, and i feel he had so much more potential to be better. Evernham fell off a cliff after the Crocker incident and it always seemed he was the “other guy” at Hendrick. 2004, 2006, and 2012 just make me wonder what could’ve been... At least he got that final win at the Brickyard (one of my favorite nascar moments).

I think he knows exactly what hes doing. 69 points away 69 DNFs Nice.

i think it was the cars. he got the 4th best car when he was at hendrick

I feel like he could’ve won a Busch/Nationwide/Xfinity title possibly if he had gone the Elliot Sadler route. But good driver especially considering how most of the 2004 rookie class burned out later on. Gaughn was robbed of that truck title thanks to Ultra Motorsports but got a Nationwide/Xfinity on Road America. At least Wimmer got a victory in RCR’s Holiday Inn car after the Bill Davis disaster.

As a lifetime fan of Kasey Kahne I appreciate your honest coverage of his career. Basis opinion granted felt like got into alot of wrecks causing the inconsistencies 70/30 for his evernham stint and 4th car in equipment at hendrick after his first 2 years. Lfr was a known move given other offers knowing he had circumstances in life and really gave a underfunded team a good chance. His body faded with issues that keep him not even running dirt to this day. I went through the highs and lows every week and year it seems. "Better than to have loved and lost, than to have never loved at all". Dude still came so close and made a damn good career most dream of. Thanks for your awesome stock car imput and recalls.

I don't know much about NASCAR, but he sounds like the Pastor Maldonado of stock car racing. Just as fast as the best on his good days, but was wildly inconsistent and had a nasty habit of crashing.

As a lifelong Kahne fan from Washington state, great video. Sums up his career well. Thanks for the video! Hoping he gets an offer for the SRX series coming up! 🤞

he was freaking good when he had good equipment and I saw an interview that he said he was considering coming back to nascar.

I always liked him. I met him when I was a kid when he did a signing on time. He’s really down to earth guy

How good was Kasey Kahne? Not as good as Uncle Chris I can tell you that

The amount of videos you have been putting out lately is incredible. Greetings from a European viewer.

I don't remember much of his time before Hendrick cause I was fairly young so I can't make too much of a comment on that but I think his biggest downfall was going to Hendrick. A good move on paper until you realize that his teammates were Gordon, Johnson, and Junior and later Chase. 2 multi time champions and 4 of the most popular drivers in the sport. Even being as popular and as good as he was he wasn't going to shine on a team like that given he was almost always playing 4th fiddle to the rest the guys. Though can we agree that a team of Gordon, Kahne, Johnson, and Junior might be the most popular team of drivers ever assembled in nascar. Given that both Gordon and Johnson both have risen in popularity in their twilight years, Junior is well Junior, and Kahne amassed a pretty decent female following. Btw anyone remember the Allstate commercials he did. Some of the better commercials I can remember.

It's funny to think that Kasey Kahne was the dark horse of the 2004 rookie class. Everyone had their eyes on Brian Vickers (the Busch series champion), Brendan Gaughan (the almost-Truck series champion), and Scott Wimmer (the kid who led six laps in an ARCA car), but Kahne pretty much smoked all of them right out of the gate. Were it not for his bad luck (like the Dover oil slick and the Charlotte flat tire), his rookie season could've been one of the best rookie seasons of all time. As Kasey Kahne was my favorite driver, I may sound biased, but I believe he deserves more credit than what he gets. He very clearly had the ability to be a championship contender, but he was always plagued with some of the worst luck. Every single team he drove for deteriorated before he could truly get going (Evernham dropped the ball, Red Bull was on its way out, Hendrick treated him unfairly, and Leavine... well, I'll partially blame the Camaro for that one). The fact that he earned eighteen wins while working with what he had is honestly remarkable.

Question. Who here went to chase being our favorite after he retired?

5:06 Ah, I see you're a man of culture as well.

I pulled for him. No Earnhardt or Petty but still a solid racer who ran good with just about every one he was with, even Red Bull

He was really talented. He was a hero for me as a kid. Seems like he could never quite put it together, and the equipment often was lacking. He by far had the worst team and car at HMS.

Being one of a handful of guys to win in all 3 series is definitely no joke. Dude can wheel

I thought Kasey was a great driver, did he over use his equipment? Yes, but that’s the only way he could get to the front, I was a fan of him from day 1 in cup, him and Bill running the 9 is the reason I’m a Chase fan now, I thought Kasey was great given his lack of support from hendrick & Petty along with the inconsistency of Evernham

used to my favorite driver. had it not been for inconsistency, he probably would've been a title threat in '06 and '12, he was still pretty good overall.

