Hendrick announces Kasey Kahne signs 3-year contract extension
Kasey Kahne is staying at Hendrick Motorsports through 2018.
The team announced Thursday that Kahne signed a three-year contract extension. His contract was set to expire at the end of the 2015 season.
“I’ve found a home at Hendrick Motorsports,” Kahne said in a team statement. “We have incredible people and partners supporting us, and I couldn’t be more excited about the direction we’re headed as a team and a company. It’s the right place for me, and I’m looking forward to being here for a long time.”
The announcement comes a day after Hendrick announced that Keith Rodden, a former engineer for Kahne and Jamie McMurray's crew chief in 2014, would be Kahne's crew chief in 2015. He replaces long-time Kahne crew chief Kenny Francis who moved to a newly-created technical director position at Hendrick.
While the contract looks to secure Kahne's future, it undoubtedly will raise questions about another Hendrick driver's future prospects in Chase Elliott, the 2014 Nationwide Series champion. With Kahne's contract expiring at the end of next season, there was wonder if Elliott would move to the No. 5 in 2016 after spending another season in the soon-to-be Xfinity Series.
Since it's at the four-car cap, Hendrick cannot expand to add a fifth car for Elliott. Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s JR Motorsports, the team Elliott drives for in NASCAR's No. 2 series, can't move to Cup as long as Earnhardt Jr. is driving for Hendrick Motorsports.
Kahne joined Hendrick in 2012 after the team announced it had signed him in 2010 and he spent a transitional year at Red Bull Racing. In three years at Hendrick Motorsports he has five wins and 26 top 10s.
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Nick Bromberg is the assistant editor of Dr. Saturday on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
