Kasey Kahne reveals the moment he 'instantly felt right at home' after his NASCAR return announcement
Kasey Kahne has pointed out the exact moment he felt 'at home' after announcing his NASCAR return. The Richard Childress Racing driver will pilot the #33 Chevy at the Rockingham Speedway, as the track returned to NASCAR's schedule after a decade.
The iconic 1.017-mile facility reopened its gates for NASCAR earlier this year for tire testing. Kahne last ran in the Darlington Cup Series race in the 2018 season, and six years later, announced his NASCAR return in January 2025, for the Rockingham race.
A few days after the announcement, the Washington native took a tour of the Rockingham Speedway and tested Goodyear's product on the historic asphalt. After a few turns on the track, Kahne got comfortable with the car and claimed he didn't feel like he left the sport six years back.
Ahead of his first NASCAR race since retirement, Kasey Kahne revealed that he was unsure about how the car would feel, but as soon as he got to Turn 3, he 'instantly felt right at home.'
“It had been six and a half years. It was really nice to be back in a car. I didn’t know exactly how it would feel and if I would have to refigure out how to drive in a way, but truthfully once I got to Turn 3 coming to the start of practice and the car loaded into the corner, I instantly felt right at home and felt like I had been doing it for a while. From there on, it was a solid practice for the next four or five hours,” Kahne said via Speedway Digest.
Interestingly, while Kahne will drive for RCR, his effort will be primarily sponsored by Hendrickcars.com.
Kasey Kahne sets clear expectations ahead of the Rockingham race
Rockingham Speedway has its name entered in NASCAR's toughest tracks to tame, owing to its bumpy surface and tight corners that could severely punish the drivers eyeing to brave the entire race.
It's worth mentioning that during Rockingham's brief two-year revival before the decade-long shutdown, Kasey Kahne aced the Truck Series race in 2012, and thus is a likely contender for a promising result. Moreover, the RCR driver may have an easier competition than other venues, considering not everyone on the roster is well-versed in racing at Rockingham.
As Kahne is set to kick off the race, he has clear expectations entering the battle:
“Yeah, I don’t know. For me, I want to race every lap. I want to be very competitive. I feel like, to be out as long as I have and come back and just do everything perfect and win would be very tough. These guys do it every weekend, they’re very good at it, and they put a lot of time in it year after year," Kasey Kahne said via On3.
Kahne will be teammates with #2 Chevy driver Jesse Love and #21 pilot Austin Hill.