One of my absolute favorite drivers. Thank you!

I’m a fan of his cause one of my sponsors saved his ass one year before he went to NASCAR so every now and then I see him and it’s cool, also he’s been racing Knoxville weekly this year so I get to see him race every week on dirt

Kasey Kahne most certainly was a very good racer in NASCAR. The main problem he was Hendrick's guinea pig for that entire tenure. That plus the developing health issues that were believed to have been over the year were no help. That plus I know for a fact he was not happy (as in sad, not angry) the last few years of his career, & I wonder if that health ailment had something to do with it. He seems to be doing much better now though other things have plagued him. I just hope he can remain healthy for the rest of his hopefully long life...

69 Dnf’s

He was having dehydration issues as far back as his win at indy. If you look around he has several interviews since he left NASCAR saying he doesn't even remember the win at Indy

I actually met Kasey Kahne when I was super young back when he was in the 9 car. Super nice guy and was always a fan of him since (plus he was one of the only drivers to come from WA). Always wished he could put together a championship run :/

He was a beast with the gen 4 cars. The COT car didn't fit him well until it started becoming more of an aero car in 2011/2012 but the gen 6 car he just never got ahold of.

Who else misses the days of watching him drive the 9 car I grew up on him in the 9 car he was my favorite driver he started in sprint cup the year after I was born and I loved watching kasey drive that 9 car

If luck goes his way, Kasey probably has the greatest 3 year stretch to start a career ever or atleast in awhile, also Kasey to me is one of those guys where if your favorite cant win you were happy to see him in front

Idea how good was Marcus ambrose

I'm biased but I think for the era he did above average, with all the super stars at Hendrick at the time the bar was set high. And he is my favorite driver of all time.

I remember him being really fast and a really clean driver. And then there was that one wreck I can’t remember where but he got a good taste of the wall and that slowed him down a bit.

If y’all wanna see kaseys 2004 season condensed I recommend a video called “How close can you come to your first win”. Shows all the heartbreaks and 2nd place finishes he ha throughout the year

Did you know that Kasey’s middle name is Keneth? Middle school most of been ruff

Kasey was my undisputed favorite driver his whole career. It was frustrating with all the inconsistency and bad luck, and I think if he found a way to win in his rookie year, his career would have gone different. How he never got that close to a championship is baffling, but his first career win and the 2014 win at Atlanta were 2 of the most exhilarating moments in my life watching NASCAR. I don't regret any of it.

Biased as a fellow Washingtonian BUT Kayne is low key sorta underrated He had the talent to be a top 10 every week

Remember those Allstate Commercials with the 3 women who were his biggest fans? Those were funny. Especially that one where he saw them in another car and promptly crashed his trying to flee.

2013 was definitely not a sophomore slump. Despite 4 wrecks caused by JGR drivers, and a second place Kansas finish where Kenseth failed inspection, he had 2 wins and had a super fast car.

If Evernham didn’t rush Kahne from the Busch series I think he might have had a championship, Kahne was brought up 2 years early from what he should have been brought up. He needed a couple more years experience in the Busch series.

I distinctly remember that Dover race where he wrecked out of the lead because they didn’t throw the caution for oil on the track. Hated to see it

It's tough being that guy. It's almost by chance what car you end up with on what team. Kasey never let up. 👊

He has the looks, most race chicks I know can name Kasey Kahne cause they think he's cute. But he was a nice guy, and nice guys finish last. Also he couldn't handle the heat which is no bueno.

He’s my all time favorite!

Kahne was my favorite driver as a kid so a lil biased. That being said, I think he was an above average driver with a high ceiling and just as low floor. When he was on, he was ON. However, when he was off, it was gonna a long/short race day, depending on how you look at it if you know what I mean.

His years with evernham were incredible. He constantly would run up front and win multiple races in a season. When he got to HMS that was when it went downhill. He was considered the caboose of the team which was normal for the 5 car. As a fellow fan of his those years were frustrating. Hendrick never gave him the equipment he deserved. 2012 was a bright spot at least. At least he won at charlotte and New Hampshire. And at least he won the brickyard. 2018 he just didn’t have it in him anymore. I would retire to if I was constantly the caboose of a top tier team who doesn’t give him the winning equipment he deserves.

