CONCORD, N.C. – Leavine Family Racing announced Tuesday afternoon that Kasey Kahne will join the team and drive the No. 95 Chevrolet Camaro next season in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series.

Kahne won this year’s Brickyard 400 and moves over to LFR from Hendrick Motorsports, where he has driven since the 2012 season.

“I want to thank Leavine Family Racing for this opportunity and will work as hard as possible to help them continue improving,” said Kahne. “I am ready for this challenge and look forward to making a fresh start. Bob and everyone at Leavine Family Racing put a lot into their program and I’m excited to become a part of it.”

Kahne replaces Michael McDowell, who has been with LFR since 2014 and has scored all but one of the team’s five top-10 finishes.

The high-water mark for LFR and McDowell came this season at Daytona Int’l Speedway in July, when they finished fourth and were in contention to win on the final restart.

Now, team owner Bob Leavine has his sights set even higher with welcoming Kahne, who made this year’s Cup playoffs, into the fold.

“We look at this as an opportunity to go to the next level,” said Leavine. “This deal is partially with performance, because obviously, Kasey is a playoff-caliber driver. He has a wealth of information being with a larger organization like Hendrick Motorsports, and we think that will help us. We also look at this as an opportunity for marketing to be able to sell sponsorship.”

“Overall, we think Kasey is a good fit and felt we needed a change. There is absolutely nothing that Michael (McDowell) did, it was just a matter of us having to make some changes to help us move up the ladder and be a factor in the playoffs. I know Kasey will bring things that will help us, and I believe our environment will be conducive to his confidence level, which will in turn raise our confidence level. It just seemed like the right time and the right fit for our team.”

Leavine Family Racing contributed material to this story.

About the Writer

Jacob Seelman is the Managing Editor of Race Chaser Online and creator of the Motorsports Madness radio show, airing at 7 p.m. Eastern every Monday on the Performance Motorsports Network.

Seelman grew up in the sport, watching his grandparents co-own the RaDiUs Motorsports NASCAR Cup Series team in the 1990s.

The 23-year-old is currently studying Broadcast Journalism at Winthrop University in Rock Hill, S.C., and is also serving as the full-time tour announcer for the Must See Racing Sprint Car Series.

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