A NASCAR dream come true
By Kirby Arnold
Everett Herald
He can drive a race car for three hours at 200 mph with three dozen others breathing down his tailpipe, then climb out looking fresh as an Abercrombie model.
People magazine named him one of the 50 hottest bachelors of 2004.
Teen girls on internet racing forums identify themselves with such names as "LoveMyKasey" and "Kaseyluvr." On one site, "KaseyzGirl" says her favorite sounds are "race cars and Kasey's voice."
Kasey Kahne, the 24-year-old who grew up on the dirt tracks of Western Washington, has become more than the latest young phenom behind a steering wheel. He's a heartthrob.
"Every day when I get fan mail and e-mail, I realize how famous he is," said the person who knows best, Mom. Tammy Kahne runs Kasey's online store, selling hats, shirts and memorabilia, and business has been especially brisk since he won the Nextel Cup rookie of the year award.
Tammy Kahne got another dose of his popularity Monday when she and her son, along with former Daytona 500 winner Derrike Cope, appeared at a motorsports exposition at the Everett Events Center. They joined 100 fans at a $150-a-plate dinner sponsored by Fans United for NASCAR, then appeared in the main arena and answered questions from those attending the expo.
"I don't think he realizes how big he really is," Tammy Kahne said. "He realizes he has lots of fans, but he's so humble that he doesn't think of himself as being really big."
Kasey Kahne needs only to look at his work schedule to see he's not racing at Skagit Speedway anymore.
After the final Nextel Cup race in Homestead, Fla., last month, his Evernham Motorsports Dodge team began preparing for next year. Kahne has been home in Enumclaw the past week for some holiday down time with family and friends - along with a few business obligations like Monday's appearance in Everett - and he'll return to North Carolina this week to prepare for next season.
The first race of 2005, the Daytona 500, is Feb. 20, and Kahne will be on the track a week from today testing.
"This was the longest season I've had," he said. "I've raced over 100 times in a year in sprint cars and midgets, but this was way harder."
Besides the full Nextel Cup season, Kahne also raced in the NASCAR Busch Series.
"It was a lot of racing and a lot of the other things that go along with it," he said. "There was testing, practicing and doing the things that keep the sponsors happy."
Cope, who grew up in Spanaway and became a champion on the local tracks, is accustomed to this life. His victory in the 1990 Daytona 500 changed him forever.
A few days ago, Cope sat at home with his father and popped in a video tape of his interview with David Letterman after the Daytona victory.
"It was fun reminiscing with the family because those are the things that mean the most. Memories are all you have in this life," said Cope, 47, who plans to run a full Busch schedule in 2005, plus selected Nextel Cup and NASCAR Truck Series races.
"To win the biggest thing in our sport, it's something that never ever leaves you. I can close my eyes this very moment and still feel the warmth of the sun on my face in victory lane. It's the biggest thing that ever happened to me."
Kasey Kahne hasn't won at Daytona - his engine failed in the race last February - but he's already the hottest young property in NASCAR since Jeff Gordon.
He won more than $4.75 million in 2004, more than Nextel Cup champion Kurt Busch, and he recorded 13 top-five finishes, something only three other drivers accomplished.
The impact was felt all the way to Tammy Kahne's basement in Enumclaw, where she runs the online merchandise business.
"I remember thinking that one of these days that this could be pretty big," she said. "When he got that second place in Rockingham (in the second race of the season), the store just took off."
Business was brisk before the holidays. For example, "KKahnesgirl" bragged in an online forum that she got everything she wanted for Christmas - the Kasey Kahne diecast car, rookie of the year shirt, car hood, mouse pad and sweatshirt.
"Girls love him," Tammy Kahne said. "He likes girls, too. But he is so focused on what he is doing in his racing career, they're not the most important thing to him."
Neither, apparently, was the People magazine list that named him one of the 50 hottest bachelors.
"He was embarrassed by it, but I was in awe," Tammy Kahne said. "I was thinking, 'My gosh, my son is one of the 50 hottest bachelors?'"
What matters most to Kasey Kahne now is that he's the fastest.
