Friday Rockingham Notebook

Yesterday at 05:09 PM

For Kasey Kahne, absence made the heart grow fonder of NASCAR racing

 Kasey Kahne had an itch he couldn‘t wait to scratch.

Nearly seven years removed from a successful NASCAR Cup Series career, Kahne grew nostalgic for pavement racing.

It wasn‘t just a whim. The 45-year-old from Enumclaw, Washington, actively worked on a deal to drive in Saturday‘s North Carolina Education Lottery 250 Presented by Black‘s Tire NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Rockingham Speedway (4 p.m. ET on CW, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

"Over the last year, I‘ve been watching (NASCAR) more and more and wanting to see what it was like again and get those feelings that I had for so many years," Kahne said. "That‘s why I put this together. I did this all on my own so I could get back here and do this race.

"I was very fortunate to get Hendrick Cars and Caravan Trailers and Curb Records behind me. Then RCR (Richard Childress Racing) wanted to do it with us. So it‘s been a really cool partnership, but I put some work in to make it happen."

Kahne is driving the No. 33 RCR Chevrolet with Andy Street as his crew chief.

Kahne‘s NASCAR national series career began with a Xfinity Series start at Rockingham in 2002. Over the next 16 years, he accumulated 18 victories in the NASCAR Cup Series, eight in the Xfinity Series and five in the CRAFTSMAN Truck Series.

The grind of racing every week, however, took a toll on Kahne‘s health, and after the 2018 season, he left the sport.

"As far as my health, I‘m in a good place right now, because I don‘t do this all the time," said Kahne, who has maintained his competitive chops as a driver and team owner at the highest level of 410 sprint car racing.

"I don‘t do the long races—it got worse as soon as the summer months came and every week after that it was draining me those last couple years I did it. So I saw 88 degrees (for Saturday‘s race), and I thought, 'That‘s nice. I‘m fine with that. I‘m looking forward to it.‘"

Kahne with 18th fastest in final Xfinity Series practice on Friday.

Rookies pace NASCAR Xfinity Series final practice at Rockingham

Sunoco rookies and JR Motorsports teammates Carson Kvapil and Connor Zilisch paced Friday afternoon‘s NASCAR Xfinity Series practice in preparation for Saturday‘s North Carolina Education Lottery 250 Presented by Black‘s Tire at Rockingham Speedway (4 p.m. ET on CW, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

On his 26th and final lap of the session, Kvapil covered the 0.94-mile distance in 22.899 seconds to top the speed chart at 147.779 mph. Zilisch was second fastest at 146.799 mph (23.052 seconds).

The temperatures during final Xfinity practice differed widely from those during an organizational test in January, when drivers got their bearings on the repaved track, which will host its first Xfinity race since 2004.

"Obviously, it‘s 30 to 40 degrees hotter than it was at the test, so it‘s going to be a lot slower," Zilisch said. "But very similar—just less grip, and we‘re slipping around a little bit and moving around a little bit more than we were at the test when it was 30 or 40 degrees, and we were all stuck to the race track."

Throughout the session, drivers ran the bottom lane of the track. Kvapil hopes that won‘t be the case exclusively on Saturday.

"There‘s a lot of rubber laid down," said Kvapil, fresh from a second-place finish last Saturday at Bristol Motor Speedway. "Even before we got on the track, I thought there was a lot of rubber (from NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series practice and qualifying).

"That changed some stuff. It definitely drove different. It was pretty hard to pass. I got behind a few cars that were a little bit slower than us, and it seemed like when I got to them, I kind of stalled out… Hopefully, it does open up."

Led by Kvapil and Zilisch, Chevrolet drivers occupied eight of the top nine positions on the speed chart. The exception was Ford driver Sheldon Creed, who was third fastest at 146.741 mph.

Taylor Gray (145.912 mph) was 10th in the fastest Toyota.

Venturini Motorsports comes full circle with announcement of sale at The Rock

Billy Venturini Jr. couldn‘t have chosen a more appropriate location to announce the sale of Venturini Motorsports to new owner Nitro Motorsports.

After all, it was a race at Rockingham that established the iconic ARCA Menards Series team as a contender.

In the spring of 2008, Venturini convinced Joe Gibbs Racing president J.D. Gibbs to let him "borrow" 18-year-old driver Joey Logano for an ARCA Menards Series race at “The Rock.”

To secure the deal, Venturini assured Gibbs that Logano would win the race.

"I remember walking out and my dad (team founder Bill Venturini) looked at me and said, 'What the hell did you just say?‘" Billy Venturini said.

The outcome couldn‘t have been better. Logano won the pole for the Carolina 500 and beat veteran Ken Schrader to the finish line by 4.164 seconds.

"This is really the race that put us over the top with Joey," Venturini said. "We had the opportunity and came out here and did something pretty special that day. And it put us on the map."

Venturini, 49, opted to sell the team to Nitro, founded by Nick Tucker, to pursue other interests. Nitro will assume ownership on Oct. 15, 2025 and will maintain VMS‘ long-term relationship with Toyota Gazoo Racing.

Billy Venturini will remain with the organization as general manager through 2026.

— NASCAR Wire Service —