BRISTOL, Tenn. — Add close friend Kyle Larson to the list of people surprised by Kasey Kahne’s Thursday announcement that 2018 would mark his last season in NASCAR.
Larson and Kahne both split time last weekend between Michigan International Speedway and the Knoxville Nationals, the premier event for sprint-car racing. But Larson says that the notion of Kahne leaving the stock-car circuit never came up.
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Kahne, 38, said he’s opting to spend more time with his 2 1/2-year-old son, Tanner, and to continue as a hands-on driver/owner for his sprint-car operation.
“None. I was kind of caught off guard by it,” Larson said Thursday at Bristol Motor Speedway. “I spent a whole week with him in Knoxville and he never mentioned anything about that. So yeah, a little surprising but I think in his situation with having Tanner and wanting to spend more time with him, it’s going to be a lot of fun for him — as well as he’ll get to race a sprint car a bunch. He loves doing that and loves trying to figure out how to make his car go faster and being his own crew chief over there is a lot of fun for him.
“I’m excited for him because I know it’s going to be a fun change for him. He’s just going to enjoy life a lot more than he already does.”
Kahne, an 18-time winner in his 15th Monster Energy Series season, sits 28th in the drivers’ standings.