Kasey Kahne will drive Spire Motorsports’ No. 77 in the NASCAR FedEx Freight Truck Series in 2027, the team announced Oct. 7.
It’s a return to NASCAR full time for Kahne, who competed in the NASCAR Cup Series between 2004 and 2018, scoring 18 wins in that span.
Since then, he has one national series start, finishing 14th at Rockingham Speedway in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series in 2025 for Richard Childress Racing.
“This is one of the coolest announcements we’ve been able to make,” Spire co-owner Jeff Dickerson said in a team release. “Kasey is not only a legendary driver but is someone that Spire shares a long history with. Having him in one of our trucks running for a championship means a lot to our organization and we fully trust that he has the same competitive nature and drive to win that he’s always had.”
“When Jeff first asked me about running trucks for Spire Motorsports, I didn’t think he was serious,” Kahne added. “To be out of the sport for as long as I was and to have the opportunity to race for a strong FedEx Freight Truck Series team, or even full time in NASCAR again, was a bit of a surprise. The thought of a return to pavement racing and involvement in something that I was a part of for so long was exciting. It started sounding pretty good and I’m thankful for the opportunity to come back with a team that knows how to win.”
Kahne has made six Truck starts between 2004 and 2015. He won five of those events, finishing runner-up in the sixth.
“I kept up with NASCAR enough to know that Spire wins races,” Kahne said. “I saw Kyle Busch’s wins this year, I watched Rajah (Caruth) a lot last year and keep up with what he’s doing. I saw some of Corey Day’s races and Carson (Hocevar) when he won at Texas [Motor Speedway]. I just thought that’s actually a really good truck and this could be a fun way to come back into NASCAR and reunite with Chevrolet, a manufacturer I had some really great moments with over the years.”
Kahne is the second driver announced to Spire’s Truck program for 2027. Tristan McKee will compete part time.
Other details about Kahne’s No. 77 effort were not announced in the release.
Kevin Rutherford is the executive editor of Frontstretch, a position he gained in 2025 after being the managing editor since 2015, and serving on the editing staff since 2013.
At his day job, he's a journalist covering music and rock charts at Billboard. He lives in New York City, but his heart is in Ohio -- you know, like that Hawthorne Heights song.
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