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Kasey Kahne had another disappointing season with Hendrick Motorsports, but ended the season on a hot streak. Something, we haven't seen much from Kahne for more than a couple races. But from Michigan to Texas, he posted top 12 finishes on a consistent basis. Only two races, where he finished worse than 12th. In the final 14-races, he posted 9 Top 12 finishes with 7 Top 10 finishes. That's really good!
Intermediate tracks
He will be at his best on the intermediate tracks overall. This is a obvious strength for Hendrick Motorsports as a whole. Kahne may be the weak link in terms of performance, but that doesn't change he's drives for one of the top teams. Anyone that drives for a top team (aside from Danica maybe) will be a solid performer on the intermediate tracks. Kahne is at the bottom of the pecking order, with mostly low-teens potential. With that said, he has upside from time to time to finish inside the top 10. But anything beyond 7th or 8th is likely asking for too much, in my opinion. His best intermediate tracks? I would say Dover, Texas and Kansas honestly. Statistically from career point of view, he's very good at Charlotte, Las Vegas and Kentucky as well. However, he hasn't gotten the results over the past couple seasons. Also we only visit Kentucky and Las Vegas once per year, so data there is limited. It can be good or bad, depending which side of the coin you are on.
I would say that Dover been his best track, most recently. When looking at the past two seasons, he been his best at Dover! Historically speaking (From career point of view), Dover is ranked as one of his worst tracks. As it's ranked 19th of 23 tracks in terms of average finish. But over the past 2 seasons (4 races), he has gathered 3 Top 10 finishes with 4 straight finishes of 12th or better. Even better? Over his past 11 races at Doer, he's finished worse than 20th in only one race. And that was 23rd place. Digging deeper into the data pool, he's posted 8 Top 15 over his past 11 races at Dover. Including 6 Top 12 finishes. And 4 of those 6 races came over the past two seasons with HMS. Pretty good! It's no fluke that he's been running well at Dover lately. It has been a trend since he joined Hendrick Motorsports! I expect big things from him in 2017 at Dover.
Texas and Kansas are the next two tracks, I think he could run well at in 2017. I would say that Texas is his second-best intermediate track after Dover. Texas always been very good to Kasey with the #5 team. He seems to just run well at Texas for whatever reason. His numbers at Texas are impressive. Especially over the past 11 races there (10 of them with HMS by the way), as he has posted 8 Top 11 finishes. On top of that, he's posted 6 Top 8 finishes in those 8 Top 11 finishes. Even better? 3 of the past 4 races at Texas ended in 8th place for Kasey Kahne! That's great for him, as consistency isn't a strong point for him. However, lately at Texas it has been normal. I like when I know where Kahne will finish. He is so up and down, so make a mental note that Kahne been predictable at Texas. We like that sort of stuff from him.
Kansas is the last track I want to look at, among the intermediate tracks. Kansas been a great track for him from a career point of view and more recently. That's a good combo! Kansas ranked as his 3rd-best track from a career-point of view and 6th-best track over the past 2 seasons. They are both in terms of average finish, of course. Over the past 4 races, he's finished 17th or better in all 4 races. Also he's finished inside the top 10 in the past 2 of 3 races. Since joining HMS, he's finished 6 of 10 races inside the top 10. His numbers has dropped over the past couple seasons, but still I like him at Kansas. Historically, he been just as good or better at places like Charlotte, Kentucky and Las Vegas. But his performance has dropped at all three tracks recently. Especially at Charlotte, and Kentucky and Las Vegas, we only visit them once per year. With that said, I like going with data from the past two seasons. It brings more relevancy. Keep an eye of him at those tracks though.
