Kasey Kahne announced Tuesday that he has not been medically cleared to compete the rest of the NASCAR season, effectively ending his NASCAR career.
Kahne, 38, had previously announced this would be his last full-time NASCAR season.
Kahne has missed the last five races because of dehydration issues and had hoped to be cleared after a test last week at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
Instead, he was not.
“To say I’m disappointed after receiving the results that I was not medically cleared for the remainder of the season following a test session at Charlotte Motor Speedway last week is an understatement,” Kahne wrote in a tweet. “It was my hope that everything would go well and I would be able to finish out the season strong in the No. 95 for Leavine Family Racing. Unfortunately, that’s not the case.”
Kahne stated in his tweet that he is “perfectly healthy” out of the race car and that doctors have not determined any underlying health problems.
“My body just can’t handle extended periods of time in the race car and we weren’t able to control the sweat ratio to keep me hydrated enough to prevent any permanent damage to my body,” Kahne wrote.
Kahne said he would return to racing sprint cars, which compete in much shorter races. He ended a note to fans by saying:
“See you all soon at the dirt tracks, and thank you for sticking with me over the years.”
Kahne ends his NASCAR career with 18 Cup wins in 529 starts. He won the Coca-Cola 600 three times (2006, ’08 and ’12) and won the 2017 Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. He also was the 2004 Cup rookie of the year.
Regan Smith will again drive the No. 95 car this weekend at Talladega Superspeedway.
— Kasey Kahne (@kaseykahne) October 9, 2018
Thank you for everything you did for @LFR95. Wish you nothing but he best dude. Have fun slinging dirt 👊 https://t.co/QuzqFymSib
— Jon Leonard (@jon_mcleonard) October 9, 2018
I know @kaseykahne would love to finish the season. I appreciate that he’s made a smart decision based on his doctors advice to skip the remaining events. I feel lucky to have been teammates. It gave us the opportunity to become great friends.
— Dale Earnhardt Jr. (@DaleJr) October 9, 2018