Kahne sick over mishaps

Associated Press

CHARLOTTE, N.C.

Hours after he was too ill to get back in his wounded race car, Kasey Kahne ran a Sunday morning 5k for his charity in a shade over 22 minutes.

“That was the slowest I ever ran a 5K,” he said. “I’m definitely feeling the effects.”

Yes, Kahne was physically sick Saturday night, and said he vomited once after his accident 124 laps into the race at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

He was also sick of his race car, frustrated with running poorly and disgusted that his brakes had failed for the third time this season, and second time in three races. Had he not gotten sick, Kahne said Sunday he might have gotten back in the car after his Richard Petty Motorsports crew repaired some of the damage.

By that time, though, he was 100 laps down. He was queasy, annoyed with the brakes and angry at criticism from an unnamed RPM employee.

So he said no, he couldn’t continue, and the team grabbed J.J. Yeley to finish the race.

“I was told that I needed to start doing my part, (that) is what one guy told me last night after the race,” Kahne said at the NASCAR Hall of Fame, at the finish line of the Kasey Kahne Foundation 5-kilometer run.

“I’m not going to say names, but I was told that I need to start doing my part. I can’t control the issues I’ve had this year. I don’t know how many parts I’ve broke,” he said. “If I really thought about it, I could come up with all kinds of stuff.

“You can’t control that as a driver. I’m doing my part. I just need the car. I work as hard as anybody out there.”