The Kasey Kahne dilemma

MRM

MRM

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This thing with Kasey Kahne signing with Hendrick has become a real dilemma. Hendrick has never said where Kahne will be driving. Early speculation was he'd wind up in the #5 car and Mark Martin would go somewhere else. Over the last few weeks, Martin has been insistant that he will still be in the #5 next season. So the question is where does Kahne go for '11? Was he promised something that Hendrick can't deliver or did he want away from Ford so bad that he didn't care what he did in '11? Remember, he was signed with Ford to be their next big star and then he bolted for Evernham and Dodge. Something doesn't add up.
 
Smoke!

MRM said:
This thing with Kasey Kahne signing with Hendrick has become a real dilemma. Hendrick has never said where Kahne will be driving. Early speculation was he'd wind up in the #5 car and Mark Martin would go somewhere else. Over the last few weeks, Martin has been insistant that he will still be in the #5 next season. So the question is where does Kahne go for '11? Was he promised something that Hendrick can't deliver or did he want away from Ford so bad that he didn't care what he did in '11? Remember, he was signed with Ford to be their next big star and then he bolted for Evernham and Dodge. Something doesn't add up.
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I have the thought he might spend at least a year with smoke.
Betsy;)
 
Gordon owns half of the 48. nothing stopping Johnson and Gordon from fully owning a 'development' team with HMS chassis,motors,bodies etc. Similar to Tony's start up deal.

Kahne is too good to slip through Hendricks hands.
 
hmmmm

SST55 said:
Gordon owns half of the 48. nothing stopping Johnson and Gordon from fully owning a 'development' team with HMS chassis,motors,bodies etc. Similar to Tony's start up deal.

Kahne is too good to slip through Hendricks hands.
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That's an even better idea, if it can be done.
Betsy;)
 
SST55 said:
Gordon owns half of the 48. nothing stopping Johnson and Gordon from fully owning a 'development' team with HMS chassis,motors,bodies etc. Similar to Tony's start up deal.

Kahne is too good to slip through Hendricks hands.
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They will let Mark go before they let Kasey slip away.It's been done twice at Hendrick,Why not a third time?
 
I spect that Rick already has a good idea where Kasey will be next year. It's too early to tell of plans for next year and that is a driver's nightmare. Contracts are contracts, and Mark's and Kasey's are no different. Those contracts can be bought out or they can be broken. Just my opinion, but I think that Mark's future will be dependent on how he finishes this season and he probably knows that. I look for him to step up his performance the rest of the year.
 
I don't think it matters how Mark performs, Kasey ends up in the #5. The only driver who's consistently been underperforming at Hendrick (and has done so for two years now) is Junyer and HMS ain't gonna let him go.

My prediction: Kasey ends up in car #5 in 2011, David Ragan is released at Roush and Mark Martin ends up in the #6 car again.
 
AndyMarquisLive said:
I don't think it matters how Mark performs, Kasey ends up in the #5. The only driver who's consistently been underperforming at Hendrick (and has done so for two years now) is Junyer and HMS ain't gonna let him go.

My prediction: Kasey ends up in car #5 in 2011, David Ragan is released at Roush and Mark Martin ends up in the #6 car again.
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He wil never go back to Jack, not going to happen, I don't think he is really on good terms with him. Kasey will end up eitehr with Smoke, or another Hendrick satelite team.
 
Mopardh9 said:
He wil never go back to Jack, not going to happen, I don't think he is really on good terms with him. Kasey will end up eitehr with Smoke, or another Hendrick satelite team.
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agree, i think mark would retire for real (or run another series) before going back to roush.
 
kk

The driver of car #88 is the weak link at HMS..................put KK in the #88...............Earnhardt Jr to SHM team mate to Stewart and Newman.
 
I would agree with that

RIMSHAW said:
The driver of car #88 is the weak link at HMS..................put KK in the #88...............Earnhardt Jr to SHM team mate to Stewart and Newman.
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But one must allow for the money lost by doing that swap. Since racing has turned to being all about the money... that would be an ill advised swap.
Betsy:rolleyes:
 
RIMSHAW said:
The driver of car #88 is the weak link at HMS..................put KK in the #88...............Earnhardt Jr to SHM team mate to Stewart and Newman.
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Jr is the only racer weak link...HE still brings in PLENTY of money...after all, it is about the money. People talk about NASCAR being greedy. Teams are no different.
 
