Kasey Kahne: Rookie of the Year

Sporting News, The, Dec 6, 2004 by Lee Spencer

The only thing missing from Kasey Kahne's 2004 rookie resume was a victory. But don't feel sorry for him. Kahne, 24, has plenty of time to catch up.

"Our ultimate goal this year was to win the rookie title, and we accomplished that," Kahne says. "But for the majority of the drivers to vote on the 9 car for rookie of the year, that just shows that I didn't run into them, I didn't push my weight around or cause problems. It was more of a learning year. I respected them, and I think I gained a lot of their respect over the year, too. It's pretty neat to have their support for rookie of the year."

Kahne won four four poles and finished in the top five 13 times--better than every driver except Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt Jr.