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Kasey Kahne going full time with the World of Outlaws in 2022 | Daily 12-23-2021
Coming up we dive into the Kasey Kahne World of Outlaws announcement and more, let's go!
Today is Thursday, December 23rd, two thousand and twenty one. Welcome into DIRTRACKR Daily. I'm Justin Fiedler.
In a week in which I thought we wouldn't have a whole lot to talk about, the stories just keep on coming. Shortly after I finished getting yesterday's show put together, it came out that we'll have another full time World of Outlaws sprint car competitor next season. Kasey Kahne Racing announced that bossman Kasey Kahne will embark on his first full season with the Outlaws in 2022 as a 41 year old rookie. This comes nearly 25 years after Kahne first made his debut with the Outlaws as a 17 year old in 1997. He will pilot the number nine with support from long time sponsor Karavan Trailers and new partner FuelMe. He'll run as a teammate to Brad Sweet, and this makes it three full time teams running out of the KKR shop in Mooresville, NC with James McFadden and the Roth 83 team also being housed there.
In 2021, Kahne ran the first six nights of the Outlaw season filling in for McFadden who was still in Australia awaiting the birth of his child, and he was fast out of the gate. He grabbed top tens at Volusia, East Bay, and the Rev, and a top five at Magnolia. Following that last start at the Rev, Kahne made two more starts at Knoxville in June, and he had three All Star appearances in July between Missouri State Fair, 34 Raceway, and Knoxville. But things got serious for Kahne right around Nationals time when he was tapped to drive the Roth 83 following the departure of Aaron Reutzel. Reutzel and Roth parted company following the chassis thickness debacle and subsequent suspension after Ransomville and Weedsport in July. Kahne then ran the 83 for the final 25 nights, including the Knoxville Nationals where he finished 8th in the A-Main on Saturday. Along the way he earned seven more top ten finishes, including a top five in the Gold Cup at Silver Dollar Speedway, and led laps at both Silver Dollar and at World Finals.
Even with all he's done in motorsports, including 18 wins as a NASCAR Cup driver, Kahne has never run a full Outlaw season, and he doesn't have an Outlaw victory on his resume. But it sounds like this opportunity to finish 2021 with Roth sparked his interest in really making a run at a full season. In the announcement, Kahne said he realized he still wants to race and challenge himself at this level. And with the organization he's built over the years, he'll have plenty of support in doing so. They've had some great sponsors through the years, and it sounds like the new screen printing business they've started recently has really taken off. They've been doing merch for not only the KKR drivers, but also Kyle Larson, Rico Abreu, Tyler Courtney, and many others. It certainly makes it easier to go racing when your business interests are strong.
As a fan, I'm not sure how you can't be anything but thrilled about this announcement. Kahne and his teams have been such an important fixture with the Outlaws over the years, and I think it's a big boost to now have him at the track every night as a competitor. KKR fielded it's first Outlaw entry in 2005 and won it's first championship with Daryn Pittman in 2013. I think he still carries a lot of weight with fans, and it will be fun to see him chase that first series victory. It won't be easy though, as the Outlaws continue to be as competitive as ever. Kahne joins Sweet, Donny Schatz, David Gravel, Carson Macedo, Logan Schuchart, Sheldon Haudenschild, Kraig Kinser, Jason Sides, Wayne Johnson, James McFadden, Brock Zearfoss and Spencer Bayston as full time drivers for 2022. It's going to be a murderers row to try and beat every night, but I honestly think Kahne can get it done. There are plenty of places for him to improve this season, but there were signs of strong performance throughout the year. With top five runs and laps led, we know he can run up front, he just needs to find some consistency and close out races. He had negative plus/minus numbers in both features and heat races for the year, so there's work to be done there. There were also some tough nights, with six finishes outside the top 15 in that final run to World Finals. But Kahne did sit on the pole at the Gold Cup, and his qualifying average was a very respectable 8.65. With plenty of seat time to come, I don't see any reason why Kahne won't improve and find his way into victory lane for that first win. Especially when it comes to tracks that Kasey knows well, like the west coast races in California and places like Skagit. Drop me a comment, let me know what you think about this move from Kahne. Do you think he can get that first win this season? Let me know.
As a side note, have you been reading between the lines with some of the Outlaw stuff lately? In the Kasey Kahne announcement piece, there was no mention of Jacob Allen as a full time driver. There have been some quiet rumblings about this, but nothing official as of yet. This might be an indication that Jacob is indeed scaling back this season. We'll have to wait and find out though. Also, keep an eye on the series title sponsorship situation with the World of Outlaws Late Models. Morton Buildings is still on the official logo on the website and social media accounts, but there is a generic logo for late model events on the schedule, and Morton isn't being mentioned in press releases anymore. Definitely a situation to follow into the new year.
In some series news from yesterday, the All Star Circuit of Champions added another race to their 2022 schedule yesterday. In advance of Ohio Sprint Speedweek, the series was already scheduled to appear at Atomic Speedway on Saturday, June 4th, and that's now a two race weekend with Attica Raceway Park being added on Friday, June 3rd. So between this new two race weekend and speedweek, fans in Ohio will be treated to 11 races in 15 days across eight tracks. To see the full 2022 All Star schedule, hit up allstarsprint.com.
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That's it for the show today, hope you have a good Thursday. If you have thoughts about the topics on today's show, leave them in the comments below or tweet at me.
Thanks everybody for tuning in, I'll see you tomorrow for more DIRTRACKR Daily!