NASCAR: Five Possible Landing Spots for Kasey Kahne in 2018

By Asher Fair | Aug 10, 2017

LONG POND, PA - JULY 29: Kasey Kahne, driver of the #5 Great Clips/Shark Week Chevrolet, practices for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Overton's 400 at Pocono Raceway on July 29, 2017 in Long Pond, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images) /

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LONG POND, PA – JULY 29: Erik Jones, driver of the #77 SiriusXM Toyota, practices for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Overton’s 400 at Pocono Raceway on July 29, 2017 in Long Pond, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Jeff Zelevansky/Getty Images)

LONG POND, PA – JULY 29: Erik Jones, driver of the #77 SiriusXM Toyota, practices for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Overton’s 400 at Pocono Raceway on July 29, 2017 in Long Pond, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Jeff Zelevansky/Getty Images) /

No. 77 – Furniture Row Racing, Toyota

The current driver of the #77 Furniture Row Racing Toyota, Erik Jones, will not be driving the car beyond the conclusion of the 2017 season, his rookie season. He will be taking over the driving duties of the #20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota that is currently driven by 2003 Cup Series champion Matt Kenseth.

The #77 machine would be a good option for Kasey Kahne, and him coming to Furniture Row Racing could help rejuvenate his declining career. While he did just win his first race since the 2014 season at the Brickyard 400 to lock himself in the playoffs for the first time since that 2014 season, less than half the field finished that race, so it was not like he blew everyone away.

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Prior to that win, he was on a 102-race winless streak. If not for that win, he would be extremely far away from the playoff cut line on points, which illustrates the fact that his career is still, in fact, on the decline despite the fact that he did win that race.

Coming to Furniture Row Racing and joining the driver of the #78 Toyota, Martin Truex Jr., who currently has huge leads in the championship standings, stage points and playoff points and is the clear championship favorite with a Cup Series-leading four wins so far this season could prove very beneficial to Kahne.

Truex Jr. and Kahne are both 37 years of age and were born just over two months apart. The difference is that Truex Jr. is having his best career season by far, and Kahne’s career is on the decline. However, when Kahne came to Hendrick Motorsports in the 2012 season, he had his best career season by far. In the eight seasons prior to his arrival with the team, his best performance in the championship standings was 8th place, and he finished in 4th place in 2012.

Perhaps a change of scenery to a smaller team with a driver who has emerged as the clear championship favorite for the first time ever in his 12-year full-time Cup Series career could help Kahne start contending for race wins regularly as well. After all, Kahne is Truex Jr.’s age, and Truex Jr. really wasn’t anything special up until this season, as he had finished in the top 10 in the championship standings just once in 11 seasons.