Bill and Kasey

97forever

97forever

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After reading a few posts on here recently, It kinda dawned on me that a lot of you guys kind of 'link' the young Mr. Kahne to the semi-retired awesome one from Georgia.

Pretty understandable and obvious, it's just a link I never, until recently have made.

But AFTER making that association, I find myself cheering for Kasey more every race. I was always a huge fan of Bill back in the day. The Evernham angle I still have a hesitation on(Never a fan of Ray's) but the kid himself is growing on me.

So what about it, Kahne-ian's? DO you guys see KK as sort of a modern day Bill Elliott? Or are some of you seeing him from the Evernham angle and seeing him more as a modern day Jeff Gordon? I find the contrasts( between those two) kind of interesting personally, and Kasey sort of sits in the middle for me.

Opinions?
 
At first, I rooted for Kasey because, like Harvick, he stepped into a high profile, big-seat-to-fill situation.

Gradually the kid's ability grew on me. I really don't see him as a young Bill, or even a young Gordon.

He is his own person, trying to do the job. :)
 
The kid definitely knows how to wheel a race car! While I do agree with what TRL has said, I do see how the comparisons with Bill Elliott and Jeff Gordon are being made. With Bill Elliott as his "coach" and the ownership of Ray Evernham, these two well respected individuals. ;)
 
Well without doubt, the kid is making a pretty respectable debut. Even if he dosent get a rookie season win, he is the real deal, IMO. I like him better every week. :cheers:
 
I root for him because he went into Bill's car and is well spoken, he acts years beyond his age, being from GA I guess I tend to associate the 9 with Bill, my father in law went to high school with Bill and I live about 20 minutes from Dawsonville

We got another guy down here who I will probably start rooting for once he hits the scene, Reed Sorenson, he is currently in the Ganassi program and will run some Busch series races
 
Originally I liked Kasey in WA state and was excited to see him moving up.

I've known and liked Bill E. since the 70's, so I thought he would be an excellent tutor for Kasey.
All that said, I think it great a guy like Kasey is running the #9 car he'll continue giving it the class the #9 has been associated with for the past 20 years.
I think Kasey is only beginning to blossom, he is sure to be one of the sports great contenders.
 
I used to run into Kasey occasionally when he would be slingin mud at my camera, and found him to be a very decent, humble young man. He has a ton of talent and should be one of the greats by the time his career ends.

So I do see a resemblance to Bill Elliot there! :D
 
Here's my angle...as a long time Elliott fan, as some have said, the old #9 and Bill Elliott just go together. Making it red was all the more better and I was so tickled when Bill was finally back behind the wheel of car with that number. Not knowing diddly squat about Kasey, I didn't know what to think and quite frankly, I was looking for a good driver to throw my loyalty behind. I've been a fan of most of the drivers for years, but giving one of them my full support just didn't come easy. I still pull very hard for Jr., Gordon and a few others, but it seems that Kasey has been able to get my total loyalty. However, his bad luck is making me loose my hair and I can't take much more of that. :) So, I guess that along with all the reasons that have been given by others, I just like the kid.
 
Yeah, he handles himself exceptionally well. In and out of the car.

I just can't bring myself to openly root for a Dodge---used to have to fix'em----er---try to fix'em in my mechanicin' days----but it sure is easy to root for Kasey!!
 
I just plain like the kid. He is talented, polite, has Awesome Bill as a "coach", reminds me of a young Jeff Gordon under Evernham, and wil, IMO, be a force to be reckoned with in years to come.
(Besides, he has georgeous eyes ;) )
 
Sounds like the Johnny Benson story. Although I think Kahne has way better cars and crew chief. That car has been the fastest or one of the fastest at a lot of the races this year.

It's interesting to see how many people like him because of Elliot and how many are indifferent because of Evernham.
 
I cheered him on at first because he took over for Bill and was thrilled to see how talanted he was. I see a bigger comparison between Kasey and Jeff than Kasey and Bill.

I give Ray Everham credit for resurrecting Bills career. Bill was struggling for years until Ray came along. Just when everyone about wrote Bill off, Ray made him a force again. For that alone, I will always cheer for whomever Is racing one of the Everham Dodges.
 
Many times, I felt that Bill had gone way beyond his game and cried for the day he retired. I thought that I didn't want to see him end his carreer like Darrell Waltrip did or for that matter, the King, Richard Petty. Bill had many problems driving for himself, and in this day of high dollar racing, it's virtually impossible for a guy to drive for himself. Robby Gordon will find that out next year. I will agree with you in many ways that Kasey is like Jeff, but there's more there than that. I've never, and I mean never seen a youngster such as Kasey who has the patience he shows. Most of the old vets don't have that patience for that matter. I'm sure we will hear that it's the chemistry between Tommy Baldwin and Kasey that is the answer, but that's okay too. There are those out there who will still not give Jeff any credit for his success, saying that it was all Ray's teaching and help. While it's a must for the driver and his CC to have great chemistry, it's not the CC who is winning the race. I've seen too many top rank CC's who have gone by the wayside while his winning driver is still out there winning. Kasey will win his share of races for sure and it might be easier for him with Tommy, but he has yet to win a race with Tommy. NO! I'm not saying he needs to get another CC. However, if Kasey doesn't win the championship next year, I say we linch Tommy and maybe even Ray. :) :)
 
Originally posted by buckaroo@Oct 25 2004, 06:29 PM
Many times, I felt that Bill had gone way beyond his game and cried for the day he retired. I thought that I didn't want to see him end his carreer like Darrell Waltrip did or for that matter, the King, Richard Petty. Bill had many problems driving for himself, and in this day of high dollar racing, it's virtually impossible for a guy to drive for himself. Robby Gordon will find that out next year. I will agree with you in many ways that Kasey is like Jeff, but there's more there than that. I've never, and I mean never seen a youngster such as Kasey who has the patience he shows. Most of the old vets don't have that patience for that matter. I'm sure we will hear that it's the chemistry between Tommy Baldwin and Kasey that is the answer, but that's okay too. There are those out there who will still not give Jeff any credit for his success, saying that it was all Ray's teaching and help. While it's a must for the driver and his CC to have great chemistry, it's not the CC who is winning the race. I've seen too many top rank CC's who have gone by the wayside while his winning driver is still out there winning. Kasey will win his share of races for sure and it might be easier for him with Tommy, but he has yet to win a race with Tommy. NO! I'm not saying he needs to get another CC. However, if Kasey doesn't win the championship next year, I say we linch Tommy and maybe even Ray. :) :)
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:cheers: :cheers:
 
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