MECHANICSBURG, Pa. — Add his name to the record books. Kasey Kahne is forever a World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series winner.
The kid from Enumclaw, WA made his debut with The Greatest Show on Dirt on Aug. 22, 1997 at Grays Harbor Raceway in his home state. After that, he made a successful journey into NASCAR that included wins in the Coca-Cola 600 and Brickyard 400. Kahne ventured into Sprint Car team ownership that brought six World of Outlaws titles with Brad Sweet (five) and Daryn Pittman (one). But one thing that remained absent from his résumé was a victory with the World of Outlaws as a driver.
Entering Friday’s HVAC Distributors Morgan Cup opener at Williams Grove Speedway, Kahne had made 227 starts with the Series and boasted a pair of third place runs as his best results. But 10,364 days after he made that first appearance at Grays Harbor, Kahne finally made his way to Victory Lane.
With Anthony Macri sidelined due to an injury, Macri Motorsports opted to put Kahne in the car for a stretch of racing in Pennsylvania. Friday marked only their third night together, and Kahne forever cemented his name in the sport’s history. He fended off an early challenge from David Gravel and survived a fierce duel with Sheldon Haudenschild in the closing laps to take the checkered flag.
“This is crazy,” Kahne said. “I couldn’t believe this would happen this weekend. Two weeks ago, I was still building my own cars to get prepared to hopefully race them later this year. Nick Macri and their whole family. Man, this whole Macri Motorsports team. Joe Mooney, he’s exceptional on the wrenches. He worked at KKR (Kasey Kahne Racing), and he’s done so much more since then with Anthony. Bob, Doug, the whole team. This is a really good team.”
It was an extraordinarily special moment for Macri Motorsports crew chief, Joe Mooney, as well. Kahne’s team was a major part of his career and path to where he’s at now.
“It’s just badass,” Mooney said. “It’s a little bit of repaying the favor of getting to work for him (Kahne) for four years and a lot of good times. When I went to take this job and told him I was probably leaving and where I was going, he was my biggest cheerleader. It’s pretty damn cool.”
Kahne becomes the 156th different competitor to top a World of Outlaws Feature and the third from the state of Washington, joining Jason Solwold and Travis Jacobsen. It’s Macri Motorsports’ 10th triumph with The Greatest Show on Dirt but first with a driver other than Anthony in the car. With Kahne’s own acknowledgement of being in the No. 39M making him Posse for the stint, the win also knotted up the score in the rivalry after Michael “Buddy” Kofoid claimed the first battle at Lincoln Speedway on Tuesday for the World of Outlaws.
Sheldon Haudenschild brought the KCP Racing/NOS Energy Drink No. 18 home second for his fourth podium of the year.
David Gravel rounded out the podium in the Big Game Motorsports No. 2 to slightly up his point lead over Carson Macedo.
Chase Dietz and Troy Wagaman Jr. completed the top five.
The finish:
Feature (25 Laps): 1. 39M-Kasey Kahne[2]; 2. 18-Sheldon Haudenschild[4]; 3. 2-David Gravel[3]; 4. 23D-Chase Dietz[1]; 5. 27W-Troy Wagaman Jr[5]; 6. 83-Michael Kofoid[11]; 7. 69K-Daryn Pittman[7]; 8. 41-Carson Macedo[10]; 9. 17B-Bill Balog[6]; 10. 15-Donny Schatz[13]; 11. 1S-Logan Schuchart[14]; 12. 48-Danny Dietrich[16]; 13. 17-Spencer Bayston[12]; 14. 95-Kody Hartlaub[8]; 15. 75-Cameron Smith[23]; 16. 11-TJ Stutts[9]; 17. 67G-Justin Whittall[15]; 18. 8-Lance Dewease[20]; 19. 11A-Austin Bishop[17]; 20. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss[19]; 21. 22-Doug Hammaker[21]; 22. 12-Brent Shearer[22]; 23. 99M-Ashton Torgerson[24]; 24. 7S-Chris Windom[25]; 25. 2C-Cole Macedo[27]; 26. (DNF) 17N-Dylan Norris[26]; 27. (DNF) 1X-Chad Trout[18]
