Kasey Kahne is interviewed by Australian reporter Steve Raymond at the Sydney harbor. Credit: Dennis Newlyn/TPCR

Kahne goes Down Under in search of quick Sprint

Australian family vacation turns into New Year's Sprint car race

Most people take vacations to get away from it all, but in Kasey Kahne's case, he's combining business with pleasure in Australia this week.

After spending time with friends and family touring Sydney and Australia's Gold Coast, Kahne prepared to run a pair of Sprint car races at Tyrepower Parramatta City Raceway during the New Year's weekend, according to speedway media relations manager Dennis Newlyn.

	An aerial view of Tyrepower Parramatta City Raceway. Credit: Dennis Newlyn/TPCR
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It may be vacation time for Kahne, but he was certainly taking the competition seriously, having his Sprint car, two new engines and a complete set of parts shipped Down Under for the Kasey Kahne International Sprintcars/Coca-Cola Track Championship events in Granville.

The 66-car field included World of Outlaws legend Steve Kinser, Donny Schatz and Joey Saldana in a second Kahne-owned car, but Kahne earned top billing. In fact, the speedway sponsored a Kasey Kahne "colouring contest," in which younger fans were eligible to win free tickets.

"This is a major coup for Australian speedway to have a driver in the NASCAR ranks of his status racing at our venue," Tyrepower Parramatta City Raceway managing director Steven Green said.

"Kasey is a legitimate world-class motor racing star and the fans will get a great opportunity to see him race in our international Sprint car events at the height of our season."

On Saturday night, Kahne started second and finished third behind Schatz and Kinser in the A-main feature. Of course, the top two had an advantage, having previously raced there. They finished 1-2 in the Dec. 26 feature.

Still, Kahne showed that even without significant seat time in a Sprint car, he still knows how to run up front. He qualified third-quickest behind Schatz and Australia's Marty Perovich on the .28-mile dirt oval, ran third in his heat race and won the second of two eight-car dashes before the main event.

Kahne plans to also compete in Monday's feature before packing up and heading back to the United States.