Fit'n Fast: Kasey Kahne is on the move

Kasey Kahne's career in the Sprint Cup series is on the rise. Being a driver at Hendrick Motorsports sure has it's perks: good equipment, fast cars, championship teammates Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon,  and boss, Rick Hendrick. A lot has changed for Kahne since he's joined HMS, but one person that stood by his side the longest is crew chief Kenny Francis.

Kasey Kahne and Kenny Francis after winning
New Hampshire July 15th, 2013
Genevieve

The relationship between Kahne and Francis is solid. They share similar quiet personalities, and work ethic, "he's nonstop trying to figure out how to make his race cars faster," Kahne said of his crew chief, "and I try to do everything I can to know about the car and also physically and mentally I'm as prepared as I can be."

It's obvious that the communication between them strong, "which is a big part of what we do, being able to communicate with someone and understand and being on the same page more often than not.  So that's key for us."

Kahne continued to talk about Francis, "and as far as going through all the different teams and different -- man, we've had some things thrown at us over the years, and we've just always stuck together.  At the end of each year we've talked, and sometimes he'd be like, man, do you want me to still be your crew chief or do you want this or what are you thinking, and I mean, we were just always kind of up front with each other, and it was just easy to say that I don't want anybody different for myself.  I feel like he's given me more opportunities to win in the situations we've been in than anybody else ever would have.  I just have a lot of respect for Kenny Francis."

The bond they have with the over-the-wall crew  is solid as well. A full team effort is essential to putting together a fast car, and dominate performance at the track to get the wins, which will eventually lead to Championship title.

Kahne moved up the points ranks quickly this season. His 36th place finish in Daytona may have been disappointing as was his 19th place finish in Phoenix but finishing second in Las Vega changed that. Trying to get ahead of Matt Kenseth was a challenge that  may have ended in disappointment, Kahne is not one to dwell on the past or bring past defeats into the next weekend. He believes in  "More performance, less talk" - and it shows in his racing.

Now seventh in points after four weeks of racing gives the team momentum, and confidence to build from here, but there's a lot of racing left. Making it to the top is hard, staying on top is harder. Could he win the title this year?

"Well, yeah, the championship is still a long ways away," said Kahne, "but I think a good start," he said about his hopes for 2013 Championship title. "Just off to a much better start than last year. Feel good about that. We got a little behind at the start of the season and fought back clearly in the last two weeks and got back to a good spot. So I feel good about where we’re at, feel good about the speed of our car and our team, and that’s what it’s all about is just being on the right page, same page with all the guys." 

This weekend, NASCAR heads to the Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California, a track where Kahne holds one win, one pole,  four top fives, nine top 10s.

The No. 5  team may be celebrating this week, but they are getting ready for Fontana's race. "Right now we're really working well together and enjoying it, and we have some momentum and confidence after Bristol and really looking forward to Fontana.  I've always enjoyed racing there, and I think this new car is going to create a better race at that track, a more aggressive race.  As slippery as Auto Club is, it's just going to make it even a little better for us." 

'Slippery will make it better for them?' As a dirt track racer, Kahne has a love for sliding around on slippery surface. 

"I look forward to just the really wide racetrack," he said when asked what he looks forward to at Fontana, "the speeds will be up, you can move around usually from the white line all the way to the wall, just about run right against the wall on a big, two mile racetrack, and just trying to it’s pretty technical because of the seams there where the track is paved and then it stops and then it starts another paving section, and the seams are pretty thick, they’re pretty wide I guess you would say. So getting on top of those seams can be rough, just figuring out how to get the car go around all that stuff and make good laps. To me I’m really excited because I think we’ll be able to drive harder than we’ve ever been able to drive at Fontana in a Sprint Cup car, and I’m really looking forward to that. I think it’s going to be pretty exciting."

What tracks could be considered his rivals? It's tough to say really, racing is circumstantial, and  it's unpredictable for nature (rain, etc), and other drivers play a huge roll in the outcome of a race. Perhaps Martinsville, Daytona, and road course races: Sonoma, and Watkins Glen.

At the beginning of the season, Kahne felt like the underdog. There was a lot to gain, and as predicted by many who have followed him these past few years, he is well on his way to gaining all he sets out for. Does he believe in momentum?

"Yeah, I definitely believe in momentum," he said.Winning early in the season benefits the team in many ways. "I know I’ve tried to work hard over the years to get more consistent because that was definitely my weak spot since I’ve been in the Sprint Cup Series."  Things have changed for the better to give the 32 year-old reason to feel really good about where he's at.
"Confidence, momentum, from the driver to the pit crew to the crew chief, I mean, every aspect of putting our car on the track, I think when you have momentum and confidence it helps. I’ve been in situations before where I’ve felt like everything was fine, like I wasn’t like I was driving every bit as hard as I usually do and all that, and then I won a race and realized, man, now I’m like rejuvenated and have a boost of energy again to race and things."

The No. 5 car is the one Rick Hendrick started out with so getting the car into victory lane gives Kahne another shot of happiness. "It feels every day I wake up and know that I’m part of Hendrick Motorsports it feels good, and then to get a win early in the season, such a competitive series and do it in the 5 car, (I was) I was having a great week."

Keep Kahne in your fantasy leagues, he'll surly gain the points as time moves on.