Kasey Kahne lands 2018 NASCAR ride, signs with Leavine Family Racing

Kasey Kahne is the latest big-name free agent to solidify his 2018 plans, announcing he will join Leavine Family Racing next season to replace Michael McDowell as driver of the No. 95 Chevrolet.

The 37-year-old Kahne is losing his spot with Hendrick Motorsports at the end of the season despite having a year remaining on his contract. Kahne’s largely underwhelmed during his tenure with Hendrick, going 102 races between wins before winning the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in July.

Kahne is joining a middle-class, single-car team, a dramatic change from the four-car Hendrick team that is regarded as one of NASCAR’s best organizations. LFR was founded in 2011, but didn’t begin running full-time until last season and is winless in 139 Monster Energy Cup Series starts.

“I want to thank Leavine Family Racing for this opportunity and will work as hard as possible to help them continue improving,” Kahne said. “I am ready for this challenge and look forward to making a fresh start.”

McDowell and LFR have shown marked improvement this season, with McDowell recording 13 finishes of 20th or better — compared to nine in 2016 — including a career-best fourth in the July race at Daytona International Speedway. The team currently sits 26th in the owner standings, four spots higher than the year before.

Despite the increased performance, team owner Bob Leavine said Kahne gives the team a driver who’s shown he can win at NASCAR’s top level in addition to someone it can market to potential sponsors.

Kahne has won 18 races in a 14-year career and qualified for the playoffs six times. He is currently ranked 15th in the 16-driver playoff field, coming off a 21st-place finish in the postseason opener Sunday at Chicagoland Speedway.

“We look at this as an opportunity to go to the next level,” Leavine said. “This deals partially with performance, because obviously, Kasey is a playoff-caliber driver. He has a wealth of information being with a larger organization like Hendrick Motorsports, and we think that will help us. We also look at this as an opportunity for marketing to be able to sell sponsorship.

“Overall, we think Kasey is a good fit and felt we needed a change. There is absolutely nothing that Michael did, it was just a matter of us having to make some changes to help us move up the ladder and be a factor in the playoffs. I know Kasey will bring things that will help us.”

Why it matters: Although a high-profile driver, there was uncertainty whether Kahne would find a ride to continue racing in Cup. And while LFR isn’t an upper-echelon team, it does provide him a good opportunity to rebound after an uneven five-year stint with Hendrick.

Kahne moving out of the spotlight that comes with be a Hendrick driver and getting the chance to rejuvenate his career unfortunately comes at the expense of McDowell, whose average finish is only 1.6 positions higher than Kahne this season. McDowell’s options to remain in Cup are suspect, unless he can find sponsorship to bring to another mid-size team.