{"id":2073,"date":"2021-01-19T11:25:15","date_gmt":"2021-01-19T15:25:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/volusiaspeedwaypark.com\/?p=2073"},"modified":"2021-01-19T11:25:15","modified_gmt":"2021-01-19T15:25:15","slug":"gator-collector-kasey-kahne-relishes-volusia-success-as-owner-driver","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/volusiaspeedwaypark.com\/events\/dirtcar-nationals\/gator-collector-kasey-kahne-relishes-volusia-success-as-owner-driver\/","title":{"rendered":"GATOR COLLECTOR: Kasey Kahne relishes Volusia success as owner, driver"},"content":{"rendered":"
Florida has been kind to Kasey Kahne.<\/p>\n
You might recall his two wins at Daytona International Speedway \u2013 during a NASCAR Duel race in 2010 or his Xfinity Series win in 2014. But 20 miles East of the famed track is where the three-time World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series champion car owner has collected the most trophies in the sunshine state.<\/p>\n
That track is Volusia Speedway Park, in Barberville, FL \u2013 which will host the 50th DIRTcar Nationals Feb. 2-13.<\/p>\n
Kahne, the driver, has one win at the half-mile track in 2002 with the All Star Circuit of Champions. Kahne, the car owner, has six DIRTcar Nationals championships and 13 wins overall at Volusia \u2013 between drivers Brad Sweet, Daryn Pittman and Joey Saldana.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve always liked Volusia,\u201d Kahne said. \u201cI\u2019ve always liked watching the racing there and driving when I\u2019ve been able to race there. [Kasey Kahne Racing] has won a lot of races over the years down there. It\u2019s fun to have a lot of gators (trophies) and be in Victory Lane down there. It\u2019s a neat place to start the season for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n The day after his win in 2002, Kahne made the overnight drive to North Carolina to test a then NASCAR Bush Series car at Rockingham Speedway in preparation to start his NASCAR career. Three years later, Kasey Kahne Racing was formed.<\/p>\n When he first started the team, while there were always aspirations for wins and championships, Kahne just wanted to provide his team with the best equipment he could and be there for them as an owner. That\u2019s led to three World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series championships and 185 Series victories.<\/p>\n \u201cI always just wanted to watch the guys go and watch them win,\u201d Kahne said. \u201cGive them the best opportunity I could from an owner\u2019s standpoint and see what they do with it. Over the last few years, they\u2019ve done a lot. It\u2019s been a lot of fun, whether I was watching on DIRTVision, which I did, I don\u2019t know how many hundreds of races. Now, to be at more of them and watch their success, it feels good to be a part of that. Winning never seems to get old. We want to do a lot more of it from both teams.\u201d<\/p>\n Both KKR cars \u2013 the #49 of Brad Sweet and the #9 of James McFadden \u2013 finish first and second in the 2020 DIRTcar Nationals points, respectively. For Sweet, Volusia Speedway Park has proved to be one of his best tracks in his tenure with the team. He has two DIRTcar Nationals Big Gator championships and seven wins overall at Volusia \u2013 five with the World of Outlaws.<\/p>\n \u201cFor whatever reason, it\u2019s definitely one of my best tracks,\u201d said Sweet, the two-time defending Series champion. \u201cWe\u2019ve definitely struggled there in the past here and there. I think it says a lot about our guys and our race team that they bring a really fast car there every year. It\u2019s the first week of the season and you can see the teams that haven\u2019t meshed yet or aren\u2019t as well prepared and the teams that have been together are going to come out of the box a little stronger. That\u2019s going to give us an advantage. And for whatever reason, it\u2019s been a good racetrack for me.\u201d<\/p>\n The key to KKR\u2019s success at the track stems from their offseason preparations. When the 2020 season ended, Kahne said the crew has been working in the shop all season long to get ready for 2021.<\/p>\n \u201cI feel like our cars have always been good right out of the box at those types of tracks,\u201d Kahne said. \u201cEarly in the years, our KKR cars have always been fast in the beginning of the season. For whatever reason. And I think our drivers have been good and I\u2019ve always enjoyed racing at Volusia with Daryn and Brad and Joey.\u201d<\/p>\n He\u2019ll join Sweet on track this year at Volusia, he said, as he plans to drive the team\u2019s #9 car when McFadden can\u2019t.<\/p>\n Kahne initially had no plans to drive a Sprint Car last year, but no plans turned into one race. Then, one race turned into 11.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve enjoyed it,\u201d Kahne said about stepping back behind the wheel. \u201cIt\u2019s been good. Last year, I didn\u2019t plan on doing it a whole lot but with COVID and how things worked out, I ended up doing a lot more races and liked it. I always liked being in a Sprint Car and being a part of that. I always enjoy working on the car and being with the teams and things like that. That\u2019s been a lot of fun the last couple years, as well. We\u2019ve been fortunate to have a lot of success here recently. It\u2019s fun to be part of it and traveling with the guys.\u201d<\/p>\n After claiming another DIRTcar Nationals title and another World of Outlaws championship in 2020, Kahne is excited about the prospects of 2021 for his KKR team and kicking off the season strong at Volusia.<\/p>\n \u201cI feel really good about where KKR is and where our engine program is,\u201d he said. \u201cI think we made some nice gains there late in the season, which will show at Volusia. I was talking with Brad and he\u2019s ready to go. He\u2019s always putting the work in and wants to win a lot this year. I like hearing that. The cars are coming together. The guys have been here nonstop since the season ended. Definitely, no one has backed down. It\u2019s going to be a fun season.\u201d<\/p>\n For tickets to the 50th DIRTcar Nationals at Volusia Speedway Park, CLICK HERE<\/a>.<\/p>\n If you can\u2019t make it to the track, you can watch all the action live on DIRTVision<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Florida has been kind to Kasey Kahne. You might recall his two wins at Daytona International Speedway \u2013 during a NASCAR Duel race in 2010 or his Xfinity Series win in 2014. But 20 miles East of the famed track is where the three-time World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series champion car … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":37,"featured_media":2075,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[92,3,91,48],"class_list":["post-2073","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-dirtcar-nationals","tag-brad-sweet","tag-dirtcar-nationals","tag-kasey-kahne","tag-volusia-speedway-park"],"yoast_head":"\n