Kasey Kahne 2011 Fantasy NASCAR Preview
2010 Stats: Points Finish 20th, 0 Wins, 7 Top Fives, 10 Top Tens, Average Running Position 16.7, Average Finish 18.9, Laps Led 350, Driver Rating 82.8
In 2011 Kasey Kahne will be joining Red Bull Racing and before you know it he’ll be gone. Red Bull Racing is Kasey Kahne’s one year home until his Hendrick ride opens up. I think his Red Bull ride will be every bit as competitive as his previous #9 RPM car. I view this move as a horizontal move for Kahne. It’s neither worse or better.
My main Kasey Kahne concern about the 2011 season is how committed will Red Bull Racing be to their one year man? Will he get the same level of support as Brian Vickers? I say no, and for this reason I think it’s very important that Kasey Kahne gets off to a good start because if things go badly for him early then it could be a very rough season for him.
Strengths – Kasey Kahne is an elite intermediate track driver when things are going right for him. Luckily intermediate tracks are also a strength of Red Bull Racing.
Weaknesses – Kasey Kahne is a streaky driver and when things go bad then its time to bail. Another notable thing about Kasey Kahne is that he’s not the best at overcoming adversity on the track so if things look bad from the start then avoid Kahne altogether.
Intermediate Track Grade- B+, Kasey Kahne is a very good intermediate track driver. Last year in the season finale at Homestead Kasey Kahne won the pole and finished 6th in Red Bull equipment. In his other Red Bull intermediate track race last year he finished 13th (Texas). His best intermediate tracks are in the Texas, Charlotte and Atlanta cookie cutter template.
Flat Track Grade- B, When it comes to flat tracks and Kasey Kahne the bigger they are the better. On the small flat tracks in 2010 Kasey Kahne was really bad. His average finish on them was 29.75. I’m not to concerned about that because in 2009 he finished in the top fifteen 75% percent of the time on them.
Restrictor Plate Track Grade- B-, Kasey Kahne got off to a good start on restrictor plate tracks in 2010 by winning one of the shootout races but after that things regressed. On average I would say you can count on Kasey Kahne once a year on these wild card races. In the summer Daytona race Kahne finished a season high second.
Short Track Grade- B-, Kahne had one top ten at short tracks in 2010 (5th at Bristol). His 2010 short track average finish was 20th. Statically Kahne has only finished in the top ten in about a quarter of his short track races.
Road Course Track Grade- B, Much to my surprise Kasey Kahne backed up his (2009) Infineon win by finishing fourth in 2010. In both 2009 and 2010 Kahne finished 17th at Watkins Glen.
How to use Kasey Kahne from a Fantasy NASCAR Perspective in 2011? I would suggest fantasy racers really focus on using Kasey Kahne at the intermediate tracks and the big flat tracks. There’s no need to be creative when it comes to using Kahne.
