Kasey Kahne breaks down expectations for NASCAR return at Rockingham

This weekend, NASCAR returns to Rockingham and Kasey Kahne returns to NASCAR. That is such a great thing to say. Kahne returns to the Xfinity Series, competing with Richard Childress Racing in a HendrickCars.com No. 33 Chevy.

Rockingham Speedway has so much NASCAR history. The Rock, as it is affectionately called, is finally hosting the sport once again. National series stock car racing has returned.

Kasey Kahne spoke to the media today before Xfinity Series practice. He was asked about his expectations.

“Yeah, I don’t know. For me, I want to race every lap. I want to be very competitive,” Kahne said. “I feel like, to be out as long as I have and come back and just do everything perfect and win would be very tough. These guys do it every weekend, they’re very good at it, and they put a lot of time in it year after year. So, I think that would be very tough to do, but I think we can be very competitive running in the top-10 throughout the race, and who knows what happens after that? We also have practice today to kinda see where we stack up.

“I think it’s pretty open, but I do wanna just really enjoy this weekend, race hard, get every single thing that I can out of the car, and enjoy it with the team. Because these guys have put a big effort in for me to come back to this. So, I’m very lucky to have such an opportunity that I do this weekend, and I think we can run really well.”

Kasey Kahne won the Truck Series race in 2012 at Rockingham. Since then, he has retired from NASCAR and taken up dirt racing. He competes full-time in the High Limit Racing series and fields a car for multi-time sprint car champion Brad Sweet.

Now, he is back in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. He might be 45 but he doesn’t look a day over 30. While his times in practice didn’t stack up with the top drivers in the series, he took in the laps and will be one to watch on Saturday.

The NASCAR Xfinity Series practiced today, but qualify tomorrow. There is Truck Series action this evening on FS1. Then we will see ARCA East racing before tomorrow’s Xfinity Series battle.

With Kasey Kahne in the field and what seems to be a brand new track for most of the drivers this weekend, anything can happen. Where will Kahne finish on Saturday? Could he walk away with the win, and will this lead to more starts in the future?