'Still feels pretty familiar': Kasey Kahne's NASCAR return welcomed at Rockingham test
ROCKINGHAM, N.C. — Kasey Kahne drove to the infield tunnel at Rockingham Speedway, and sure enough, his NASCAR 75 Greatest Drivers credential still worked. 'Super simple,' the 44-year-old veteran said, his access for preseason testing granted.
Kahne made the rounds, taking a tour around the infield Tuesday morning while the 1.017-mile track was being prepped. He'll be making his first NASCAR national-series start since 2018 when the Xfinity Series returns to Rockingham in the spring, but being back in a stock-car garage didn't seem like a long time gone.
'A lot of familiar faces. It didn't feel like I hadn't been here in six years, I know that,' Kahne said from Rockingham's media center. 'Even just hanging out in the trailer, behind the trailer for the first half-hour, hour this morning waiting to get going, it just felt pretty normal. It didn't feel too different. So I guess when you put basically your whole life into just racing and NASCAR for that many years leading up to it, and then 16 years in the sport, to take a little bit of time off and come back, it still feels pretty familiar.'
Kahne and the rest of the Xfinity Series roster will be back for the N.C. Education Lottery 250 on April 19 (4 p.m. ET, The CW, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), marking NASCAR's first national-tour event since 2013. Xfinity teams will share the weekend with the Craftsman Truck Series, which will run the Black's Tire 200 on April 18 (5 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). The two series alternated 45-minute practice sessions during Tuesday's organizational test, which will spill into Wednesday because of track drying needs that scrubbed testing time in the morning.
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Kahne was a winner during Rockingham's brief, two-year revival nearly a decade ago, prevailing in the Truck Series' return race here in 2012. He's kept his hand in racing since his most recent NASCAR start, running a successful sprint car team and increasing his participation on the driving side. He said he's kept in touch with some of his contacts from the NASCAR world, and the Rockingham date on the 2025 schedule piqued his interest in finding a ride.
That opportunity came through with last week's announcement that Kahne will drive the No. 33 Chevrolet, a third Richard Childress Racing entry, in the 250-lap event.
'I saw this Rockingham race pop up, and I was like, 'Man, that's a track I know, and I've enjoyed racing at over the years,' so I started reaching out and trying to figure a way to get back into it and do a race,' Kahne said. 'It felt like four or five years maybe since I'd raced, and it's more like six and a half is what they'd said, so it's been a while.'
His departure from the Cup Series roster felt abrupt, coming midstream with 11 races left in the 2018 campaign. But Kahne said the demands of racing at the big-league level of NASCAR each week had taken a gradual, physical toll that mounted as his final season crept along.
'The reason it was time was my body was just telling me it was time,' said Kahne, who won 18 times in a Cup Series career that began in 2004. 'My dehydration was so bad by the time I got to the center part of the year. I mean, the last few Cup races I ran, yeah, it was as bad as I've ever felt in my life. After the races for the next two or three days, even into the next race, we just couldn't figure it out, couldn't get it fixed. It was a mess. It wasn't a very good way to end. It wasn't what I was wanting or expecting, but it was the way it went. Just kind of had a short, quick ending to my Cup run. I've watched a lot since, and I'm just glad to get an opportunity to do this race in April.'
What's yet to be seen is if Kahne's Rockingham go is a one-off. Asked if another opportunity at the Cup Series or another NASCAR level might be in the cards, Kahne hedged, keeping the focus on the reborn 1-mile track in front of him.
'I have no idea. I just want to do this one race, work with this group,' Kahne said. 'It's been actually really cool, and went together really quick, but they've given me a great opportunity and a lot of really good people at RCR. So I've really enjoyed it to this point, finish off this test and see where that is, do the race and see how things are going at that point in time.'
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