It is a conceit as old as NASCAR that drivers are average Joes. After all, the sport was built on drivers’ accessibility and their salt-of-the-earth charm.

But like the cars they race — fire-breathing monsters masquerading as the buggies we all drive to work — Sunday racers are not like you and me. They may look like us but a person capable of racing at 200 mph can hardly be average — to say nothing of the considerable fortune and privilege that comes with a Cup ride.

But, the truth lies somewhere in the middle. They are at once very much like you and me — and not like us at all.

Kasey Kahne, nine-time Cup winner and the bright blue eyes of NASCAR, embodies the dual nature of a life in NASCAR. Like every Cup driver, he knows well the heat of the spotlight — the good and the bad tidings it can bring. As the face man of NASCAR and Budweiser, Kahne possesses rare star power and, in many ways, leads a life most people only dream of.

But for a guy who’s been sold as the Motorsports Matinee Idol, his days aren’t necessarily the stuff of fantasy. He doesn’t while away the hours between green flags
frolicking poolside with models. Instead, Kahne spends most of his time at either Richard Petty Motorsports or at his own shop, the headquarters of Kasey Kahne Racing.

But when the sun goes down, the 28-year-old Kahne shows another side to his personality. His cellphone — usually a tether to the 24/7 demands of a life in racing — becomes instead a link to some big names in sports and music. NASCAR’s reigning Bud Man knows how to have fun.

We followed Kahne through a day and a night in his life — and saw both sides of the young star’s life.

Daytime

To understand Kahne’s life, the first thing anyone needs to know is that he doesn’t have a “normal” day. There is no routine.

“That’s just the way it is,” Kahne said. “Mondays used to be my day off but with all the stuff going on at the shop [Richard Petty Motorsports], we have team meetings on Mondays. Now, I don’t have a complete off day. No day is off-limits.”

But he’s not complaining. In his sixth year on the circuit, Kahne knows the game well.

“A couple years ago, my schedule was a problem,” he said. “I had a hard time getting used to it, but it’s actually pretty good these days. We schedule media obligations and sponsor meetings in blocks — or at least, we try to — and that keeps things manageable.”

But, even when Kahne does have a free morning, he doesn’t act like it.

“I am not a late sleeper,” he said. “If I can get away with it, I don’t want to set an alarm. But no matter what, I seem to get up around 7.”

First on the docket — on most mornings, at least — is a quick workout. But if it’s not already apparent, Kahne isn’t exactly a gym rat. He’s not striving to one-up Carl Edwards on the cover of Men’s Health.

“I’m not a fitness fanatic,” he said. “I can work out — and I like to. But if I miss a day or two — or even a couple of weeks, sometimes — it’s not the end of the world.”

One obstacle for Kahne is that except for a dusty punching bag hanging in a forgotten corner of his sprint car shop, he doesn’t have anywhere to work out. So, Kahne leans on his neighbors, stopping in at nearby JR Motorsports or Ray Evernham’s personal shop to work up a sweat. Kahne frequently meets a friend/trainer who has developed some workouts for the Cup driver that focus on flexibility and stamina — and not on bulk.

From there, Kahne heads to the KKR shop, which houses two World of Outlaws teams and one USAC outfit. What started as a hobby a couple years ago — sprint car racing is still Kahne’s first love — has blossomed into a legitimate race team. (The team has grown considerably since it was profiled in the May 2007 issue of NASCAR Illustrated.)

Kahne is more responsible for courting high-dollar sponsors like DirecTV, Budweiser and Mopar than he is for setting up his cars.

“I can still turn wrenches if I need to. But most of the time, I’m here in the office,” he said. “I handle the sponsors, I make the decisions on who’s driving the cars.”
As serious as it sounds — and it is big business; a new, much larger space for KKR is almost done — the owner likes to keep things light at the shop.

“I just want everyone to have fun. I don’t do this to not be happy. I do it because I love it,” he said. “It has kind of turned into a business. There are definite times when I’ve had to step up here and there and kind of crack the whip, get people going. But this is supposed to be fun.”

Kahne’s office, tucked away at the end of a hallway behind the main shop, looks how you’d expect an office of an insanely busy 28-year-old to look. It’s charmingly cluttered — by no means messy — with mementos of his career and autographed pictures.

The firesuit in which he won the 2008 Coca-Cola 600 has been framed and mounted — but not yet hung. It leans against the wall in a corner, under a flat-screen TV that hangs from the ceiling (the cable connecting the TV to the DirecTV receiver snakes a couple feet from a propped-up ceiling tile).

From this relatively modest room, Kahne spends his time keeping one eye on the TV (usually tuned to ESPN) and the other on the laptop open on his desk.

“Most days, I’m here all day. I’ll grab lunch with the guys and head out around 6 or 7. Grab dinner and then head home.”

