It seems like it is always an up-and-down affair for Kasey Kahne each season. He runs well for a number of races, maybe even wins a race, and then finds himself in some sort of trouble—some not of his own doing—over the next few events, or vice versa.
This year has started no different than most of his seasons. Kahne finished 31st in the Daytona 500 after NASCAR penalized him for speeding onto pit road on lap 116 as he tried to avoid a spinning Michael Annett.
To make matters worse, he was involved in a 12-car wreck on lap 146. He wound up eight laps down at the finish.
He followed an uneventful first race with an 11th place effort at Phoenix and back-to-back eighth place finishes at Las Vegas and Bristol.
After a season-worse 41st place at Auto Club Speedway, Kahne responded at Martinsville by moving through the field after starting 27th. He entered the top 10 midway through the race but fell back by the end of the race and finished 22nd.
Kahne has shown that he can be a threat in multiple races—he finished second six times in 2013—but he has also displayed that he is just another car in the way of the real competitors.
There have already been six different winners this season. Kahne has been inconsistent early on but luckily for him all he likely needs is a win—or two—to make the Chase. If his results continue to fluctuate from race to race he could find himself down in the standings. He will have to hope that there are less than 16 race winners after Richmond.
The Duck Commander 500 at Texas Motor Speedway is this week. Kahne collected a win there in a 2006 season filled with victories (six) for the 33-year-old driver. He was with a different team and car manufacturer, but he is now with a Hendrick Motorsports organization that is the best in the Sprint Cup Series.
He has had inconsistency issues, but it will not be the reason Kahne fails to make the playoffs. But it sure will be should he not advance any further.
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