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Written by:
Marshall Pruett
05/25/2007 - 07:00 PM
Oakland, CA
From the in-car camera, you can see Kasey react to the starting lights (look for its reflection on the rear window), catch a lurid slide, and fight to fend off a charging Cadillac (Video Courtesy: SPEEDtv.com & ChaseCam PDR100) » More Photos
When Ford and Chevy fans cheer and holler for a Dodge driver, albeit in a series unfamiliar to them, you know you're witnessing something special. That's exactly what happened Thursday night at Charlotte Motor speedway.
Kahne, hailing from a series where manufacturer battle lines are drawn with a wide and divisive marker, and where the fan's allegiances to those manufacturers are even more rabid, those very fans in the grandstands let out a massive cheer when Kahne's participation in the Charlotte SPEED GT race in a Dodge Viper Comp Coupe was announced during the pre-race festivities.
What fans and teams witnessed was a NASCAR driver that was game for the rigors of a World Challenge battle. Making things more interesting was the fact that Kahne, while not a stranger to road racing or standing starts, had been out of the true road racing saddle for most of the millennium. It didn't take long for the rust to get knocked off.
Looking back to a Ford interview late in 2001, Kahne was so set on pursuing a career in CART (now the the ChampCar Series) he was moved to turn down stock car opportunities from Joe Gibbs and Richard Childress! "It was weird to have to say no, but it was also very difficult. I basically told Childress that I wanted to pursue open-wheel racing right now and it probably wouldn't be right to come test your car because I'm not going to end up racing for you if things went well. I've made up my mind that I want to pursue open-wheel racing and I'm going to stick with that right now. Not many people knew about this opportunity, but people who did kind of looked at me like, 'What are you thinking?'" Funny how times change-most people at Charlotte this week had no idea Kahne wasn't always a NASCAR devotee.
ChampCar's loss and all of road racing's loss has certainly been NASCAR's gain. His success in his Evernham Dodge and massive fanbase within the NASCAR community has likely elevated him to levels modern open-wheel racing would've never reached. Still, Kahne's crossing the fence to play in World Challenge was more than just a marketing ploy-he really wanted to turn left and right in something other than a Stock Car for a change.
Kahne looked like an old pro behind the wheel of his #9 Evernham Performance Parts/Woodhouse Performance Dodge Viper (Photo: Marshall Pruett) » More Photos
"That standing start was the most fun thing I've done in years-it was incredible," Kahne offered to team owner Bob Woodhouse during the mid-race caution flag.
With limited miles in his #9 Evernham Performance Parts/Woodhouse Performance Dodge Viper, Kahne resorted to a driving technique in the race that belied his young age and distance to his years of open-wheel aspirations. Having qualified 10th for the SPEED GT race, Kahne used his lightening fast car control skills to over drive his Comp Coupe in the turns as he didn't have enough mileage in the car beforehand to learn the subtle traits needed to extract the last few tenths of speed from the car.
That's not to say he abused the car or drove roughly-this wasn't the case. He simply shortened his experience gap by using small (but perfect) amounts of opposite lock on exit of the sharpest portion of each chicane to get his Woodhouse car rotated, pointed straight, and ready to rocket onto the banking. While his experienced competitors used their intimate vehicle knowledge to achieve the same
If Kasey's participation in the race was a huge lift for the profile of the series in unfamiliar territories, it also served to drain most of the energy from the Woodhouse team. Sometimes being the star of the show takes its toll, but all were delighted to have the spotlight cast on their efforts. A real star effort was also turned in by regular Woodhouse Performance driver Jeff Courtney in his #99 Kenda Tires/ProMPI Dodge Viper Comp Coupe. Delivering a season's best 5th place, the SPEED GT rookie withstood pressure from his team mate Kahne for the entire 2nd half of the race-not an easy thing for Jeff, who like Kasey, is also relatively new to the Comp Coupe.
While it was sad to see Jimmie Johnson opt not to race in his #48 Cadillac, Kahne's participation hopefully won't be the first and only 'guest' drive in the SPEED World Challenge category this year. With factory entries in the SPEED TC and GT classes from numerous manufacturers, the interest, intrigue, and precedent of a manufacturer placing a popular driver from an alternative series in either the TC or GT series has been set.
Thanks to Dodge, Ray Evernham, Bob Woodhouse, and Kasey Kahne for delivering a memorable and historic night for the series in Charlotte. Thanks are also due to Delayne Hunt and Rick Maxwell of Woodhouse Performance for helping us to get all the photos and video we asked for.
Now we'll have to see what other teams and manufacturers in the series can come up with to draft in their IRL, ALMS, or other stars to try their hand amongst the best production-based road racers and cars in North America.
If we're lucky, Kasey Kahne will be back to try and better his 6th place…
VIEW THE IN-CAR VIDEO
VIEW PHOTO GALLERY
In-car footage captured using the ChaseCam PDR100 unit.
Marshall Pruett is Automotive Editor for SPEEDTV.com. Pruett also covers the SPEED World Challenge series and provides other racing features and commentary. Marshall grew up at "Pruett's Olde English Garage," his father's shelter for abused foreign cars, and spent his childhood being dragged across the West Coast to help with his dad's amateur racing exploits. A rather predictable fascination with cars and working for racing teams soon followed.
He's since retired from that career in motorsports, but continues to build street cars and race cars for a variety of auto manufacturers. He can be reached at marshall.pruett@speedtv.com
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