NASCAR: Five Possible Landing Spots for Kasey Kahne in 2018

Hendrick Motorsports recently announced that Kasey Kahne will no longer drive the #5 Chevrolet in the NASCAR Cup Series in 2018. Where will Kahne end up?

Young NASCAR drivers such as William Byron, 19, Alex Bowman, 24, Erik Jones, 21, and Ryan Blaney, 23, have all secured themselves full-time rides in the Cup Series in the 2018 season. Where does that leave someone like Kasey Kahne, a 37-year-old veteran, who will be looking for a ride next season?

Hendrick Motorsports, the team for which Kahne currently drivers, announced that they will be releasing him following the conclusion of the 2017 season, which comes as no surprise seeing as how he is losing sponsors and has not been producing at a high level as of late despite the fact that he won this season’s Brickyard 400.

Just one day later, the team announced that current JR Motorsports Xfinity Series star William Byron would take his seat, completing their four-car operation for next season and leaving Kahne without a ride.

With so many young drivers securing rides for next season, there are not many left for someone like Kasey Kahne. But the fact remains that there are some seats available, meaning there is still hope for Kahne’s Cup Series career to continue past this season. Let’s have a look at some of his options.

No. 43 – Richard Petty Motorsports, Ford

The contract of Aric Almirola, the current driver of the #43 Richard Petty Motorsports Ford, expires at the end of this season. If he does continue racing, which is the most likely scenario, it will likely not be with this one-car Richard Petty Motorsports team seeing as how he carries sponsorship from Smithfield.

Also, Almirola is still higher than a few drivers in the championship standings despite the fact that he missed seven races due to a back injury he sustained in a wreck at Kansas in May. While he hasn’t won a race since the 2014 season when he won his first career Cup Series race at Daytona, he can definitely find a better ride, even if it isn’t with one of the sport’s top-tier organizations.

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Since many of the vacant seats in cars owned by the top-tier organizations are being filled by younger drivers in their teens and early 20’s, the one-car Richard Petty Motorsports operation is certainly on the table as an option for a 37-year-old driver like Kasey Kahne, who has proven that he can still win races here and there despite the fact that his career has been steadily declining as of late.

If Kahne can’t secure a ride with another top-tier team but still wants to drive full-time in the Cup Series, the #43 Ford would be a good option for both he and the team, as it gives him a car that will allow him to continue competing in the series full-time and it gives the team a very experienced driver who has had some success over the course of his career to put in that car.

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.

No. 41 – Stewart-Haas Racing, Ford

Kurt Busch, the current driver of the #41 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford, did not have his contract option picked up by the team, so he is officially a free agent. Despite the fact that he did win this year’s Daytona 500, he has not had a great season compared to his recent seasons.

While the 2004 Cup Series champion is still probably a little bit better than Kasey Kahne despite his struggles this season, he is two years old than him and Stewart-Haas Racing may be willing to shake things up this offseason, even if it means grabbing a readily available driver who is only two years younger than Busch.

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While there is still speculation that Stewart-Haas Racing did not renew Busch’s contract because they wanted him for longer than the option would have been for, they very well could have worked out a long-term deal in the meantime after picking up his option if this was indeed the case.

Why? Because nothing would have prevented them from keeping Busch on the team as long as they wanted to, as it’s not like he’s a highly desirable young talent that all of the other top-tier teams are foaming at the mouth to have a crack at signing. Sure, he did win this year’s Daytona 500, but other than that, his results have been lackluster at best.

That said, the team did say on Twitter that they want Busch back in the 2018 season after the news broke that his option would not be picked up, so it is still a real possibility that he will return.

However, until Busch’s return to the team in 2018 is 100% confirmed, he is a free agent, and Kahne may have a chance to snatch his seat next season.

No. 10 – Stewart-Haas Racing, Ford

Danica Patrick, the current driver of the #10 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford, has not had a great Cup Series career at all, especially given the fact that she has driven for a top-tier team in each of her five full-time seasons. In 176 career races, she has finished in the top 10 just seven times and has never finished in the top 5. Over the course of the last 86 races, she has just one top 10 finish, and that was only a 10th place finish at Dover earlier this season.

And get this. She had never finished in the top 15 in two consecutive races before up until this season, when she finished in 15th place and Kentucky and 13th place at New Hampshire. Then, she went on to add two more top 15 finishes to that streak, with an 11th place finish at Indianapolis and a 15th place finish at Pocono.

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Somehow, that streak of four straight top 15 finishes was considered a “hot streak” despite the fact that she did not finish any of those four races in the top 10. Sure, it was the first time she had ever finished back-to-back races in the top 15, and she reeled off four straight top 15 finishes, but she’s driving for one of NASCAR’s top teams. No “hot streak” for any other driver on any of NASCAR’s top teams consists of four straight non-top 10 finishes.

When Kasey Kahne came to Hendrick Motorsports in the 2012 season, he had never finished higher than 8th place in the championship standings in eight prior seasons. But that season, he ended up finishing in 4th place in the standings, proving that the move to a top-tier organization benefited him. Perhaps another move to a top-tier organization like Stewart-Haas Racing can rejuvenate his declining career. With uncertainty about Patrick in regard to her results and her sponsorship, Kahne driving the #10 Ford in the 2018 season is a legitimate possibility.

Retirement

While Kasey Kahne is qualified for the playoffs thanks to his victory at the Brickyard 400, his driving has declined over the years. That win ended a 102-race winless streak that  dated back to 2014, the most recent season during which he made the playoffs. Had it not been for his Brickyard 400 win a few weeks ago, Kahne would be nowhere near where he needs to be to qualify for the playoffs on points.

Kahne isn’t exactly one of the oldest drivers in the field, but he isn’t young either. He is 37 years old, and his career has been steadily declining, so there is no way that retirement is not at least a viable option for him following the conclusion of the 2017 season. He is also losing multiple sponsors after this season.

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We have seen so far in this silly season that teams are going after younger and more unproven drivers as opposed to older and more proven drivers with more experience. Case in point, the fact that William Byron, 19, is taking over Kahne’s current ride in the #5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet.

Byron and Alex Bowman, 24, who is taking over the driving duties of the #88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet from Dale Earnhardt Jr., 42, will help make Hendrick Motorsports’ average driver age 27 to start next season as opposed to the 35 it was this season. It really has been all about the young guns securing seats for next season this silly season.

Also, Team Penske will add a third car next season, and they opted to put Ryan Blaney, 23, in it as opposed to a more experienced veteran. The young drivers have definitely been getting the nods over the more experienced drivers this offseason, and that may very well continue, thus forcing Kahne to retire from his full-time driver role in the Cup Series.

Next: How silly will silly season get?

Where do you see Kasey Kahne ending up in the 2018 season? Let us know in the comments below, and be sure to follow me on Instagram as well as Beyond the Flag on both Instagram and Twitter. Also, don’t forget to follow along with Beyond the Flag for the latest news, opinions, and analysis stemming from a number of different motorsports series. You don’t want to miss any of it.