I fully believe you summed everything up perfectly evernham was his best performance Hendricks was okay but overall not impressive and Red Bull and LFR we’re doomed from the start

I was a big KK fan. I miss that #9 Dodge

My favorite driver of all time is Harry Gant! My second favorite driver of all time is Kasey Kahne!! It took 10 years to replace Harry( with Kasey). They both had so much in common! They were both very popular, with legions of fans!! They both came oh so close to winning in their first season, but had to wait until their second season!!! They are both really nice guys, who drove hard but clean! They were both well respected, in and out of the racing community! They both flew under the Radar (O'Reilly), especially Kasey!! They both had 15 year Cup careers, and they both have 18 wins!! And finally, they are both on the outside looking in, as far as the Hall of Fame goes!!! Get your shit together NASCAR, put Harry in the HOF! And after that, put Kasey in!! WERE THEY BELONG!!!🇺🇸🏁🏁🏁🏁🏁🏁🏁🏁🏁🏁🏁🏁🏁🏁🏁🏁🏁🏁

he was always my dad and I’s favorite driver

If he didn’t have health problems, Kahne could’ve won in LFR equipment, especially after the switch to Toyota.

Always loved Kasey Kahne. He had the talent but he didn't have the consistency and the best of equipment. Everham never had consistent equipment and Hendrick never gave him the best equipment that Gordon, Jr or Johnson had.

If you ever got a chance I'd love to hear your opinion on how good David Reutimann was. Thanksand great video!

He really overachieved at Red Bull and especially at Gillett Evernham/RPM in 2008 and 2009.

Kasey was an above average/ below hall of fame driver that was definitely fun to watch when things were going well.

He's a great driver. Even better now as a team owner in sprintcars. Now moving into business printing his own shirts and merchandise.

Kasey Kahne = Elijah Wood

I remember if kasey would've made the chase in 2011 he would've finished 3rd in points behind Stewart & Edwards

I bought his first car off him in Nebraska in 7th grade with my dad. Drove to Nebraska to buy it. 95 Mitsubishi Eclipse no motor. All Frame was at his shop and everything. Was really fucking awesome even got autograph he was like 18 or something

My favorite driver was Bill Elliott and when they went to Kahne, I was so excited because I followed him during the Bush series. Then he was my fave. Had dodge and evernham not collapsed he would have gone far and possible a chance

Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't Kahne get all of his 2006 Cup wins with one specific car that Evernham Motorsports had built? Makes you wonder if it was more the car than the driver that year.

If Evernham Motorsports wouldn't have fallen apart and stayed like they were in 06 his career would have been much different. He actually had better equipment with Evernham than he did with hendrick

When I was a kid I really didn’t like Kane but looking back I have no idea why but I think the best way to look at his career is what could have been I think the exhaustion played a large role in a lot of his problems from when he joined Hendrick forward but from the early cot era till he joined Hendrick he was dealing with regression of equipment more than anything so it’s more of a what could have been

Thinks to my dad I was a Kasey Kahine fan before I watched NASCAR

He would of gone to Indycar and probably won championships if there wasn't so much instability in American Open Wheel series at that time. I was pulling for him to get a win while he was filling in for his Aussie driver earlier this year in sprint cars but he got beaten by Kyle Larson a couple of times. One thing that's strange about his crash DNFs is that most occurred outside Superspeedways.

One of the more interesting and amazing drivers

Honestly I still remember, as a Bobby Labonte fan, there was a race Kasey dominated all day but coming to the white flag he ran out of gas and Bobby would pounce to win.

I think Kahne just never really showed his best. Never won a Superspeedway (which kinda requires the ability to stay in the race), and he just was a victim of bad luck.

How good was Garrett Smithley in the Xfinity Series? He only has one top 5 which he scored in 2018 along with four top tens from 2017-2018.

Kahne's downfall were Restarts and Pit Strategy--i was hoping when he moved to HMS those would be addressed but they Never were. (Kahne would literally have AT LEAST 4 more Indy Wins-and Countless others- alone if he could restart worth a damn).

His last season actually wasn’t horrible considering his levine team without a jgr alliance Edit: oh and he had some good paint schemes

Kahne/Mayfield should've been a dynasty in the late 2000s. One of the best young talents the sport has ever seen combined with the savvy and consistent veteran should've had a championship to their name. So, so many things went wrong....

If you finish second a lot in your rookie season, you are definitely the real deal

I would say Kahne was best he drove a loose. That's what I think he excelled at-driving a not so great car to its max potential. When he had good cars, I think it was almost like he overdrove it. This might not be the greatest comparison, but I would like to say Kyle Larson had a similar thing. I remember when Larson always drove the top lane, and that was because it was the best way for him to gain speed. It was the only way he could make his car go faster, but when CGR improved and gave him better cars, he didn't have that much a speed increase when he went to the top. Not sure if that makes sense, but I tried.

Kasey Kahne my favorite driver to me he put on a great highlight if he got the proper cars that he needed who knows what will happen right now.👍👍👍👍👍