Beyond the Flag
Fansided

NASCAR: We will see what Kasey Kahne is made of in 2018

By Dustin Smith

MARTINSVILLE, VA - OCTOBER 28: Kasey Kahne, driver of the #5 UniFirst Chevrolet, walks through the garage area during practice for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series First Data 500 at Martinsville Speedway on October 28, 2017 in Martinsville, Virginia. (Photo by Sarah Crabill/Getty Images)
MARTINSVILLE, VA - OCTOBER 28: Kasey Kahne, driver of the #5 UniFirst Chevrolet, walks through the garage area during practice for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series First Data 500 at Martinsville Speedway on October 28, 2017 in Martinsville, Virginia. (Photo by Sarah Crabill/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit

Kasey Kahne will join Leavine Family Racing in the 2018 NASCAR season driving the #95 car. Will the star shine or dim out with his new team next season?

Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series driver Kasey Kahne will begin a new chapter in 2018. Kahne recently signed with Leavine Family Racing and will drive the #95 Chevrolet next season.

At 37 years old, Kahne will begin the 2018 campaign with a different number and team. This will be the fourth team Kahne has raced for in his Cup Series career and it will be gut check time when the season begins.

It shouldn’t shock anyone to hear me say that Kahne underperformed while at Hendrick Motorsports. This is more than likely why his contract was not renewed and he is now with a new team. Leavine Family Racing is one of the smaller teams in NASCAR and not nearly as funded as other teams Kahne has driven for.

Kahne started racing in the Cup Series with Evernham Racing where he had some great success winning races behind the iconic #9 car with Dodge and Budweiser sponsorship. Evernham merged with Richard Petty Motorsports in 2009, and Kahne then moved to the #4 Red Bull Racing Toyota in 2011. From 2012 up until this past season, Kahne drove for Hendrick Motorsports in the #5 Chevrolet with Farmers Insurance as the primary sponsor.

Gut check time

It is essentially a time for us to see what Kasey can bring to the table. This will be the first time he has run in equipment for a team that is not heavily funded. I could see his tenure with Leavine Family Racing going one of two ways. He will either compete and consistently finish in the top 20 or struggle and be one of the bottom finishers each week. Either way, I could see him winning a race in the #95 in 2018.

More from NASCAR

Kahne has proven time and again that he can win in the NASCAR Cup Series. Most recently, he took home the checkered flag at Indianapolis in the Brickyard 400 in this past July. That win punched his ticket into the 2017 playoffs. He has been a versatile driver with success behind the wheel of each car manufacturer. However, he still has a few tracks to check off of his list. He has wins at short tracks, a road course victory at Sonoma and a few wins on 1.5-mile ovals. Kahne has been knocking at the door, but he is still searching for a win at a superspeedway in a points race.

Any way you slice it, 2018 will be an interesting year for Kahne. He joins a single-car team for the first time after making the jump from the four-car “Mecca” team of Hendrick Motorsports. We will have our first chance to see Kahne in the #95 for Leavine Family Racing during the Daytona Speedweeks.

Next: Top 100 NASCAR drivers of all-time

We will get to see what he is made of next season and whether or not he can win. Do you think Kasey Kahne will have success with his new team in 2018, or do you think he will struggle to find his way?

Home/NASCAR