After a nine-year absence from full-time NASCAR racing, Kasey Kahne is returning in 2027 to compete in the Truck Series on a regular basis for Spire Motorsports because he believes the shorter events and the schedule are more conducive to his health.
“The long Cup races throughout a full season, I just couldn’t handle that anymore, and that’s why I had to get out of the sport when I did,” said Kahne, whose last Cup season was 2018 when he competed in 25 of the 36 races.
“Where my body went those final couple of years, there’d be no chance to ever do that (Cup racing) full time and I understand that. I knew it when I got out of the sport, and that’s why I got out.”
Kahne said parts of his difficult decision were disappointing, but he has accepted the situation.
“You just have to take it and move on and figure out other ways to be happy,” Kahne noted.
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NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series races are often at night and are shorter, like the UNOH 250 at Bristol Motor Speedway in September. The Cup cars raced for 500 laps to the trucks’ 250.
“These (truck) races are shorter, a lot of night races, weekends off in between some of them… I think that’ll fit me really well. There’s more ways to stay cool these days than there was back then as well. I think all that stuff will help throughout the season and will make it possible.”
Kahne last competed in a NASCAR truck race in May 2015 at Charlotte for JR Motorsports, claiming the pole and the race victory. Overall, he’s competed in six truck races and won five of them. However, he knows it’s a different series than the one he left. He doesn’t know many of the drivers or teams and he faces a “big learning curve.”
“There’s so much that goes on in a race from the time the green flag comes out until the time the checkered flag comes out other than just strictly driving the truck or the car around the track, so a lot of those things will take four or five weeks, three, four weeks to really start making those things clear again in my mind. But once they do, it could be a really strong season,” Kahne said.
In addition to competing in the truck series, Kahne will continue racing his Sprint Car in High Limit Racing. He plans to race in 26 to 28 of those events.
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Kasey Kahne racing his Sprint car Kokomo Speedway in May 2025.
It was actually after a High Limit Racing owners meeting at the Knoxville Nationals that Spire Motorsports co-owner Jeff Dickerson asked Kahne about driving one of the team’s trucks in 2027. Kahne initially was surprised, but then he thought about it for a while and decided it was a good opportunity for someone who hadn’t been involved in the sport for quite some time. He had thought about a one-off Cup race but never a full season again in NASCAR until Dickerson triggered the idea.
Kahne returned to NASCAR for one race last year in the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series at Rockingham. He qualified a Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet fourth and finished 14th.
Before leaving NASCAR Kahne competed 15 years in the Cup Series, winning 18 events, including three Coca-Cola 600s and a Brickyard 400. He earned 27 pole positions, 93 top-five and 176-top 10 finishes. The 46-year-old Kahne also won eight O’Reilly Auto Parts Series races, claimed 46 top fives, 87 top 10s and nine poles over 17 seasons.
Kahne said that since he played basketball in high school he’s tried to stay active, but he no longer does the long stuff, such as two-hour bicycle rides. He didn’t seek a doctor’s clearance before committing to the Spire deal.
A North Carolina native, Deb Williams is an award-winning motorsports journalist who is in her fourth decade covering auto racing. In addition to covering the sport for United Press International, she has written motorsports articles for several newspapers, magazines and websites including espnW.com, USA Today, and The Charlotte Observer. Her awards include the American Motorsports Media Award of Excellence, two-time National Motorsports Press Association writer of the year, and two-time recipient of the Russ Catlin award. She also has won an award in the North Carolina Press Association’s sports feature category. During her career, Deb has been managing editor of GT Motorsports magazine and was with Winston Cup Scene and NASCAR Winston Cup Scene for 18 years, serving as the publication’s editor for 10 years. In 2024 she was inducted into the NMPA Hall of Fame.