By Dave Argabright
allstate400atthebrickyard.com
Monday, July 23, 2007
The name lettered on the side of the sprint car - "Kasey Kahne" - had a unique ring to it, but it wasn't familiar. Nor was the slight young kid hovering around the car, fussing with the setup, glancing at the track and wondering how much time he had until his feature race.
He was slender, and looked to be 14 years old. Of course he wasn't 14; you knew he had to be older to be allowed to tackle the intimidating Eldora Speedway. It turns out that he was 18, still a teen-ager and a long way from home at that.
This was 1999, and Kasey Kahne had arrived in the Midwest as a youthful unknown infected with a serious dose of racing fever. He was quietly ambitious, and something about his manner suggested a maturity far beyond his youth.
Home was 2,400 miles west, in Enumclaw, Wash. But here he was at Ohio's Eldora Speedway, with a sprint car and three teen-age family members serving as his crew.
It wasn't hard to engage the kid in conversation. Nobody else was hanging around in this corner of the pit area, to be sure. Kasey was quiet and impeccably polite, and he explained where he came from.
"Where's your pit crew?" the visitor asked, looking around. "Who's taking care of the car?"
"We are," Kahne said with a smile.
It was himself, his sister Shannon, and cousins Willy and Kole. None looked old enough to have a driver's license. The visitor looked at them and paused, trying to hide the look of amazement, and perhaps, skepticism.
Kasey just smiled and held the gaze. After a moment he just said softly, "We'll be all right."
That was eight years ago, and yes, it's all turned out all right. Kahne is among the top stars of the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series, and has established a strong future in the sport with his performance thus far. He has shown himself to be calm, steady, and possessing a burning intensity that is often hidden by his gentle demeanor.
Kahne will race July 29 in the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard, his fourth consecutive summer start at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Although it might seem like it's been an easy road, that's not accurate. His learning curve in sprint cars and midgets was steep, the same as any other youngster who arrives in the Midwest to try their hand. The competition is intense, and you find yourself constantly visiting new tracks, where cunning veterans often devour young racers trying to get a handle on the place.
During that first year in Indiana - Kahne and his young entourage rented an apartment in Indianapolis and based their team there - Kahne won several races but also crashed heavily a number of times.
On Labor Day 1999, he crashed out of the park at Sharon, Ohio, damaging the team's last good frame. In essence, they were finished. He called his father, who explained to Kasey that there would be no more new frames this season. Might as well come home, he said.
But Kasey had other ideas. He had squirreled away a few bucks during the summer, and he used nearly all of his savings to buy a new Maxim sprint car frame. He and Willy and Kole quickly installed their engine and the remaining bolt-on parts, and they were back in business.
Maybe that's the kind of drive and desire that caught the eye of noted USAC Midget car owner Steve Lewis, who offered Kahne a seat on his formidable team for the 2000 season. His first outing would be at Phoenix, a fast, intimidating place for the midgets.
The visitor caught up with Kahne again that February day. Kasey was hovering in the Lewis pit, nervously flitting about. His expression was white, and his hands shook noticeably.
In fairness to the kid, this was the equivalent of learning to swim by being tossed into the deep end of the pool. His teammates that day were Tony Stewart, Dave Darland and Jason Leffler. And here was this 19-year-old kid with virtually no experience on pavement, debuting at one of the fastest and toughest midget tracks in the country.
Was he frightened? If so, it probably wasn't in the way we might think. It's a safe guess that his anxiety wasn't centered on getting hurt, but rather on getting beat. His desire was immense, and he knew this was an important day in his career.
In the end, he did well, even though he dropped out of the race with engine failure. By the end of the year, he won the USAC Midget championship and was named Rookie of the Year in the USAC Silver Crown division.
Soon enough, he was hired by Robert Yates to race a limited NASCAR Busch Series schedule, and in late 2003 he won the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway, his breakthrough win in stock cars.
The following year he signed with Evernham Motorsports to drive a Dodge in NEXTEL Cup, launching him squarely into the cauldron of top-level national competition.
As Kahne arrives in Indianapolis for the 2007 Allstate 400 at the Brickyard, it will be like coming home. After all, today he owns race teams in both the World of Outlaws and USAC, and both are based here.
But more than that, this is the city in which he really launched his career. Some of us will always remember that friendly, polite kid who rolled into town with a race car, a teen-age pit crew and a pocket full of dreams. So far, it's been a good ride for Kasey Kahne.
***
Tickets: Tickets are on sale for the 14th Allstate 400 at the Brickyard, scheduled for Sunday, July 29.
Tickets can be purchased at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway's Web site, www.indianapolismotorspeedway.com, by phone or at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Ticket Office. The IMS Ticket Office can be contacted at (800) 822-INDY outside the Indianapolis area or (317) 492-6700 locally. Ticket Office hours are 8 a.m.-5 p.m., Monday through Friday.
Race Day reserved seat tickets start at just $35. Parking and camping permits also can be purchased online, by phone or at the Ticket Office.
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