Kasey Kahne, named one of NASCAR's 75 Greatest Drivers back in 2023, was forced to retire from Cup Series competition before the 2018 season concluded. The demands of the schedule, coupled with the dehydration from which he had been suffering, led him to make the decision to step away with 11 races remaining on the 2018 calendar.
The 2018 season was his first and only season with Leavine Family Racing, after he was replaced by William Byron at Hendrick Motorsports following a six-year run with the team which saw him win his third Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, win a Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and place as high as fourth in the championship standings.
Kahne made a one-off appearance in the Xfinity Series for Richard Childress Racing back in April 2025 at Rockingham Speedway and finished 14th in what was his first start in the series since 2017, but he hasn't been back in any NASCAR series since.
Now the 46-year-old native of Enumclaw, Washington is set to be back full-time, and he's set to do it in a series he's never run full-time in before.
Kasey Kahne ends retirement, joins Truck Series
Kahne is set to drive the No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet full-time in the 2027 NASCAR FedEx Freight Truck Series. That truck is currently one of the team's two shared entries. The other, the No. 7 Chevrolet, is expected to be shared once again next year.
Kahne hasn't run a Truck Series race since 2015, but despite having never competed in the series full-time, he has had a ton of success. In six career starts from 2004 to 2015, he earned five victories and a runner-up finish.
He won twice at Darlington Raceway and added victories at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Rockingham Speedway, and Charlotte Motor Speedway. He placed second at Pocono Raceway.
While he hasn't been a full-time NASCAR driver for more than eight seasons, Kahne hasn't been able to keep away from racing, having spent ample time competing in a variety of dirt races across the country over the years.
The 2027 NASCAR FedEx Freight Truck Series season is scheduled to get underway on Friday, February 19 at Daytona International Speedway, where Kahne won a Nationwide Series race in 2014.
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