Short Flat tracks
Shorter flats are tracks that he been a bit of up and down, but still good for him. These tracks are places like Richmond, New Hampshire and Phoenix. Kahne has mix numbers at them, but he will have high-teen potential most likely with upside to sniff the top 10 as well. I would say that Richmond is his best track overall recently. Statically speaking, Richmond is a top 3 track for him over the past 2 seasons. One of only two tracks that, he has posted 3 Top 10 finishes in that span. The only another one is listed up above (Dover), so Richmond is a very good place for him. When looking at the numbers at Richmond for him with HMS, you can say it is his best track on the schedule. No, I am serious here! Over the past 10 races (all with HMS), he's finished 14th or better in 7 races. So, he has only finished worse than 14th place in 3 races since 2012. Also he's finished 9 of 10 races in 18th or better. Even better? 3 of the past 4 races ending in 6th or better. Yes, you read that right! His last four finishes at Richmond: 6th, 4th, 18th and 6th.
New Hampshire and Phoenix are close when looking at the average finishes themselves recently. However, after some digging, you will find out that New Hampshire is a much better place to use him though. Neither are very good overall though. Both are middle of the road tracks for him honestly. He has shown a lot of promise at New Hampshire, I will note. Over the past 10 races at New Hampshire, he's posted 6 finishes of 11th or better. So 6 of 10 races at New Hampshire has ended in 11th or better. That's good, but only 3 of his past 6 races ended inside the top 11. Good news? 2 of the past three New Hampshire races ended inside the top 10. Even better? He was top 12 before getting involved in the Larson/Newman wreck at New Hampshire in July 2016. I like what I had seen lately from him at New Hampshire! Possibly he is making a run at New Hampshire again? We will see. At Phoenix? Let's just say, his numbers are pretty ugly lately and pretty much been that way since he's joined HMS in 2012. Over the past 10 races at Phoenix, he has posted 5 Top 15 finishes. He had some very quality runs at Phoenix lately, but the bad ones outweigh them though. With 4 of the past 5 races ending in 13th or worse. 3 of those 4 bad finishes has ended in 21st-26th place range. I don't want any part of him at Phoenix, until he proves he can be truth at this place!
Road Courses
Road courses are a very underrated type-track for Kahne and I don't think enough people realize how good he really is honestly. He's great at Sonoma. He's a legit sleeper and almost has top 10 potential every track he goes to this places. However, don't expect anything beyond low-teen or high-single digits. Realistically, Sonoma is a top 5 track for Kasey honestly. You could make a case for the top 3 as well. I think, he's close to it at Sonoma. He's one of the best in the series at Sonoma. It's a strong track for him, make no mistake on that! He's finished 9th or better in 4 straight races at Sonoma. While, finishing 14th or better in all 5 races there with the #5 team. Going back further, he's finished 6 of the past 8 races inside the top 9. So, overall he's finished 14th or better in 7 of past 8 races at Sonoma! That's unbelievable really for Kasey.
Watkins Glenn is a much tougher venue and the results has shown that for Kasey! Over the past 9 starts (5 of them with HMS), he's finished 18th or better just five times. 2 of those top 18 finishes has came over the past 4 races as well. However, he's finished 20th or worse in 3 of past 4 races at Watkins Glenn. Including finishes of 20th, 42nd and 34th. Over the past 6 races? He's finished 20th or worse in 4 races. Not good at all. That's 66% of the races held since 2011. I would stick to Sonoma and avoid Watkins Glenn with Kasey!
Larger Flat tracks
I would say that the larger flat racetracks will be a weakness for him in 2017. He's better at Indy honestly, but in reality he hasn't been good at Indianapolis lately. The past two seasons, he's finished 18th and 24th. In fact, he's finished 18th or 24th in 3 of the past 6 races at Indy. He had an 3 race-streak of 12th or better from 2012-2014. But the Hendrick cars has sucked in the summer months, right around the time we go to Indy. So no surprise, he had bad finishes the last couple seasons. Pocono will be tough for Kahne (to certain extent), than Indy will. Personally, I think Pocono is one of the more difficult places to master for a guy with Kasey's skill-set. In 10 races with HMS (since 2012), he has finished 15th or worse five times. 4 of those 5 races, he has ended 29th or worse. Those aren't ideal numbers for him, but he's turning the corner lately though. As 4 of the past 5 races, he's finished in the 6th-15th range. In fact, 5 of the past 7 ended inside the top 15. That's good, right? No doubt! So there's light at end of the tunnel on the larger flat tracks, question is can you trust him? Guess we will find out!
