Busch Series driver Kasey Kahne has received several Winston Cup job offers for the 2004 season, with the most serious coming from Evernham Motorsports, sources said Thursday. Kahne, reached Thursday by phone, confirmed he has received “five or six Cup offers from top-20 teams,” but he declined to name them. Kahne, 23, drives the #38 Great Cuts Ford for Akins Motorsports. He is eighth in points with three top-five and 11 top-10 finishes this season. He won his first pole at Michigan in August. Evernham Motorsports, Joe Gibbs Racing and Richard Childress Racing were among the top Cup teams expressing interest, with Evernham the most serious, sources said. Of the three, only RCR currently has an opening for the 2004 season, in its #30 AOL Chevy. Gibbs has Bobby Labonte and Tony Stewart under long-term contracts and Evernham currently has Bill Elliott and Jeremy Mayfield under contract. However, there has been a lot of speculation about Elliott’s future and whether he would retire at the end of the season. Mayfield’s job performance has also been under scrutiny this year. A spokesperson for Evernham Motorsports declined to comment Thursday on any connection between Kahne’s Winston Cup plans and Evernham Motorsports. Kahne, who is under contract with Ford Motor Co. through the 2005 season, said he has spoken to Ford officials about the Cup teams’ interest. None was a Ford team, he said.( ThatsRacin.com ) UPDATE: Robert Yates Racing PR folks tell me that: Not only is Kasey under contract with Ford Racing but he remains under a multi-year contract with Robert Yates Racing. He’s driven the Great Clips Ford for Akins Motorsports this year on basically a “loaner” basis. Both Ford and RYR expect Kasey to be racing Ford’s for years to come. They haven’t been contacted by Kasey or another team about releasing him from his contract. AND Kahne said during an interview on Speed Channel’s Busch Series Qualifying that he will run a full Busch Series schedule in 2004, driving the #38 Great Clips car.(10-3-2003) UPDATE 2: Ford’s Kenny Kahne is suddenly a hot item among rivals who would like to hire the Busch driver to run Winston Cup next season. Among the car owners reported to be interested: Dodge’s Ray Evernham. Kahne has a contract with Ford however that runs another two years, though he said he’s getting Winston Cup offers. So Ford officials may now be looking for a Ford team willing to give Kahne a ride. Kahne has a contract with Robert Yates too, so he would be the logical pick, but Yates’ two Cup teams aren’t doing all that well at the moment so it seems unlikely he would want to expand.( Winston Salem Journal )(10-4-2003)
