Kahne believes he can end winless drought in 2017

It’s been 83 races since Kasey Kahne visited Victory Lane. It’s been two seasons since Kahne competed in NASCAR’s Cup playoffs. Will the driver from Enumclaw, Washington, who once showed so much promise, get his groove back in 2017?

Kahne continues to believe.

“I think first off, anytime any of us have a month or two off and we all know we are starting at zero here in a couple of weeks, everybody feels good about it and is excited to get the season started,” said Kahne, who last won at Atlanta on Aug. 31, 2014. “For me though, a lot of it has to do with the way we finished last year, the progress of the company and the progress of our team. What Jimmie Johnson did; what Chase Elliott did; those things to me were key and they were highlights.

“Our No. 5 team did the same, we made a lot of gains and we were much stronger the last 12 races of the season.”

Hendrick's roller coaster 2016 season

After Johnson won two of the first five races of the season, Hendrick Motorsports experienced a lull until the Chase. Johnson methodically battled through the playoffs, won three more races and his seventh championship. But Johnson’s victories were the only ones credited to the Hendrick camp in 2016.

Certainly, Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s absence was felt throughout the organization. In the second half of the season, the organization used substitute drivers Jeff Gordon and Alex Bowman. While both racers did admirable jobs, the No. 88 lacked the consistency of a single-driver team.

Rookie Chase Elliott acclimated quickly to Hendrick’s systems as the season progressed. He won poles at the first two restrictor plate tracks — including for the Daytona 500 — and posted six top fives and 11 top 10s in the first 15 races. Elliott was a contender at both Michigan Speedway races before finishing second. Elliott qualified for the Chase and advanced to the second round. He led a season-high 103 laps in the fall race at Charlotte, but was swept up in a 12-car wreck with 75 laps remaining in the event and watched his playoff hopes fade.

For the third consecutive year, Kahne posted just three top-five finishes. The slump came after 23 top-fives in 2012 and 2013, a stretch that included four wins. Kahne’s top result of the season was third at Charlotte in October, but that came after five of the remaining Chase drivers crashed or experienced engine issues. Although Kahne’s 13 top-10 finishes were the most for the No. 5 car since 2013, he never led a lap last year.

Addressing the problem

When the season ended, Kahne could not move on without addressing the problem.

“Since Monday after Homestead I have been with Keith (Rodden, crew chief), I’ve been with our engineers and all of us as a team, from the pit crew side to the road guys, the guys building the cars, we have been a team and we have been working to progress in those same areas that we made the gains in,” Kahne said.

“We have had a couple of months to do that, so I feel like that is a lot of hard work. Everybody is working hard, but for us we are going in the right direction and it is going to show this year and I’m looking forward to that.”

After squeaking into the 2014 Chase with a win at Atlanta, Kahne finished 15th in the standings, and he hasn’t won since.

Contract with Hendrick Motorsports

Some we're surprised when Rick Hendrick renewed Kahne's contract at the end of 2014 when the driver still had one year left on his earlier deal. What must the affable driver do if he has any hope of retaining his ride?

“I think winning would be great and that is definitely where we want to be,” Kahne said. “I think that is where everybody wants to be. You have to win in this sport. You have to run up front. You have to lead laps if you want to be part of the playoffs you need to do all that and then you need to do it in the playoffs as well if you want to win a championship.

“To me, consistently running in the top 10, if we do that as a team week-in, week-out we are going to have our fair share of shots to win, whether it’s a stage or the final stage; I’m looking forward to that. Just looking forward to performance and having much faster cars and doing a better job behind the wheel in basically every aspect.”

Winning is at the core of Hendrick Motorsports. If Kahne can’t, he won’t be there much longer.