Guest Column by Cathy Elliott
Each January, the National Motorsports Press Association (NMPA) holds its annual convention and awards banquet in Charlotte. It’s a fun event, and it’s always nice to see the sometimes underappreciated motorsports media corps rewarded for its hard work.
The portion of the program attendees either look forward to most or absolutely dread, depending on how photogenic they are, is a slide show of media members going about their business during the previous season, punctuated by pithy comments from a current NMPA executive board member.
On one particularly memorable evening a few years back, the slide show included several totally random shots of Kasey Kahne, to which Mike Hembree, current NASCAR editor for SPEEDTV.com and that year’s purveyor of pith, would simply deadpan: “Kasey Kahne. He’s dreamy.”
About the third time this happened, the audience joined in with the refrain, and I have to confess I haven’t seen a photo of Kahne since without “He’s dreamy,” providing the background music in my head.
Silly, yes, but it now seems that others share this opinion with the NMPA.
There’s a slight chance you missed this snippet of recent NASCAR news, because I have it on pretty good authority that some people actually do live in caves, hide under rocks and vacation on the moon. So for all two or three of you, here’s the deal.
Hendrick Motorsports announced on April 14 that Richard Petty Motorsports driver Kasey “He’s Dreamy” Kahne would be taking over the No. 5 Chevy, currently piloted by Mark Martin, beginning with the 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season.
The contract was described as being “long-term,” which after further investigation turns out to mean something like “five years and then we’ll see.”
Drivers change teams all the time, for a lot of different reasons, but this is an unusual case. Speculation has run rampant since the announcement, as even the most mathematically challenged among us figured out fairly quickly, that something significant lies between the current NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season and the 2010 season; namely, that would be the year 2011. There are so many theories flying around that all we seem to be missing is a grassy knoll.
What will KK do next year? Mark Martin and Dale Earnhardt, Jr. both have contracts extending to and through the end of 2011, and call me crazy, but I’m guessing that Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson’s deals with HMS extend into the afterlife. So why, fans are wondering, would Hendrick Motorsports sign a contract with such a talented and popular driver without having a car for him to drive?
Just think of it like shoe shopping. Man, woman, child or horse, there are certain styles of footwear that fit us better than others. So naturally, whether it is Cole Haan or Converse, Ferragamo or a farrier’s iron, we naturally gravitate toward those same choices over and over again. They suit us.
Hendrick Motorsports is like that. Their drivers are unique individuals with their own personalities and driving styles, but they have some similarities, too. They look, dress, speak and conduct themselves in an appropriate way. They are not only role models; they are NASCAR poster boys. They convey a positive image for the sport.
Kasey Kahne – who is dreamy, in case you didn’t know — is a brand that fits well in this closet. He definitely looks the part; still young with a long racing future ahead of him, his good looks have been the subject of many an amusing TV commercial. Anyone who has watched the annual NASCAR Sprint Cup Awards Banquet has probably noticed he isn’t all that comfortable with formal speech-making, but he’s a generally cordial person with a calm manner of speaking and a low-key personality not much given to controversy.
And lest we forget, he’s a good driver. He was the Cup Series’ Raybestos Rookie of the Year in 2005, and made the Chase for the Sprint Cup field in 2006 — when he won six races — and in 2009.
No one can say with any degree of certainly at this point exactly what car Kahne will be driving in 2011, but why get so worked up about it? There are plenty of options, with Stewart-Haas Racing being the most commonly mentioned for now. What we do know is that Rick Hendrick has said he will be competing in the Cup Series full time in 2011. And we know the car will be a fast, competitive one.
How can we be so sure? That’s easy; the legendary Rick Hendrick agrees that Kasey Kahne is, in fact, dreamy, and if you want to second-guess THAT guy, you’re entirely on your own.
Because Mr. Hendrick understands full well this time honored purchasing principle: If the shoe fits, buy it. Or at least sign it to a long-term contract.
The opinions expressed in this articles are solely those of the author and not this website.
