Kasey Kahne began racing at the age 14 in a Micro Midget, and won four races in his first-ever season of competition.
Kahne won the 2000 USAC Midget championship, and was named the USAC Driver of the Year and Silver Bullet Series Rookie of the Year.
He won his first Nationwide Series race in his 54th-career start at the last event of the 2003 season at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
Finishing seventh in the championship standings, Kahne ended the 2003 Cup season with four top-five and 15 top-10 finishes and one win and one Bud Pole.
In 2004, Kahne assumed Bill Elliott's role as driver of the No. 9 Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge where, at 24, he became the youngest Rookie of the Year winner since Jeff Gordon turned the trick at 22 years old in 1993.
Kahne, who finished 120 points ahead of Brendan Gaughan in the rookie standings, came close on five occasions to extending the rookie streak of at least one victory in each of the last five seasons by finishing second at Rockingham, Las Vegas, Texas, Michigan and California. His number of runner-up finishes tied Ryan Newman's 2002 rookie record.
Kahne equaled 2003 top rookie Jamie McMurray by finishing 13th in the final Cup series point standings. He took Rookie of the Race honors 19 times including 12 of the last 16 races.
Although he won his first Cup race at Richmond, Kahne experienced the "sophomore slump" in 2005 after finishing 23rd in the final standings.
Kahne experienced a breakout campaign in 2006, as he not only won six times during the season, but also qualified for the "Chase" for the first time in his career. Although he did not win the championship, he did finish the season in eighth place – a career best – despite having to deal with a teammate change halfway through the year, as Jeremy Mayfield was replaced by Elliott Sadler.
After winning six races in 2006, Kahne has slumped again. Although, his 2007 finish wasn't as bad as his 2005 season, Kahne only pulled off one top-five. However, he finished in the top-10 eight times and won two poles for a 19th place in points standings.
With Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s transfer to Hendrick Motorsports, Budweiser will sponsor Kahne and the No. 9 team beginning with the 2008 Cup season.
Kahne's Nationwide Series stats for 2007 consisted of two wins, two top-five and seven top-10 finishes, with a 27th place finish in points standings.
In 2008, Kahne returned to victory lane again in the Sprint Cup Series - twice. Kahne won the Coca-Cola 600 for the second time in his career and also won at Pocono Raceway in 2008. He also scored 14 top 10s en route to a 14th-place finish in the standings. Kahne narrowly missed making the Chase.
