DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Kasey Kahne was forced to a backup car Wednesday after a wreck in practice for the Daytona 500.
Kahne’s new Chevrolet spun through the grass at Daytona International Speedway after Juan Pablo Montoya tapped the back of his car.
Kahne, who will make his debut for new team Hendrick Motorsports in Sunday’s season-opening race, also wrecked in last weekend’s exhibition race at Daytona.
He’s down to his last car heading into today’s 150-mile qualifying race.
“They have lots of cars and they do a nice job preparing, so our backup car is just as good,” Kahne said. “The problem is that we don’t have another one after that. So we’ll have to start figuring that out. Maybe I’ll have to go borrow someone’s.”
Kahne’s accident was the lone bit of excitement on a slow day at Daytona.
Although 43 drivers practiced in Wednesday’s first session, only 25 hit the track in the second session because teams were conservative with their cars. Crew chiefs are skittish to tear up equipment, and it’s led to varying discussions of strategy for today’s qualifying races.
