Early move to Red Bull caps wild week for Kahne

On the morning after he walked away from his No. 9 car claiming an illness, former Richard Petty Motorsports driver Kasey Kahne was asked if he'd be in a vehicle fielded by Red Bull Racing -- the team he's slated to drive for next season -- before this year was out.

"I don't know," he said Sunday, following a series of events that led RPM to put J.J. Yeley in his car to finish the previous night's event at Charlotte Motor Speedway. "I don't know if that will happen or not. I doubt it."

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Beau Estes and Marty Snider shed light on Kasey Kahne's release from RPM.

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There are no more doubts. After being released by RPM on Wednesday night, Kahne officially has landed at Red Bull five races early, where he will get a head start on his 2011 campaign beginning this weekend at Martinsville Speedway. Kahne will drive the organization's No. 83 car, with Jimmy Elledge as crew chief. Kahne will drive for Red Bull next season before sliding into Hendrick Motorsports' No. 5 car beginning in 2012.

"With our agreement only being for one year, there is a great sense of urgency to get started on 2011," said Red Bull vice president Jay Frye, who along with Kahne will speak to the media at 10 a.m. ET Friday at Martinsville. "With Kasey coming earlier than planned, we are excited to have a five-race head start."

Aric Almirola, originally slated to drive the No. 83 car for Red Bull this weekend, will instead be in Kahne's old No. 9. RPM said its driver lineup in that vehicle for the remainder of the year is yet to be determined. Marcos Ambrose, who is slated to move to RPM's No. 19 car next season, will remain in his No. 47 at JTG Daugherty Racing for the balance of this year, that team confirmed.

The early move to Red Bull caps a furious few days for Kahne, who crashed out of Saturday night's race at Charlotte and walked away from his No. 9 car claiming to be ill. The next day at a charity 5K run he hosted and competed in, the driver said he had vomited, but also was disgusted over the fact that he had lost his brakes for "the third time this year and the second time in three weeks," he said.

It turned out to be the last time Kahne would drive the No. 9 car, the only vehicle he's used at the Cup Series level since he broke into NASCAR's top series in 2004. RPM used Yeley to complete the race. "I think anytime you're a competitor and you spin around and get tore up, you don't like that," RPM vice president Robbie Loomis said Saturday night. "... Seeing as Kasey was feeling bad, there was no sense in having him, so we got J.J."

And yet, the incident highlighted what had been an undercurrent of frustration between Kahne and RPM over reliability issues. An 11-time winner on NASCAR's top circuit, Kahne has gone without a victory this season, and failed to finish four times.

"I was told I needed to start doing my part, [that's] what [a] guy told me last night after the race," he said Sunday. "I'm not going to say names, but I was told I need to start doing my part. I don't have any control over these issues. I don't know how many parts I've broken ... As a driver, I'm doing my part. I work as hard as anybody out there."

Kenny Francis, Kahne's longtime crew chief and confidante at RPM, will follow the driver to Red Bull next season. What's yet to be determined is exactly which car Kahne will drive for the organization next year. Brian Vickers, the regular driver in the No. 83, has been out most of this year with blood clots, but expects to be back for 2011. That leads to the possibilities of Kahne replacing Scott Speed in the team's second car, or Red Bull fielding a third entry for its new driver next season.

Related:
• Kahne released from Richard Petty Motorsports
• Kahne sick to his stomach, and of his car