Nighttime

One week before the Daytona 500, Kahne stood on stage at the Coliseum, a concert hall in Daytona Beach, Fla. It was another in the Budweiser One Night Stand series — evenings at music clubs across the country that give Budweiser VIPs and Kahne fans a chance to get close to the Bud Man.

This one was a little special though. Not only was the 2009 season just a few days away, Kahne had a special guest. Dierks Bentley, country music superstar, spiced up the usual driver-fan Q&A with some of his songs.

Turns out that Bentley and Kahne have been close friends since they met years ago.

“I was a big fan of his and somebody told me that he was backstage, so I went up and introduced myself,” Bentley said. “It turned out that he knew some of my music … so we just kind of hung out that night.

“Now we’re just trying to do more stuff together … each of us has built up some level of celebrity currency, just trying to do something positive with it. He’s got the Kasey Kahne Foundation and I do some things back in Nashville with the Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital to help raise money for those kids. So we try to trade stuff off and things like this give us a chance to hang out as well as do some good stuff.”

Bentley’s presence underscored just how rich Kahne’s life can be. As the face of Budweiser — and as a top-shelf NASCAR driver — Kahne has the keys to the kingdom. Want to go to the Super Bowl? No problem. (see sidebar). An avid sports fan (after checking the sprint car news sites, Kahne always checks on all the major Washington-based teams), Kahne can pretty much go wherever he wants and meet whomever he pleases.

And Budweiser is really just the tip of the iceberg. Through a sponsorship deal with Puma, Kahne met New York Yankees outfielder Johnny Damon (Kahne, however, is careful to note that he met him when Damon was still with the Red Sox and sported his famous full beard and long hair) and now the two are close friends. Damon just recently flew through Charlotte and they met for dinner. And through his friendship with Damon, Kahne got a baseball memory like none other.

“I threw out the first pitch at Fenway Park for the Yankees-Red Sox game. It was incredible,” he said. “And I even got the ball across home plate.”

Not surprisingly, the notion of having “famous” friends makes Kahne a little uncomfortable. He’s still getting used to seeing his own face on billboards.

“The first time I ever saw one [of the billboards] was at Daytona last year,” he said. “They had International Speedway [boulevard] covered with them. I was surprised. I was going down the road and it was just billboard, billboard, billboard. I just thought, ‘That’s a really huge picture of me.’ It was a little scary, actually, to see that.”

So, does Kahne catch himself marveling that he’s actually hanging out with the people he watches on TV?

Definitely.

“I met George Strait a few years ago. I knew who he was and I’ll remember it for as long as I live,” he said. “But I don’t think he knew me and I know he has no recollection.”

But Kahne has learned — for better or worse — that “famous” people are like him — ordinary in a lot of ways. And that means that you don’t always hit it off with everyone you’re introduced to.

“Sometimes, it just doesn’t click,” he said. “There’s nothing wrong with that. That’s just how it is.”

But sometimes friendships do flower from those forced introductions. When Kahne coached professional bullrider Ty Murray in the “Fast Cars and Superstars” racing show a couple years ago, the two immediately hit it off. They kept in touch and when Murray and his wife Jewel came through Charlotte for a show last summer, Kahne met up with them. And came out with one of the best stories of his life.

“Jewel was playing with Brad Paisley at the big outdoor amphitheatre in Charlotte and I met up with those two backstage. We were drinking some Budweisers that night and by the end, we looked around and pretty much everyone was gone. The only people still there were Jewel’s tour bus drivers. We were in no shape to be driving so Ty just said, ‘We’re taking you home.’

“We hopped in Jewel’s 45-foot, decked-out tour bus and they gave me and my girlfriend at the time a ride home. Dropped me off at my door at 4 in the morning, turned around and headed on to the next stop.”

So what did Kahne do the day after? Did he call friends to tell them the story? Nope. Even to this day, he’s still a little blown away that it happened. After a half-dozen years in Cup and one season as the face of Budweiser, Kahne’s still adjusting to his life.

“The next morning, I just woke up and laughed,” he said. “I can remember hearing Jewel when she was just getting started. I was 12 or 13 years old. And then 15 years later, here we were partying with them.”

Super Bowl Scrapbook

Wonder how good it is to drive for Bud? Kahne got to go to the Super Bowl, hang out for the weekend and play in a celebrity flag football game. And it all counted as work. We got some of Kasey’s personal photos from Super Bowl XLIII that show just how much fun he had.

“I met Tim Tebow [Heisman-winning quarterback for the University of Florida] at a Super Bowl party. A couple weeks later, he came to the 500 and sat in the No. 9 pit box.”

“Maria Menounos [actress and journalist] was at the famous Bud Bowl party and she played in the DirecTV Celebrity Beach Bowl.”

“Reggie Bush was a “coach” at the DirecTV celebrity flag football game. I was center.”

“Me and LL Cool J. He closed out the Beach Bowl with a concert.”

“This was the view from my seats! This definitely won’t be my last Super Bowl.”

This article originally appeared in the April 2009 issue of NASCAR Illustrated.