CONCORD, N.C. -- On the eve of the Duels races, with the Daytona 500 just four days away, Kasey Kahne can't wait to get the 2017 season started.
The progress the No. 5 showed down the home stretch of last season -- coupled with all the hard work the team has put in throughout the offseason -- has Kahne ready to continue building on that momentum.
“Where we started -- consistent 18th to 20th -- was not anything that we wanted," he said of last season. "After the last 12 to 14 races we were eighth to 10th. So, that jump, that consistency that we showed throughout the whole season for the speed of the car I thought was good. We are working hard to make another jump because eighth to 10th isn’t where we want to be, either."
Looking across Hendrick Motorsports, Kahne said he was encouraged by the finish by the entire organization in 2016, from Jimmie Johnson’s championship to Chase Elliott’s Rookie of the Year campaign to the No. 5 team’s gains.
And as he prepares to climb behind the wheel for "The Great American Race," he's confident in what Hendrick Motorsports and the No. 5 team have brought to Daytona International Speedway.
“We know we will have great engines and great cars,” Kahne said. “Just go down there and try to do everything right and have a shot."
Hear more from Kahne in the video above.