Kasey Kahne Makes his Move

With a surprising, and early, move to begin the 2010 Silly Season, Kasey Kahne has signed with Hendrick Motorsports to drive the #5 car in 2012. That’s right, 2012. Two years away.

That leaves Kahne, and Budweiser, without a ride for 2011 at the moment, not that Kahne should have a tough time finding a ride for next season. A few different scenarios could play out here.

Kahne could move to Stewart-Haas Racing for next season since that is a satellite program of Hendrick Motorsports anyway. Or, the ever-possible move of JR Motorsports to the Cup level could happen next year.

Think about this, Danica Patrick signed a two-year deal to drive the #7 car in the Nationwide series, leaving her with the option to move up to the Cup series in 2012. One of the questions that has cropped up with Kahne making this move is what Budweiser will do. In all likelihood, it will not stay at Richard Petty Motorsports. This is just another blow to an organization that has, for the most part, struggled since Kahne won six races for what was then Evernham Motorsports in 2006.

The way thing are shaping up, no matter what Kahne does next season, JR Motorsports would become a Sprint Cup team with Patrick in 2012, taking the GoDaddy.com sponsorship from Hendrick’s #5 car. That would leave Budweiser with the opportunity to hop on the #5 car with Kahne in 2012.

So, if Kahne goes to Stewart-Haas in 2011, Budweiser would likely follow and then move to Hendrick in 2012. If JR Motorsports becomes a Cup team in 2011, Kahne could go there and essentially trade sponsorships with the #5 car when Patrick moves up the following season.

All of this is speculation at this point, but Kahne will be fine. He just signed a contract with the best team in NASCAR. Maybe this shows just how much better Hendrick Motorsports is than everybody else in the garage if a driver is willing to wait basically two years before having the chance to actually drive one of its cars.

As for Kahne moving, the surprise isn’t that he will be leaving RPM at the end of the season. That was expected, especially with the terrible start to the season that has him sitting 26th in the points standings. The surprise is the fact that he signed with the best team in racing, even when they didn’t have a spot open for him. Kahne is a top-tier driver and, although through very long-range planning, has cemented himself as a title contender for the next decade.

However, not that he was on the path to a title this season anyway, this does kind of put the nail in the coffin for his 2010 title hopes, and probably 2011 as well. But, once he gets in the #5 car, Kahne could be a real title threat for many years.

So, welcome to Silly Season. Remember when driver movement wasn’t discussed until, at the earliest, August or September? It’s April, and we just had a deal go down for something that can’t even happen for two years.

Many people expected this to be a big free agent offseason with two big names in Kahne and Kevin Harvick in the final year of their respective contracts, but a move this early is a shock to the system.

Strap down your driver/team charts, folks, because this Silly Season could, and already has been, huge and could play a big part in aligning the power structure in NASCAR for the next several years.