By Kirby Arnold
Everett Herald
He can drive a race car for three hours at 200 mph with three dozen others breathing down his tailpipe, then climb out looking fresh as an Abercrombie model.
People magazine named him one of the 50 hottest bachelors of 2004.
Teen girls on internet racing forums identify themselves with such names as "LoveMyKasey" and "Kaseyluvr." On one site, "KaseyzGirl" says her favorite sounds are "race cars and Kasey's voice."
Kasey Kahne, the 24-year-old who grew up on the dirt tracks of Western Washington, has become more than the latest young phenom behind a steering wheel. He's a heartthrob.
"Every day when I get fan mail and e-mail, I realize how famous he is," said the person who knows best, Mom. Tammy Kahne runs Kasey's online store, selling hats, shirts and memorabilia, and business has been especially brisk since he won the Nextel Cup rookie of the year award.
Tammy Kahne got another dose of his popularity Monday when she and her son, along with former Daytona 500 winner Derrike Cope, appeared at a motorsports exposition at the Everett Events Center. They joined 100 fans at a $150-a-plate dinner sponsored by Fans United for NASCAR, then appeared in the main arena and answered questions from those attending the expo.
"I don't think he realizes how big he really is," Tammy Kahne said. "He realizes he has lots of fans, but he's so humble that he doesn't think of himself as being really big."
Kasey Kahne needs only to look at his work schedule to see he's not racing at Skagit Speedway anymore.
After the final Nextel Cup race in Homestead, Fla., last month, his Evernham Motorsports Dodge team began preparing for next year. Kahne has been home in Enumclaw the past week for some holiday down time with family and friends - along with a few business obligations like Monday's appearance in Everett - and he'll return to North Carolina this week to prepare for next season.
The first race of 2005, the Daytona 500, is Feb. 20, and Kahne will be on the track a week from today testing.
"This was the longest season I've had," he said. "I've raced over 100 times in a year in sprint cars and midgets, but this was way harder."
Besides the full Nextel Cup season, Kahne also raced in the NASCAR Busch Series.
"It was a lot of racing and a lot of the other things that go along with it," he said. "There was testing, practicing and doing the things that keep the sponsors happy."
Cope, who grew up in Spanaway and became a champion on the local tracks, is accustomed to this life. His victory in the 1990 Daytona 500 changed him forever.
A few days ago, Cope sat at home with his father and popped in a video tape of his interview with David Letterman after the Daytona victory.
"It was fun reminiscing with the family because those are the things that mean the most. Memories are all you have in this life," said Cope, 47, who plans to run a full Busch schedule in 2005, plus selected Nextel Cup and NASCAR Truck Series races.
"To win the biggest thing in our sport, it's something that never ever leaves you. I can close my eyes this very moment and still feel the warmth of the sun on my face in victory lane. It's the biggest thing that ever happened to me."
Kasey Kahne hasn't won at Daytona - his engine failed in the race last February - but he's already the hottest young property in NASCAR since Jeff Gordon.
He won more than $4.75 million in 2004, more than Nextel Cup champion Kurt Busch, and he recorded 13 top-five finishes, something only three other drivers accomplished.
The impact was felt all the way to Tammy Kahne's basement in Enumclaw, where she runs the online merchandise business.
"I remember thinking that one of these days that this could be pretty big," she said. "When he got that second place in Rockingham (in the second race of the season), the store just took off."
Business was brisk before the holidays. For example, "KKahnesgirl" bragged in an online forum that she got everything she wanted for Christmas - the Kasey Kahne diecast car, rookie of the year shirt, car hood, mouse pad and sweatshirt.
"Girls love him," Tammy Kahne said. "He likes girls, too. But he is so focused on what he is doing in his racing career, they're not the most important thing to him."
Neither, apparently, was the People magazine list that named him one of the 50 hottest bachelors.
"He was embarrassed by it, but I was in awe," Tammy Kahne said. "I was thinking, 'My gosh, my son is one of the 50 hottest bachelors?'"
What matters most to Kasey Kahne now is that he's the fastest.
