Kasey Kahne will take part in a test this week to determine if he’s ready to return to the No. 95 Chevrolet after missing four races due to lingering issues from dehydration, Leavine Family Racing announced Sunday.
If the test goes well, Kahne would be back in the car next weekend at Dover International Speedway.
Kahne has been replaced by Regan Smith since the Brickyard 400 and will make his fourth start in today’s Bank of America Roval 400 (2 p.m. ET on NBC).
Kahne has had issues with dehydration for more than a year and has undergone tests.
Those issues factored into Kahne’s decision to not compete full-time in NASCAR after this season.
The symptoms came to a head in the final laps of the Sept. 2 Southern 500. He stopped taking fluids due to nausea.
“It was really hard to keep my eyes open and see,” Kahne said of those late laps at Darlington Raceway. “I was trying to control my heart rate because it was so high.
“At that point, all I’m doing is focusing on my body and my health and not what I should actually be focusing on and that’s racing.”
In Kahne’s place, Smith has raced at Indianapolis (finished 20th), Las Vegas (12th) and Richmond (31st).
Smith will start from the rear of today’s race due to an engine change.
.@kaseykahne continues to work through the process with his medical team in order to get back into the No.95. The plan is for him to test this week, and hopefully if all goes well, he’ll be back in the car next weekend at Dover pending doctor approval.
— LeavineFamilyRacing (@LFR95) September 30, 2018
