Kasey Kahne and crew chief Kenny Francis are melding right into the Red Bull Racing fraternity, entering the NASCAR Sprint Cup season optimistic about making a strong showing.
Kahne joined the group late last year, and this season he’ll have long-time crew chief Francis and teammate Brian Vickers aiding his effort. Last season Francis remained with their Richard Petty Motorsports team once Kahne departed to end the year with Red Bull, and Vickers was sidelined with a medical issue.
Now, Kahne says there’s a good feeling in the shop.
“The excitement of all the employees, everybody wants to run good, everybody wants to make themselves better and we want to do it for Red Bull,” said Kahne, who finished 20th in the Cup standings last year. “To me, it’s just a good attitude, and a lot of it has to do with attitude. That’s what I feel like they’re giving me as much as anything, is just a great opportunity.”
Francis has brought over part of the road crew the group worked with last season, and has melded into the shop smoothly since joining the group after Thanksgiving.
“Well, we brought the road crew — not the whole road crew, but part of the road crew — over. About six guys, I think,” he said Tuesday night during the NASCAR media tour. “A couple of the guys in the shop I’ve worked with before that worked with us at Evernham. There’s actually a couple of other guys I’ve worked with at other teams a long time ago, so there’s been a number of familiar faces there that make it a little bit easier.”
He says that everyone has been open and helpful and that the organization is ready to go racing once more. Still, he’s not setting any specific goals. While he and Kahne have enjoyed past success together — including contending for the championship — Francis isn’t putting any numbers on his 2011 goals.
“I just hope we can go out, put a competitive car out every week … Hopefully we’ll have success and be able to represent Red Bull well and make them proud of us,” he said. “If we do that, it will all take care of itself.”
Still, a strong season could set up an unusual situation for 2012. Kahne is signed to drive for Red Bull only this season and is under contract to move to Hendrick Motorsports beginning next season.
So what would it feel like to win the title knowing he plans to exit at season’s end? He acknowledged that it has crossed his mind, though he hasn't dwelled on it.
"It would be good for everybody," Kahne said. "I mean, if we did all that, who knows what could happen the following year. To have that good of a year, to win a championship or even get close . . . that takes a lot. So if we were able to do all that it would be a pretty awesome season. We’d have to figure out how to make that work again the following year.”
