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Kasey Kenneth Kahne (born April 10, 1980 in Enumclaw, Washington) is a race car driver in NASCAR's Sprint Cup Series. He drives the #9 Budweiser / Allstate Dodge Charger for Gillett Evernham Motorsports with teammates Elliott Sadler and Patrick Carpentier‎. Off the track, Kasey is active in charitable work and is a member of the President's Council on Service and Civic Participation. He also owns his own race team Kasey Kahne Racing in the World of Outlaws series, fielding a car for Joey Saldana.

Racing Career

Early career

Kahne began racing open wheel sprint cars at Deming Speedway at 17 in Deming, Washington, before moving up to Skagit speedway in Alger, Washington, then he moved to USAC. He was hired by Steve Lewis, who had also employed future NASCAR drivers Jeff Gordon and Kenny Irwin, Jr.. In his first year on the circuit, he was named Rookie of the Year, as well winning the national midget championship. After that season, he continued to run USAC, as well as the Toyota Atlantic Series and the World of Outlaws.

Kasey Kahne made 20 starts in the Busch Series driving the #98 Channellock Ford Taurus for Robert Yates Racing. His best finish was a tenth-place finish at Cabela's 250. In 2003, he moved to the #38 Great Clips Ford for Akins Motorsports. He won his first pole at Michigan International Speedway and his first Busch race at the Ford 300. He also made a pair of starts in the Craftsman Truck Series in the #2 Team ASE Racing Dodge Ram for Ultra Motorsports, winning in both starts.

NEXTEL Cup career

Kahne replaced Bill Elliott in the #9 Dodge at the end of 2003 when Elliott announced a part-time schedule starting with the 2004 season. Due to the fact that Kahne was still under contract with Ford, a lawsuit began when Kahne decided to go to Evernham, driving a car that was being sponsored by Dodge. Ford eventually got money from Kahne, allowing him to go to Dodge. In 2004, Kahne surprised many by nearly winning several races (including five second-place finishes and 13 top-fives), winning four poles and captured the Raybestos Rookie of the Year award. He drove 30 races for Akins in the Busch Series, finishing fifteenth in points.

2005

He scored his first career NEXTEL Cup victory in his sophomore season of 2005, after a dominating performance in the Chevy American Revolution 400 at Richmond International Raceway. It was also the first victory for the Dodge Charger, which returned to NASCAR in 2005. He also scored two poles in back-to-back weeks at Darlington and Richmond during the same year. He made 22 starts in the Busch Series, splitting time with Akins and Evernham's new #6 team. He won the O'Reilly 300 at Texas Motor Speedway, and the United Way 300 at Kansas Speedway.

2006

On Monday, March 20, 2006, Kahne won the rain delayed Golden Corral 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Nearly three weeks later, he won the Samsung/Radio Shack 500 at Texas. He won four races after that, among them a season sweep at Lowe's Motor Speedway in the Coca-Cola 600 and the Bank of America 500, holding off Jimmie Johnson, who would go on to finish second in both events. He also won at California and Michigan.

On September 9, 2006 Kahne successfully raced his way into the Chase for the NEXTEL Cup by finishing third at Richmond. Kasey was the 10th and last qualifier for the Chase, edging defending NEXTEL Cup Champion Tony Stewart out by 16 points. But a disappointing crash at Dover made an impact on Kahne's 8th place finish in the points. Kahne also won 2 Busch Series races in '06.

2007

During the qualifying for the 2007 Daytona 500, officials found holes in the wheel-wells of his Dodge Charger. A crew member said it was just a tape that covered the hole fell off. Officials said that the tape had been cut. He was one of the four drivers among Matt Kenseth and his two teammates, Scott Riggs and Elliott Sadler whose cars had been found with aerodynamic-improving modifications. His team was one of the six teams found with illegal modifications in the Daytona festivities.

On May 26, 2007 Kahne won the Busch Series CARQUEST Auto Parts 300 race at Lowe's Motor Speedway scoring his first win of 2007.

On August 24, 2007 Kasey won the pole for the Sharpie 500 at Bristol, his second pole of the 2007 NEXTEL Cup season. Later that night, during the Busch Series Food City 250, Kahne passed Ryan Newman on the top side in a 3-wide pass that included Jason Leffler on the bottom. He held off the hard charging Leffler to win the Food City 250 for his 7th career Busch Series win and his 2nd of 2007.

The next day during the Sharpie 500, Kahne dominated most of the race leading 305 of 500 laps and finished 2nd to Carl Edwards. This was his best finish of the 2007 season.

On November 16, 2007 at Homestead-Miami Speedway Kahne was going to the motorhome lot at the track after Friday's practice was over. He was stopped by a security guard who refused to let his brother Kale Kahne through the entrance without a credential. The security guard and Kasey were involved in a shoving incident and the security guard ended up on the ground. The local police were called and Kahne spent several minutes in handcuffs before being released. The security guard was taken to the infield care center after complaining of high blood pressure. A police spokesman said the incident is under investigation.

After a disappointing 2007 season Kahne finished 19th in points with no wins, 1 top 5, 8 top 10s and an average finish of 22.2.

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