Lone ranger: Kasey Kahne not concerned about being only Chase driver from organization
Richard Petty Motorsports' Kasey Kahne is seeded fifth in the Chase For The Sprint Cup standings heading into Sunday's race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. // David Griffin, NASCAR Scene
NEW YORK – Kasey Kahne says he doesn’t mind not having a teammate in NASCAR’s Chase For The Sprint Cup.
Kahne, who enters the 10-race championship-determining segment seeded fifth out of 12 drivers, is one of five drivers (Juan Pablo Montoya, Brian Vickers, Denny Hamlin and Kurt Busch are the others) who will be the lone Chase entry from his respective organization.
So does not having the resource of a teammate in the Chase concern Kahne, the only one of Richard Petty Motorsports’ four Cup drivers to qualify for NASCAR’s playoff.
“I think it’s all right,” Kahne said Thursday at New York City’s Hard Rock Café, where NASCAR assembled the Chase drivers for media sessions. “Elliott Sadler and Reed Sorenson, two of my teammates, have talked about really doing whatever it takes to be a part of helping us during practice and even during the race if there’s things we can do to work together to get bonus points or something like that.”
Kahne begins the Chase, which begins with Sunday’s Sylvania 300 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, trailing series leader Mark Martin by just 20 points.
So every point, including the five bonus points for leading a lap, could be crucial.
“I have a couple great teammates and really look forward to working with those guys and, hopefully, making Richard Petty Motorsports better,” Kahne said.
