Engine Problem Sidelines Kahne Early

Kasey Kahne's chances of winning his first NASCAR championship might have just went up in smoke -- literally.

Kahne's No. 9 Budweiser Dodge stumbled on lap 69 of Sunday's Chase for the Sprint Cup opener at New Hampshire Motor Speedway and belched smoke before the Washington driver made a hard left turn into the garage area. The engine problems came just days after reports said that his team's engine shop was in turmoil after a recent merger announcement.

The woes will leave Kahne with a 38th-place finish to start the 10-race run to the championship but not out of the fight quite yet.
As was quickly noted by ESPN after the Dodge engine in Kahne's No. 9 grenaded, Jimmie Johnson suffered a similar fate with a 39th-place finish to open the Chase in 2006. He rallied over the remaining 9 races to win the first of his three-consecutive titles.

After exiting the car, Kahne was obviously disappointed.

"It's a bad deal," said Kahne. "It was a good car. I thought we were a pretty good car [before the problems]."

Kahne's team, Richard Petty Motorsports, hastily announced before last week's race at Richmond that they would merge with Ford team Yates Racing. The team will switch to Fords in 2010. Mark McArdle, now the team's former vice president and manager of racing operations, reportedly had a heated confrontation with team co-owner George Gillett Jr. at Richmond over the planned merge.

It's expected that the RPM engine shop will close and that the Yates Racing engine shop will handle the power plant duties in 2010.

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

9-20-2009 @ 4:37PM

jackie's page said...

jeff gordon ,is such a whiney person ,jr passes him and he says on the radio oh i forgot he was running for a championship ,so what no one can pass him because hes running for a title ,he was in 14 when passed and is still in 14th grow up gorgon ,,,!

9-20-2009 @ 11:33PM

anzajoe said...

WHAT ELSE TO EXPECT from drivers driving on dead gasping engines like DODGE?.
ANYBODY knows what happened to the new editor JERRY
BUNGALOWSKY?.

9-22-2009 @ 12:34AM

beck49er said...

What do you want? All Imports!I guess your to young to remember that Dodge and Plymouths and Mercs,Pontaics,Buicks kicked Butt over a long period of time. ALL AMERICAN CARS.(FOREVER!!)

9-21-2009 @ 11:56PM

would you like to see more american cars racing against each other? Come on guys thanks for buying imports.Yes theres nothing worng with Mopars,Ford or Chevys,meaning no Pontiacs, Plymouths etc. come on teams lets all enjoy what we still have here in America to enjoy again Dodge Chevy and Fords,We all love NASCAR SO BE FAIR PLEASE

9-22-2009 @ 7:41AM

Kim said...

This is no great shock. Afterall, poor Kasey is driving a Dodge, the worst manufactured vehicle, IMO. Ever since Crysler bought Dodge, the cars have suffered from many engine and transmission problems. I had a Dodge van & it was nothing but a giant POS! I have never owned a car before that one or since that required a new transmission at 75,000 miles and a new engine at 85,000 miles. Kasey's got the talent but will never be a true threat as a championship contender as long as he is in a Dodge, POS!

Kim

9-22-2009 @ 1:29PM

racingmedia said...

Here's a commentary on the recent shakeups at RPM and Penske and their possible effects on the Chase for Kahne and Busch:

http://www.examiner.com/x-11775-Louisville-NASCAR-Examiner~y2009m9d22-Are-Penske-and-Petty-in-trouble

9-22-2009 @ 11:25PM

charger383 said...

Kim, Chrysler bought Dodge Brothers a very long time ago, Walter P. Chrysler was the head man then.
All the MOPARs I have had were good, from Roadrunners, Chargers, Powerwagons to K-cars to the Jeep I drive now and mine held up and I ran them hard.

