Race Weekend Central

Kasey Kahne Still Sidelined, Regan Smith in for 3 More Races

NASCAR Cup Series driver Kasey Kahne, who was forced to sit out of last weekend’s Big Machine 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway due to lingering effects of dehydration suffered in the Bojangles Southern 500 on Sept. 2, will miss the next three races as he continues his recovery.

“Kahne will contiune to sit out from Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series competition this coming weekend in Las Vegas as well as well as the upcoming events at Richmond International Raceway, and Charlotte Motor Speedway. This week the series travels west to Las Vegas Motor Speedway where temperatures for the weekend are projected to be around 100 degrees,” a Leavine Family Racing statement read.

Regan Smith, who drove to 20th place finish at Indianapolis last week while subbing for Kahne, will drive the No. 95 in this weekend’s South Point 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, as well as the following races at Richmond Raceway and the Charlotte Motor Speedway ROVAL in his absence.

Smith, who is no stranger to the substitute driver role, has made 213 MENCS starts. The Cato, N.Y. native has also notched one career win, which came in the 2011 Southern 500 while driving for Furniture Row Racing.

“Leavine Family Racing continues to work on a timeframe for Kahne’s return to the No. 95 Chevrolet and will provide and will provide an update following the Charlotte race weekend,” the statement read.

Last Friday at the Brickyard, Kahne addressed the media on his current condition.

I had basically since last year, you know, since last year, the start of this year, each race I get a little bit worse by the end of the race with my hydration,” he explained.  “It just got to where at Darlington I had been to the care center a few times.  Darlington I had to go to the care center again.  It’s been the worse that it’s been this time.  It’s kind of lingered all week, stuck with me.  I just need to figure out how to make it better.

“At Darlington, about a hundred to go, it was really hard to keep my eyes open and see.  I was struggling to do that.  I was trying to control my heart rate because it was so high,” he continued.  “I basically just kind of laid in the car and drove around the corners.  I had to just control the car just to try to do as little as possible so my heart rate would go down because it was so high.  At that point, all I’m doing is focusing on my body and my health, not on what I should be actually focusing on, and that’s racing.

The South Point Casino 400 will be Sunday, Sept. 16, at 3 p.m ET with TV coverage on NBCSN.

About the author

Never at a loss for words, Zach Gillispie is a young, talented marketing professional from North Carolina who talks and writes on the side about his first love: racing! Since joining Frontstretch in 2018, Zach has served in numerous roles where he currently pens the NASCAR 101 column, a weekly piece delving into the basic nuts and bolts of the sport. Additionally, his unabashedly bold takes meshed with that trademarked dry wit of his have made Zach a fan favorite on the weekly Friday Faceoff panel. In his free time, he can be found in the great outdoors, actively involved in his church, cheering on his beloved Atlanta Braves or ruthlessly pestering his colleagues with completely useless statistics about Delma Cowart.

Sign up for the Frontstretch Newsletter

A daily email update (Monday through Friday) providing racing news, commentary, features, and information from Frontstretch.com
We hate spam. Your email address will not be sold or shared with anyone else.

3 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Aaron

I will be very surprised if Kasey returns to race in NASCAR ever again. Just like Vickers, health concerns will keep him out of the car.

DoninAjax

Maybe he’s just had enough of the game being played. Like Carl.

tcfromaz

Never a Kahne fan, but yes not only has the circus left town, the cast is exiting.

Share via