Short Tracks
You could make a case for the short tracks as being a strength for him, but at the same time I find it hard to trust Kahne on tracks that see number of wrecks. And short tracks usually see more than a few wrecks, because of all of the tight racing. Bristol and Martinsville can be very good tracks for him, if he stays out of trouble. Based on pure numbers, it's obvious that Martinsville is his better track lately. Over the past 2 seasons, he has finished 9th-11th in 3 of 4 races. That's good, right? I would agree with that. Problem is, he hasn't been consistent at Martinsville since joining HMS. In 10 races with the #5 team, he's finished 22nd or worse in 5 of those races. That's 50% of the time! His inconsistency is what makes this a weakness. Bristol is a good track for him, but not a track that has a lot of upside the last couple seasons for him though. He's finished 13th-17th in the past three races at Bristol. That's good, but he also has finishes of 35th and 37th in the two races before that 3-race span. Overall, 7 of 10 races at HMS (at Bristol) has ended inside the top 17 for Kasey. I don't think consistency is an issue for him at Bristol. I think recently, it has more to do with his upside. 0 Top 10 finishes in his last 5 races and only 1 top 15 finishes as well. His record at Bristol is impressive as a whole, but I think he's need to reestablish himself first though. Top 18 finishes aren't bad, but we expect from him at Bristol.
Restrictor Plates
If there's one true weakness for Kahne than it's on the plate tracks. Large flat tracks and short track has it weakness but there's also some strong aspect to those tracks for Kasey. The plate tracks, there's really isn't anything that you can say that is strong for him. Plain and simple, Kasey just is complete trash at them. He's doesn't like them at all! Both Daytona and Talladega are ranked inside his bottom 5 in both recently and career point of view. I am just going to put one stat out there that's sum up what I think about him. Ready? 11 of the past 16 races (combined at Daytona and Talladega), he's finished 27th or worse! And that's isn't an typo either. He has actually finished 27th or worse in 11 of the past 16 plate tracks. 31st or worse in 10 of those 16 races. I rest my case!
Twitter - @Garryy12
Kasey Kahne had another disappointing season with Hendrick Motorsports, but ended the season on a hot streak. Something, we haven't seen much from Kahne for more than a couple races. But from Michigan to Texas, he posted top 12 finishes on a consistent basis. Only two races, where he finished worse than 12th. In the final 14-races, he posted 9 Top 12 finishes with 7 Top 10 finishes. That's really good!
Intermediate tracks
He will be at his best on the intermediate tracks overall. This is a obvious strength for Hendrick Motorsports as a whole. Kahne may be the weak link in terms of performance, but that doesn't change he's drives for one of the top teams. Anyone that drives for a top team (aside from Danica maybe) will be a solid performer on the intermediate tracks. Kahne is at the bottom of the pecking order, with mostly low-teens potential. With that said, he has upside from time to time to finish inside the top 10. But anything beyond 7th or 8th is likely asking for too much, in my opinion. His best intermediate tracks? I would say Dover, Texas and Kansas honestly. Statistically from career point of view, he's very good at Charlotte, Las Vegas and Kentucky as well. However, he hasn't gotten the results over the past couple seasons. Also we only visit Kentucky and Las Vegas once per year, so data there is limited. It can be good or bad, depending which side of the coin you are on.
I would say that Dover been his best track, most recently. When looking at the past two seasons, he been his best at Dover! Historically speaking (From career point of view), Dover is ranked as one of his worst tracks. As it's ranked 19th of 23 tracks in terms of average finish. But over the past 2 seasons (4 races), he has gathered 3 Top 10 finishes with 4 straight finishes of 12th or better. Even better? Over his past 11 races at Doer, he's finished worse than 20th in only one race. And that was 23rd place. Digging deeper into the data pool, he's posted 8 Top 15 over his past 11 races at Dover. Including 6 Top 12 finishes. And 4 of those 6 races came over the past two seasons with HMS. Pretty good! It's no fluke that he's been running well at Dover lately. It has been a trend since he joined Hendrick Motorsports! I expect big things from him in 2017 at Dover.
