The 2015 season was nothing to write home about to Enumclaw, Washington for Kasey Kahne.
With no wins and an 18th-place finish in the standings, the campaign was the Hendrick Motorsports driver’s worst since 2010.
That’s why Kahne, 35, needed a change of pace in the offseason and talked owner Rick Hendrick into allowing him to compete in the Chili Bowl Nationals in Tulsa, Oklahoma for the first time in two years.
“He knows I want to do it and I missed it and it’s something that gets me going, “ Kahne told Motorsport.com at the week-long dirt track event. “I know why he hasn’t. He’s been looking out for me in ways with sponsors and things — and I totally understand.
“But I’ve been growing up doing this my whole life. To get away from it, then struggle in the Cup car. I feel like, ‘I want to do this or that,’ and to not be able to I don’t think that’s been a good thing. I think this is a natural leap to be able to do this.”
Kahne finished second in his Friday night heat race, fourth in his qualifier and third in the A-Main, which locked him into the Saturday night feature where he finished 13th.
Kahne admits the sojourn to Oklahoma, as well his trip to race at Australia’s Valvoline Raceway, “probably” won’t lead to any on-track improvements in the Sprint Cup Series, which begins its 2016 season on Feb. 21. But Kahne needed to use his off-season to give himself a “clean slate” heading into his 13th full-time season on the Cup circuit.
“I needed a change in a way,” Kahne said. “I’m driving and I’ve wanted to do this for a period of time and finally got to. I needed this for myself.
“Honestly, it probably won’t help me in the Cup car. It probably won’t help me with my team but our team is working hard to make improvements as well in certain areas where we haven’t done as good of a job as we needed to. So I’m excited about running NASCAR this year. I’m excited about running the 5 car.
“There have been times when I definitely haven’t been over the last couple of years.”
It’s been 47 races since Kahne last visited victory lane, in the 2014 Oral-B USA 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. It was Kahne’s 17th win and his fifth since joining Hendrick in 2012.
