[Havax]

Big Kasey Kahne face wondering what has happened to this guy? 2 years ago I remember turning on speed for qualifying and hearing his name always near the front. Sundays would be exciting just for the fact that I could watch my favorite driver up front battling it out. Now hes barely staying on the lead lap most of the time. A year ago, before the season even started I set up a trip to California for the august race. Thinking I will see the fast and always consistent #9 car up front, well I was in for a rude awakening. He ran consistently and finished in the top 15, but it was like what the heck is going on? This season seems to be no different except hes at least in the top 15 in points.

Now I'm not saying I don't like watching the races, but it would be nice to see him fight for a win once and a while. Like watching Kyle Busch rip around is somewhat disappointing because kasey did it 2 years ago (but without pissing anyone off lol).

The last 2 races, Richmond and Darlington. Usually good tracks for him. The car is an okay car at richmond, and they are just tweaking it a little here and there. Darlington it was a backup car but look at the #48 car...wrecked 2 cars and was up front all night until late. Once again they made little changes. It erks me that they just don't make a wholesale change and see if it works. For example, at richmond Jeff Gordon was a lap down early on and had a horrible car. At the end of the race he finished ahead of the #9 car who basically stayed in the 10th spot while everyone around him got better.

Last night, I was woahed when they put 3 spring rubbers into the left rear with around 100 laps left. All I usually hear is a pound out here and a round in here. Guess what, his car was turning better but the change made him real loose and they had no time to adjust to get the car better. I'm just hoping in a week the #9 car makes it into the allstar race and in 2 weeks can bring home a top 5 or a win.

When I began this I was hoping to keep it short but I just had to get this out and let out a bit of a ramble of things. Hopefully this will be the first of many posts on this forum.

[jks812]

Welcome to the forum. I hate seeing Kasey run like he is too. Don't know what they need to do, but I wish they'd do something.

[Racer Duck]

Hey Havax, welcome to GoTeamsGo and the NASCAR Forums.

I'm one of those wishing Kasey and crew would find the handle. Makes me wonder is Ray E. is off playing somewhere else this season.

I look forward to many more posts from you. And don't forget to make get over to the predictions tread and make yours for the upcoming race.

[3fanforever]

Originally Posted by jks812

I hate seeing Kasey run like he is too. Don't know what they need to do, but I wish they'd do something.

I'll bet Budweiser is thinking the same thing

[Racer Duck]

Originally Posted by 3fanforever

I'll bet Budweiser is thinking the same thing

well, they're getting plenty of camera time .. from inside the car. seems there was a shot of Kasey on every caution .. sitting there .. waiting for "Go! Go! Go!"... most times it looks like a still picture, then he hits a bump or something - must be his open wheel background that keeps him so relaxed and still ...

[Mudbug]

Im a big fan of his an hope him & his team can get on the ball & figure out what the problem is. Might be spending to much time making commercials & not enough time behind the wheel. I read somewhere that in 2004 he would play Nascar Racing 2003 all day. LoL...

[BiscuitMan]

Lowe's is an intermediate track, which is the type track Kasey Kahne has run good on in the past. He has 6 wins on the intermediate tracks and 1 win on a short track. Road courses and superspeedways are not his forte.

This season started with top 10 finishes. Lately, he has become mediocre. Someone at GEM should be concentrating on heading off a potential bad year. They need to get a hold of the situation now. This is like the mid-season break with the Allstar race. Relax, take stock of where the teams is at, and make adjustments to fix the problem.

[Havax]

didnt he change crew chiefs after 2006? wasnt tommy baldwin jr his crew chief from 2004-2006?

[simple simon]

Originally Posted by Racer Duck

Makes me wonder is Ray E. is off playing somewhere else this season.

well Ray was on ESPN2 this morning in the studio ... so he seems to have spare time

though i agree the Bud car is hardly ever on-screen now .... seems odd

[LSC9901]

Originally Posted by simple simon

well Ray was on ESPN2 this morning in the studio ... so he seems to have spare time

though i agree the Bud car is hardly ever on-screen now .... seems odd

I'd like to be able to read over that Bud contract. I wonder how long it'll be before they are on another car.

[Jeffrey4396]

I wonder how long it will be until all there sponsors are on other cars. Is it sad that there satellite team (43 PE) is running better then two of your own team? They are in danger of becoming the next Woodsbrothers and PE.

[clutch]

Originally Posted by Racer Duck

I'm one of those wishing Kasey and crew would find the handle. Makes me wonder is Ray E. is off playing somewhere else this season.

.

I wouldnt expect to see too much of him and he will probably ditch his 20 percent stake

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[SpaceCadet]

Originally Posted by Racer Duck

Makes me wonder is Ray E. is off playing somewhere else this season.

Where's Erin Crocker?

[LSC9901]

It's tough reading an article such as this one. You can read into it what you want. It seems to me he does want to be involved but he has no love of where NASCAR 's COT is and how it it is used. It sounded like he wants to gather info but not really be involved with the car or race day at all. If he isn't happy with this car then we may never see him back into NASCAR in any shape or form of the past.

[Racer Duck]

Ray seems to have taken a long hard look at the events of the past several years that he's been involved in and decided most of them aren't things he really wanted to do or had no talent for. Nothing wrong with that, nor is figuring out what you really want to do - some folks never figure that out, they just follow someone's instructions and laid out map and never (or hardly ever) question where it's going.

He seems to have put a plan in place which allows him lots of flexibility, while keeping his "retirement fund" safe. guess you could sum it all up as "Been there, done that, it's OK, but wanna do something else!" Ray seem to want to be an original artist rather than a very good copy cat.

Whether his future includes Erin or not is anybody's guess .. it sure hasn't been in the news for quite a long time now.