Its more likely the 88 becomes a satellite team of Hendrick under JR Motorsports than Jr. going back to DEI.
 
robert-langdon-3.jpg

Need this man to sort it out.
 
My prediction is, Kasey brings back the #25 Budweiser to Hendrick, Mark Martin was actually the guy who told Rick to get Kasey, Dull Jr. is definitely the weak link in Hendrick, I think Jr goes to RCR who still has room for a fourth team, and Aric Almirola takes over for Martin in 2012 with the 5 car.
 
Kahne to Red Bull in 2011?

From the Charlotte Observer.....

Kahne to Red Bull in 2011?

Red Bull Racing has emerged as the likely place for Kasey Kahne in the 2011 Sprint Cup season, the Observer and ThatsRacin.com have learned.

Under a proposed arrangement, Kahne would drive one of Red Bull Racing’s Toyota’s next season as he waits to take over Hendrick’s No. 5 Chevrolet in 2012, sources close to the situation confirmed Sunday.
 
dpkimmel2001 said:
Under a proposed arrangement, Kahne would drive one of Red Bull Racing’s Toyota’s next season as he waits to take over Hendrick’s No. 5 Chevrolet in 2012, sources close to the situation confirmed Sunday.
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don't see this happening. toyota helping chevrolet and only for one year? nope, nothing in there for them. find it hard to believe hendrick is considering farming kahne out to anybody that isn't sponsored by chevrolet.
 
SlowNeasy said:
don't see this happening. toyota helping chevrolet and only for one year? nope, nothing in there for them. find it hard to believe hendrick is considering farming kahne out to anybody that isn't sponsored by chevrolet.
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I heard that Red Bull was switching to Chevy next year, forgot where i read that but it was a while back.
 
If Kahne does go to Red Bull for a year, two questions remain. One, who is out at Red Bull? Two, will other owners (Roush) start saying publically that SHR and Red Bull are actually Hendrick teams and they're breaking the rules?
 
Mopardh9 said:
I heard that Red Bull was switching to Chevy next year, forgot where i read that but it was a while back.
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I believe you are thinking about the rumor from last season that this season that was they were thinking about moving to Chevy and getting stuff from Hendrick. Now if this new Kahne rumor has any meat to it that he is possibly going to Red Bull, this could be the setup they were going for last season.


Kind of makes a little sense because Red Bull is only getting help from TRD and have complained their motors are nowhere as good as JGR. Also, Dietrich Mateschitz the owner of Red Bull racing, is supposedly not real happy with Toyota giving them inferior equipment. It would not shock me if he gave Toyota the middle finger if the Hendrick option were available.

Also, Bud can't go to Hendrick because of some sponsor discrepancy that a Hendrick team has. My guess is Pepsico (Pepsi, Amp) and InBev (Budweiser), two of the largest beverage distributors in the world, have a drink somewhere that is competition of each other.
 
Well guess that Chevy thing i was mistaken on then. Would of never guessed Kasey would go to RedBull for next year.
 
Rick Hendrick statement regarding Kasey Kahne
CONCORD, N.C. (Aug. 10, 2010) – Below is a statement from Rick Hendrick regarding today's announcement of where Kasey Kahne will drive next season in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series before joining Hendrick Motorsports' No. 5 Chevrolet team in 2012.

"Kasey is going to a competitive organization that made the Chase last season and has great leadership and resources," said Hendrick, owner of Hendrick Motorsports. "Of everything we looked at, he and I agree it's the best opportunity for him to be successful in 2011, which was always our number-one priority.

"The process went on longer than any of us anticipated, but I'm glad that we took our time to make sure it was right. And although I'm not looking forward to racing against him next year, I'm comfortable knowing this is the best situation for Kasey."

As announced in April, veteran Mark Martin will continue to drive Hendrick Motorsports' No. 5 Chevrolets in 2011.

"We're looking forward to another year with Mark Martin, one of the true class acts in racing, driving for Hendrick Motorsports," Hendrick said. "There aren't many things in this world I'd rather do than win a championship with him, and that will be our goal with the No. 5 team for the rest of this year and in 2011."
 
