KASEY KAHNE (#9 Budweiser Dodge) WHAT WAS YOUR REACTION TO THE NEWS THAT RPM WAS MOVING TO FORD IN 2010? I was a little bit surprised with that, but I think that its better for Richard Petty Motorsports in the long run. Theyre trying to build our company and make it stronger and I think that it will be a good thing.
HOW DO YOU FEEL GOING BACK TO FORD? I think that it will be a bit different because of the way that our relationship ended last time. Well have to figure out how to get through that and go on with it. What Fords done in racing has been really good with Roush and Yates over the years. Im happy with Dodge and what weve done here, but it will be a bit of a change next year. I think its going to be beneficial for RPM. I think were going to help them out too. We have some things that I feel are better than Roush-Yates have. I think their engines are really strong and they have a lot of people to work hard on both programs. If we work hard, it could be a pretty cool deal.
CAN YOU TALK ABOUT YOUR MOVE BACK TO FORD DESPITE THE CONTENOUS WAY THAT YOU LEFT THEM IN THE PAST? It really wasnt about me; it was about building Richard Petty Motorsports. Obviously I left Fordwe went through that whole lawsuitI wasnt a big fan and they werent a big fan of me. Time heals and I think some of those (Ford) people are gone that caused all that. They have new people there. Ford is really excited and I can work through things. I can figure how to get by and hopefully use those guys and work with those guys to become a better racer and help our company.
WILL LEAVING DODGE NEXT YEAR HURT YOUR ABILITY IN THIS YEARS CHASE? Its not going to hurt us in the context of support. The people that we have that have worked hard to put us where were atputting the 9 car where were atare a lot of good people. They still want to win races. I want to win races and we want to run as well in the Chase as we can. Hopefully it doesnt affect us. It could, hopefully it doesnt.(Darnell Communications/Dodge Motorsports PR)(9-12-2009)