Texas and Kansas are the next two tracks, I think he could run well at in 2017. I would say that Texas is his second-best intermediate track after Dover. Texas always been very good to Kasey with the #5 team. He seems to just run well at Texas for whatever reason. His numbers at Texas are impressive. Especially over the past 11 races there (10 of them with HMS by the way), as he has posted 8 Top 11 finishes. On top of that, he's posted 6 Top 8 finishes in those 8 Top 11 finishes. Even better? 3 of the past 4 races at Texas ended in 8th place for Kasey Kahne! That's great for him, as consistency isn't a strong point for him. However, lately at Texas it has been normal. I like when I know where Kahne will finish. He is so up and down, so make a mental note that Kahne been predictable at Texas. We like that sort of stuff from him.
Kansas is the last track I want to look at, among the intermediate tracks. Kansas been a great track for him from a career point of view and more recently. That's a good combo! Kansas ranked as his 3rd-best track from a career-point of view and 6th-best track over the past 2 seasons. They are both in terms of average finish, of course. Over the past 4 races, he's finished 17th or better in all 4 races. Also he's finished inside the top 10 in the past 2 of 3 races. Since joining HMS, he's finished 6 of 10 races inside the top 10. His numbers has dropped over the past couple seasons, but still I like him at Kansas. Historically, he been just as good or better at places like Charlotte, Kentucky and Las Vegas. But his performance has dropped at all three tracks recently. Especially at Charlotte, and Kentucky and Las Vegas, we only visit them once per year. With that said, I like going with data from the past two seasons. It brings more relevancy. Keep an eye of him at those tracks though.
Short Flat tracks
Shorter flats are tracks that he been a bit of up and down, but still good for him. These tracks are places like Richmond, New Hampshire and Phoenix. Kahne has mix numbers at them, but he will have high-teen potential most likely with upside to sniff the top 10 as well. I would say that Richmond is his best track overall recently. Statically speaking, Richmond is a top 3 track for him over the past 2 seasons. One of only two tracks that, he has posted 3 Top 10 finishes in that span. The only another one is listed up above (Dover), so Richmond is a very good place for him. When looking at the numbers at Richmond for him with HMS, you can say it is his best track on the schedule. No, I am serious here! Over the past 10 races (all with HMS), he's finished 14th or better in 7 races. So, he has only finished worse than 14th place in 3 races since 2012. Also he's finished 9 of 10 races in 18th or better. Even better? 3 of the past 4 races ending in 6th or better. Yes, you read that right! His last four finishes at Richmond: 6th, 4th, 18th and 6th.
New Hampshire and Phoenix are close when looking at the average finishes themselves recently. However, after some digging, you will find out that New Hampshire is a much better place to use him though. Neither are very good overall though. Both are middle of the road tracks for him honestly. He has shown a lot of promise at New Hampshire, I will note. Over the past 10 races at New Hampshire, he's posted 6 finishes of 11th or better. So 6 of 10 races at New Hampshire has ended in 11th or better. That's good, but only 3 of his past 6 races ended inside the top 11. Good news? 2 of the past three New Hampshire races ended inside the top 10. Even better? He was top 12 before getting involved in the Larson/Newman wreck at New Hampshire in July 2016. I like what I had seen lately from him at New Hampshire! Possibly he is making a run at New Hampshire again? We will see. At Phoenix? Let's just say, his numbers are pretty ugly lately and pretty much been that way since he's joined HMS in 2012. Over the past 10 races at Phoenix, he has posted 5 Top 15 finishes. He had some very quality runs at Phoenix lately, but the bad ones outweigh them though. With 4 of the past 5 races ending in 13th or worse. 3 of those 4 bad finishes has ended in 21st-26th place range. I don't want any part of him at Phoenix, until he proves he can be truth at this place!