Something stinks about this whole situation. Why would Hendricks bail on Mark one year early? Is Kasey so great as to punt Mark? Why would you send your soon to be Chevrolet driver to sit in the Toyota camp for a year? Think of this. Brian Vickers went from Hendricks to Red Bull. Does this mean that the two teams are sleeping together while married to different spouses? I know that basically the only substantial difference between the cars now is the engine manufacturers. We all know that Brian was good friends with Rickey, so I can see Rick having a personal attachment to him. I think we need to get TMZ on this........
 
I'm not sure why this is such a huge deal. I could certainly be wrong but wasn't Kahne signed to start driving for Hendrick in 2012? I thought that Hendrick was just finding him a place to run until then. The media jumped all over this kicking Martin out of his car a year early. As far as Toyota goes..... Didn't Kahne just drive a Toyota for Kyle Busch?
 
dpkimmel2001 said:
Rick Hendrick statement regarding Kasey Kahne
CONCORD, N.C. (Aug. 10, 2010) – Below is a statement from Rick Hendrick regarding today's announcement of where Kasey Kahne will drive next season in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series before joining Hendrick Motorsports' No. 5 Chevrolet team in 2012.

"Kasey is going to a competitive organization that made the Chase last season and has great leadership and resources," said Hendrick, owner of Hendrick Motorsports. "Of everything we looked at, he and I agree it's the best opportunity for him to be successful in 2011, which was always our number-one priority.

"The process went on longer than any of us anticipated, but I'm glad that we took our time to make sure it was right. And although I'm not looking forward to racing against him next year, I'm comfortable knowing this is the best situation for Kasey."

As announced in April, veteran Mark Martin will continue to drive Hendrick Motorsports' No. 5 Chevrolets in 2011.

"We're looking forward to another year with Mark Martin, one of the true class acts in racing, driving for Hendrick Motorsports," Hendrick said. "There aren't many things in this world I'd rather do than win a championship with him, and that will be our goal with the No. 5 team for the rest of this year and in 2011."
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huh? was there supposed to be something new in this release? backdate it a couple of months and you'd never tell the difference. wonder if we'll see the same thing next month?

sounds like the "process" of determining who he is driving for is completed so when does the world get informed?
 
UDPATE 2 Kasey Kahne will drive a Red Bull Racing Team Toyota in 2011, the team announced. "We were fortunate to have the opportunity to hire a very talented driver for the 2011 season and we took it," said Jay Frye, Red Bull Racing Team Vice President and General Manager. "This is a unique situation that doesn't happen every day. Kasey is a perfect fit for our company, team and Red Bull." "This opportunity places me with an established, competitive team that has proven they can win races and make the Chase," Kahne said. "I have great respect for Red Bull, so to have the opportunity to drive for Red Bull Racing Team in 2011 is a great fit for me, both personally and professionally. It feels good to be able to finally put this to rest and focus my energy on finishing the season strong for the 9 team and our sponsors." "This obviously all happened very quickly," Frye added. "Over the next month, we will finalize the specific team details."(Red Bull Racing PR)(8-10-2010)
UPDATE 3: Statement from Rick Hendrick: "Kasey is going to a competitive organization that made the Chase last season and has great leadership and resources," said Hendrick, owner of Hendrick Motorsports. "Of everything we looked at, he and I agree it's the best opportunity for him to be successful in 2011, which was always our number-one priority. The process went on longer than any of us anticipated, but I'm glad that we took our time to make sure it was right. And although I'm not looking forward to racing against him next year, I'm comfortable knowing this is the best situation for Kasey." As announced in April, veteran Mark Martin will continue to drive Hendrick Motorsports' #5 Chevys in 2011. "We're looking forward to another year with Mark Martin, one of the true class acts in racing, driving for Hendrick Motorsports," Hendrick said. "There aren't many things in this world I'd rather do than win a championship with him, and that will be our goal with the #5 team for the rest of this year and in 2011."(Hendrick PR)(8-10-2010)
 
carsntunes said:
I agree. I just wonder who the second driver will be. Marcos Ambrose?
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Just a thought

Ekström testing: Hearing that Mattias Ekström is testing a Red Bull Car today and Wednesday at Greasham Motorsports Park.(8-10-2010)

and I don't think this is his first time testing that car.
 
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