 |
By 2001, Kahne’s successes in sprint cars had started to capture the attention of the NASCAR community. As a result, Kahne landed a part-time NASCAR Busch Series ride during the 2002 season. Without an abundance of resources behind him, Kahne made the most of the year, highlighted by a top-10 finish at Michigan International Speedway in August. One year later, Kahne earned his first Busch Series win and scored four top-five and 14 top-10 finishes in route to a seventh-place finish in the series point standings.
With less than two years of stock car racing experience under his belt, Kahne’s talent and track record had attracted the attention of team owner and former crew chief Ray Evernham. Evernham saw great potential in the young driver, and his intuition proved to be correct.
Kahne burst onto the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series scene in 2004 by contending for wins on a weekly basis. The 2004 Rookie of the Year recorded 13 top-five finishes and completed the season 13th in the point standings, missing the Chase for the Cup by a mere 28 points. Kahne followed the 2004 season up by scoring his first career Cup Series win during the 2005 season at Richmond International Raceway, followed by a close second to Tony Stewart in the prestigious Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
During the 2006 NASCAR season Kahne established himself as a contender. He won a series-high six races and started from the Bud Pole six times. He finished the year with 12 top-five and 19 top-10 finishes and earned an eighth-place finish in the driver point standings after qualifying for the Chase for the Cup.
1 [2] 3 |
|
|
