NASCAR Cup Series

The Hot Pass: Kahne playing the waiting game

Published Nov. 14, 2009 8:39 a.m. ET

foxsports

There's a half-fleet of red Dodges lined up at Yates Racing, sans noses, sitting idle, waiting to be worked on — or at least that's the assumption.

Kasey Kahne is in a similar predicament for 2010.

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Where will his shop be? Who will be on his crew? What's his testing schedule for the offseason?

And the bigger question: Will Kahne and crew chief Kenny Francis be in a position to win races or even vie for the championship?

Since the announcement of a potential Richard Petty Motorsports/Yates Racing merger two months ago, there has been a lot of speculation about the eventual complexion of the partnership. For Kahne, there are still a lot of unknowns.

As far as having a key, an access code or even a tour of the Yates shop, that hasn't happened yet. Kahne has been in the general vicinity of the Roush Fenway/Yates Racing facility in Concord. He's "been to the NASCAR R & D Center" down the street and to the Concord Airport, where the Roush hangars are located.

But the Yates Welcome Wagon has yet to extend an invitation to Richard Petty Motorsports' flagship driver.

"I've driven by it, and that's it," Kahne said. "As far as next year and testing and all that planning, I don't know. I know that we're trying to win races and do everything possible to win, but as of right now, that deal is not done. To me, there are still a lot of unknowns.

"For me to go over there ... I doubt that they want me over there, and I don't know if I should be over there. I don't drive for them yet. I don't know how all that's going to work. I know it's not done. I know that I'm going to have the same team, and that's all that I can ask for is sticking with Kenny Francis and our guys that we have."