9-25-2009 @ 7:47AM

Don't get me wrong. Crysler used to make a decent vehicle and one of the smartest things they ever did was purchase Jeep. I still have a 1995 Jeep Grand Cherokee Larado. It just turned over 130,000 miles. I have never had major problems with it such as engine, electrical or transmission, just general maintenance. That being said, the year my Jeep was made was the year that Crysler bought them. My Jeep was made with Jeep parts and just has a Crysler emblem stuck on it. I have talked to many who own newer model Jeeps since Crysler took over everything involving them, including parts, and those people have had nothing but problems with them. Face it, Crysler is a dying breed. It won't be long before they are bankrupt and unfortunately, no amount of government bail-out money will save them.

Just my opinion of course.

Kim

9-26-2009 @ 12:37AM

MY JAPS CARS said...

KIM, BACK THEN JEEP was owned by AMC === AMERICAN MOTOR CORPORATION and they used too be a good car manufacturer from what i kept on hearing.
WHEN CHRYSLER BOUGHT THEM IT BECAME JUNK.KEEP ya jeep as long as possible.
chrysler was messing up daimler benz great record too and so BENZ dumped them.

9-22-2009 @ 11:38PM

Both Dodge teams in the NASCAR playoffs, #2 and #9 both have team problems so bad that whatever kind of car they run it would not matter.
Dodges would be making a good showing if their teams had their stuff together.

9-22-2009 @ 11:51PM

SO WHAT CHARGE 383.1 out 1000's turnes out to be a good engine and that's if you constantly take care of.CHRYSLER SUCKS JUST AS MUCH AS THE DODGE BROTHERS.How many miles you had on those DEAD GASPING ENGINES AND TRANSMISSIONS??
HOW many head gaskets did you change? HOW MANY ELETTRICAL PROBLEMS drained your pockets?
HOW was the transmission after 80.000 miles on the odometer?? and fords? just as bad.
DODGE===DRIVING ON DEAD GASPING ENGINES
FORD=== FOUND ON ROAD DEAD
GM===GREAT MANUFACTURERS OR GOOD MOTORS; oops, USED TO BE.

9-24-2009 @ 6:40PM

CC CANNON CORP said...

Kasey Kahne's chances of winning his first NASCAR championship might have just went up in smoke --
;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;

Geoffrey Miller: where did you went to school ?

9-24-2009 @ 7:02PM

OINKJOHNSON2 said...

Come on, guys! The engine shops try to build the engines to develop max power for a limited length of time. I would bet that NONE of them could race 1000 miles, even the vaunted Hendricks machines. So, Casey's engine blew up. That is not the first, nor will it be the last. He still has a chance with decent luck and strong racing; he could still do it. By the way, maybe NASCAR should try giving the teams one mulligan over the last 10 races, which could be thrown out. That is, they would select their best 9 races of 10 to count toward the Championship.

9-24-2009 @ 9:49PM

As I said all my mopars were good. Had 170,000 miles on original 440 Magnum in a Charger when I sold it(Did have transmission rebuilt at about 110,000). My last drive in it pegged speedometer, wish I had kept it.
Drove old police car till it had 260,000 miles, that one I did put used motor in. Still driving old Powerwagon pickup.

9-25-2009 @ 2:15AM

THE MAGNUM PI,( oops i was thinking of tom selleck)MAGNUM 44O WAS A GOOD MOTOR CHARGER 383. I heard plenty of good news about in the 80's.
That was a long time ago and was about the only decent motors ever built by chrysler.The kids used to drag race those chargers against the old camaro's and firebirds.Their transmission,not as good as the engines but you got lucky for the 110k
THE PROBLEM WITH THOSE MAGNUMS 44, YOU NEEDED A PORTABLE GAS STATION following you to quench the 440 thirsty.THE COPPER CARS i hear they are better made than the average street car but ya still had to replace the engine.The townships which provide the police cars pay higher prices for than the average customer.
TODAY'S DAYS unless you can do your own repairs and save thousands in labor rates, JAPS IS THE WAY TO GO CHARGER.DETROIT IS FINISHED.
Taking
Over
Your JAPS
Obsolete =========TOYOTA.
Transportation
America

Hovering
Over JAPS
Nasty =========== HONDA.
Detroit
Automobiles