Ford: Kahne staying put

CONCORD, N.C. -- Busch Series driver Kasey Kahne, currently under contract with both Ford Motor Company and Robert Yates Racing, has been heavily rumored to be moving to Evernham Motorsports in a Dodge Intrepid following the 2003 season.

	Kasey Kahne

Ford operations manager Greg Specht said Friday that he is aware of the speculation, but is confident it is unfounded.

"I've been hearing a lot of speculation around Kasey's status and, as far as Ford Racing is concerned, we have a multi-year contract in place with him and we intend on honoring that," Specht said.

"We feel Kasey Kahne is a future star in this sport. That's why we went ahead and signed him to a multi-year contract. We're flattered that other teams and manufacturers are interested in him because that means we must know how to evaluate promising young talent."

Evernham is thought of much the same. He hired young Casey Atwood as the first driver of the No. 19 Dodge and, of course, helped develop Jeff Gordon into one of the most dominant drivers in NASCAR history.

Speaking of Gordon, Ford executives still shudder when discussing the four-time champion, who drove a Ford for Bill Davis Racing in 1991 before Rick Hendrick and Chevrolet hired him away.

Lesson learned.

To retain Kahne, Ford contributed funding and resources to develop his career, including special test sessions at Ford's expense with Bobby Rahal's CART team and ppc Racing's Busch Series program so that Kahne could determine which form of racing he'd most like to pursue.

	Robert Yates

According to Specht, Ford also paid Kahne's travel expenses to and from USAC sprint car events so the young driver could run multiple events in the same weekend.

"We've been up front with Kasey from the very beginning and have fulfilled his wishes from the first day he showed an interest in becoming a professional race car driver," Specht said.

"We told him that it was his decision as far as what road he wanted to go down, but that we would be there to support him and provide him the necessary funds to develop his skills with competitive teams."

Specht said Ford's plan for Kahne doesn't include full time Nextel Cup racing for two more seasons. At present, Ford plans to keep Kahne in the Busch Series full-time in 2004, along with seven Nextel Cup races in a third Robert Yates Racing Ford. He would then move to Nextel Cup in 2005.

2003 Busch Series  Drivers  Crew Chiefs  Schedule  Driver Standings  Manufacturer Standings  Rookie Standings  Race Review  Best 25: Last 6 races  2003 Best Starts  2003 Best Finishes

"At the time (he started with us) he wanted to give the open-wheel series a try, so we arranged for him to compete in both the Toyota Atlantic and Formula Ford Series," Specht said. "After that experience, Kasey decided he preferred stock cars, so we went to one of our top teams in Robert Yates Racing and developed a timetable.

"We helped coordinate and fund a Busch program with Robert and Channellock for Kasey to compete in 20 races last season. We then increased our tech support and funding with the Akins team for this year so they could become more competitive."

It worked. Kahne is currently eighth in the Busch Series championship standings, fluctuating between fifth to 13th throughout the season. He has three top-five finishes, including a runner-up effort at Michigan six weeks ago, and 11 top-10s.

"Kasey has told us in the past that Ford has delivered on every promise it has made to him, and we intend on continuing with that by ensuring he remains in competitive equipment with an eye towards becoming a future champion."