NASCAR Cup Series: Kasey Kahne to miss 2018 Brickyard 400
By Asher Fair
Leavine Family Racing’s Kasey Kahne is set to miss this Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race, the Big Machine Vodka 400 at the Brickyard.
Leavine Family Racing’s Kasey Kahne was set to enter this Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race, the Big Machine Vodka 400 at the Brickyard, also known as the Brickyard 400, as the defending winner. But while he is still the reigning champion of one of NASCAR’s biggest races, he will not get the chance to defend that title.
The 38-year-old Enumclaw, Washington native will not compete in this Sunday’s 160-lap race around the four-turn, 2.5-mile (4.023-kilometer) Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval in Speedway, Indiana.
After this past Sunday’s Cup Series race, the Bojangles’ Southern 500, at Darlington Raceway, the driver of the #95 Chevrolet paid a visit to the infield care center as a result of the fact that he was suffering from extreme heat exhaustion.
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Because of the fact that Kahne is reportedly still suffering the lingering effects of extreme heat exhaustion following the grueling 500-mile race in the Darlington, South Carolina heat, several physicians recommended that he sit out this weekend’s race, which is what he is set to do. There is currently no timeframe for his potential return.
Kahne currently sits in 27th place in the championship standings with just one top 14 finish this season. This top 14 finish is his fourth place finish in the race at Daytona International Raceway in early July. It appeared for a time as though he might win this race to lock himself into the playoffs, but he was unable to pull off the upset.
While there was not much of a chance that Kahne would win this weekend’s race anyway, the fact that he will not be competing in it means that he has officially been eliminated from championship contention. This race is the final race of the regular season, and he would have needed to win it to clinch himself a playoff berth.
Kahne announced last month that he will be retiring once the 2018 season comes to an end.
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Our thoughts and prayers are with Kasey Kahne as he continues to recover from the lingering effects of heat exhaustion that he is currently suffering, and we hope that he can get back to competing in the NASCAR Cup Series to finish out what is set to be his final season in the sport.