Kasey Kahne was a NASCAR weekly contender in the 2000s and much of the 2010s, winning in all three national series and being deemed one of the sport’s 75 Greatest Drivers in 2023. However, his stock car career came to an end in 2018 due to medical issues.
Six years after his last start, Kahne will make his NASCAR return by entering the Xfinity Series race at Rockingham Speedway on 19 April. He will drive the #33 Chevrolet Camaro for Richard Childress Racing.
Kahne is an 18-time NASCAR Cup Series race winner, which includes three Coca-Cola 600 triumphs and winning for every manufacturer that has been in the sport since his Cup career began in 2004. He quickly became a household name with an impressive rookie season in which he finished runner-up on five different occasions, then enjoyed a career breakout with a six-win campaign in 2006. His best points finish was a fourth in 2012.
His 2018 season, the only one with the now-defunct Leavine Family Racing, was cut short after 25 races. He had already been planning to retire from full-time competition at the end of the year, but had it expedited because of heat exhaustion in his final start.
Although stepping away from NASCAR, his career continued in dirt track racing as a regular in the World of Outlaws and High Limit Racing. The latter series is co-owned by current NASCAR star Kyle Larson and NASCAR alumnus Brad Sweet.
Save for missing a year’s worth of races due to injury, the dirt racing gradually confirmed that Kahne is healthy enough to try his hand at stock cars once more. It also helps that Xfinity races are shorter than Cup events.
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He joined RCR for preseason testing at Rockingham on Tuesday.
“When you put basically your whole life into this racing and NASCAR for that many years leading up to it, 16 years in the sport, you had to take a little bit of time off and come back,” said Kahne after the test. “It still feels pretty familiar.”
His #33 is sponsored by HendrickCars.com, which is owned by Hendrick Motorsports boss Rick Hendrick. Kahne raced for HMS from 2012 to 2017, winning six times and placing as high as fourth in the 2012 championship.
“Kasey is a great friend and an incredibly talented driver, and we’re proud to have HendrickCars.com on board with him at Rockingham,” Hendrick stated. “It’s going to be exciting to see him return to NASCAR at such a special track and with a great team. I have tremendous respect for Richard (Childress) and everything his organisation has accomplished. We look forward to seeing Kasey return to NASCAR in what promises to be a memorable weekend for the sport.”
Kahne has excelled at Rockingham
The 2025 NASCAR season marks the first time in over a decade that Rockingham Speedway (not to be confused with the oval track in the UK of the same name) appeared on a NASCAR national series calendar. It previously hosted the Cup Series from 1965 to 2004 before being replaced by dates at Auto Club Speedway and Texas Motor Speedway.
Kahne only had one chance to do a NASCAR Cup race at “The Rock” in 2004. Despite being a rookie making just his second career start in the series, he nearly shocked the world as he battled with defending champion Matt Kenseth only to lose in a photo finish by .01 of a second.
Rockingham struggled to stay afloat for the rest of the decade before attracting the NASCAR Truck Series in 2012. Kahne, a well-established Cup veteran by this point, decided to take part and won. The track disappeared from the Truck schedule as well after 2013, and it fell into disrepair before being saved by new ownership and government funding.
“The first time I went around here, first time I ever tested a stock car was here,” Kahne recalled. “I had won a sprint car race in Volusia, the night before was a Sunday night race in Volusia County. Drove through the night up here, slept in the parking lot, got in the Busch (Series) car that morning, and did a test here. That was the first time I was in a stock car years ago.
“From that point on, I’ve just always really enjoyed this place.”
The 1.01-mile (1.63 km) oval will also welcome the Truck Series on 18 April. While the Cup Series is not scheduled to return, many drivers have argued in favour of bringing them here in the future.