Road Courses
Road courses are a very underrated type-track for Kahne and I don't think enough people realize how good he really is honestly. He's great at Sonoma. He's a legit sleeper and almost has top 10 potential every track he goes to this places. However, don't expect anything beyond low-teen or high-single digits. Realistically, Sonoma is a top 5 track for Kasey honestly. You could make a case for the top 3 as well. I think, he's close to it at Sonoma. He's one of the best in the series at Sonoma. It's a strong track for him, make no mistake on that! He's finished 9th or better in 4 straight races at Sonoma. While, finishing 14th or better in all 5 races there with the #5 team. Going back further, he's finished 6 of the past 8 races inside the top 9. So, overall he's finished 14th or better in 7 of past 8 races at Sonoma! That's unbelievable really for Kasey.
Watkins Glenn is a much tougher venue and the results has shown that for Kasey! Over the past 9 starts (5 of them with HMS), he's finished 18th or better just five times. 2 of those top 18 finishes has came over the past 4 races as well. However, he's finished 20th or worse in 3 of past 4 races at Watkins Glenn. Including finishes of 20th, 42nd and 34th. Over the past 6 races? He's finished 20th or worse in 4 races. Not good at all. That's 66% of the races held since 2011. I would stick to Sonoma and avoid Watkins Glenn with Kasey!
Larger Flat tracks
I would say that the larger flat racetracks will be a weakness for him in 2017. He's better at Indy honestly, but in reality he hasn't been good at Indianapolis lately. The past two seasons, he's finished 18th and 24th. In fact, he's finished 18th or 24th in 3 of the past 6 races at Indy. He had an 3 race-streak of 12th or better from 2012-2014. But the Hendrick cars has sucked in the summer months, right around the time we go to Indy. So no surprise, he had bad finishes the last couple seasons. Pocono will be tough for Kahne (to certain extent), than Indy will. Personally, I think Pocono is one of the more difficult places to master for a guy with Kasey's skill-set. In 10 races with HMS (since 2012), he has finished 15th or worse five times. 4 of those 5 races, he has ended 29th or worse. Those aren't ideal numbers for him, but he's turning the corner lately though. As 4 of the past 5 races, he's finished in the 6th-15th range. In fact, 5 of the past 7 ended inside the top 15. That's good, right? No doubt! So there's light at end of the tunnel on the larger flat tracks, question is can you trust him? Guess we will find out!
Short Tracks
You could make a case for the short tracks as being a strength for him, but at the same time I find it hard to trust Kahne on tracks that see number of wrecks. And short tracks usually see more than a few wrecks, because of all of the tight racing. Bristol and Martinsville can be very good tracks for him, if he stays out of trouble. Based on pure numbers, it's obvious that Martinsville is his better track lately. Over the past 2 seasons, he has finished 9th-11th in 3 of 4 races. That's good, right? I would agree with that. Problem is, he hasn't been consistent at Martinsville since joining HMS. In 10 races with the #5 team, he's finished 22nd or worse in 5 of those races. That's 50% of the time! His inconsistency is what makes this a weakness. Bristol is a good track for him, but not a track that has a lot of upside the last couple seasons for him though. He's finished 13th-17th in the past three races at Bristol. That's good, but he also has finishes of 35th and 37th in the two races before that 3-race span. Overall, 7 of 10 races at HMS (at Bristol) has ended inside the top 17 for Kasey. I don't think consistency is an issue for him at Bristol. I think recently, it has more to do with his upside. 0 Top 10 finishes in his last 5 races and only 1 top 15 finishes as well. His record at Bristol is impressive as a whole, but I think he's need to reestablish himself first though. Top 18 finishes aren't bad, but we expect from him at Bristol.
Restrictor Plates
If there's one true weakness for Kahne than it's on the plate tracks. Large flat tracks and short track has it weakness but there's also some strong aspect to those tracks for Kasey. The plate tracks, there's really isn't anything that you can say that is strong for him. Plain and simple, Kasey just is complete trash at them. He's doesn't like them at all! Both Daytona and Talladega are ranked inside his bottom 5 in both recently and career point of view. I am just going to put one stat out there that's sum up what I think about him. Ready? 11 of the past 16 races (combined at Daytona and Talladega), he's finished 27th or worse! And that's isn't an typo either. He has actually finished 27th or worse in 11 of the past 16 plate tracks. 31st or worse in 10 of those 16 races. I rest my case!
Twitter - @Garryy12
