Kasey Kahne acknowledged Thursday afternoon he’s concerned the remainder of his time at Red Bull Racing Team may be troublesome given the organization’s uncertain future.
Kasey Kahne ‘A Little Worried’ About Red Bull Racing Team’s Performance During Remainder Of 2011 NASCAR Season
“If everybody is unsure about what they have, I don’t think they’re going to perform like if they knew where they were going to be next year and knew that they were stable,” he said after an Infineon Raceway-sponsored lunch in San Francisco. “So as of right now, I’m a bit worried, yeah. I don’t see how you can’t be.”
Kahne, who went through a similar situation last year with Richard Petty Motorsports, said that in his experience with teams struggling to find financial support, “It slowly falls apart.”
“It’s kind of discouraging to be part of it, but at the same time, it’s not even about myself,” he said. “It’s about those people and those families. And that’s why (the performance) gets screwed up, because it’s them that’s getting hurt by this whole deal.”
Kahne, who was already signed to leave Red Bull for Hendrick Motorsports next season, said he heard rumblings about his current team’s troubles at Michigan. Those rumors, which became a reality on Monday, quickly spread to the team members.
“A lot of pit crew guys, a lot of guys working on the cars, are like, ‘Man, what am I going to do? I have a family,’” he said. “And as soon as that gets started, that doesn’t make a team any better. That’s just the way it is.”
Though Kahne said he’s been told Red Bull very much wants the teams to continue under different ownership, the future is still uncertain. And that means the performance of the team is, too.
"As far as Red Bull putting everything they have into the car and the program the rest of the season, they're going to do that," he said. "They've said that. But it's the people. And if the people feel like they're in a stable place, they're going to do a better job – they're going to perform better."
Kahne said he’d like to test the No. 5 car for Hendrick before the season is over in order to get a feel for the engines and handling of the cars, but said he prefers to remain with Red Bull’s No. 4 for the races.
The driver said he felt helpless about the situation. Aside from perhaps winning a couple races earlier this season – he speculated that could have changed the outcome of Red Bull’s decision – Kahne said there was nothing he could do.
At this point, he said, he’ll “just kind of hope for the best.”
“By saying that, I’m hoping they somehow figure out a way to keep those teams going,” he said, “and everybody will start feeling comfortable again.”
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