Sprint Cup driver has won four of five Camping World Truck starts
JR Motorsports announced Wednesday that Kasey Kahne will drive the team's No. 00 Chevrolet in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series next weekend at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
Kahne, a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series teammate to JRM co-owner Dale Earnhardt Jr. at Hendrick Motorsports, is scheduled to making his first start in the Truck Series since 2012 on May 15 in the N.C. Education Lottery 200 (8:30 p.m. ET, FOX Sports 1). The move was announced by Kelley Earnhardt Miller, general manager for the Mooresville, N.C.-based team.
"I'm looking forward to running the Truck race at Charlotte for JR Motorsports," said Kahne, who has led 307 of 686 laps in his Truck Series career. "They had a fast truck in the Martinsville race and have a great program going over there. Thanks to Kelley, Dale Jr. and Gene Haas for putting this deal together. I haven't been in a truck race in a long time, but I always enjoy racing in that series."
Kahne boasts a nearly undefeated record in Truck Series competition with four victories -- twice at Darlington, and once each at Homestead-Miami and Rockingham -- in five career starts. His only non-winning appearance in the Camping World Truck Series was a second-place effort at Pocono Raceway in 2010.
JR Motorsports had previously set a 10-race schedule this year for 17-year-old Cole Custer, who was announced as a returning member to the NASCAR Next youth initiative Wednesday. Custer, the youngest winner in NASCAR national series history, was the driver for JRM's Truck Series debut in March at Martinsville Speedway.
"Getting Kasey behind the wheel of the No. 00 is going to be a true asset for the team and Cole," Earnhardt Miller said in a release provided by the team. "With Cole's age, he's not eligible to compete on some of the bigger tracks, so we had to limit the schedule based on that fact. This opportunity to have Kasey in the truck will help the team evaluate our program on an intermediate track. And Kasey's stats in that series really speak to his talent."