Kasey Kahne may be a highly talented Sprint Cup Series driver, but put him on the roadways of America and he's just like you or me.

From the NASCAR Scene:

According to police reports, Kahne ran into the back of a car driven by a 17-year-old woman as traffic slowed on Highway 114 near the track. No one was injured and neither driver was charged in the accident. Both vehicles had to be towed away from the scene.

I'm glad their both OK, but do you think those crazy Allstate mom's were involved?

Kahne, according to the article, was driving a Dodge Durango "leased" from a dealership near Texas Motor Speedway. That's likely a perk of being a Dodge driver.

I'd really like to know, though, if the "17-year-old" driver had any clue who Kahne was. Can you imagine that phone call home if she happened to be a NASCAR fan?

"Hey Dad. Uh, I've been in accident, but it's totally sweet because Kasey Kahne hit me!"

That's a story I'd be proud to tell.

Clint Bowyer took home his first Nationwide Series victory of the 2008 season Saturday afternoon at Bristol Motor Speedway thanks to a persistent rain shower.

Saturday's 300-lapper started nearly two hours later after thunderstorms rumbled through the Tri-Cities of northeastern Tennessee just following Sprint Cup Series final practice. The race finally got underway just past 4:30pm/ET.

171 laps -- 21 past halfway -- were completed before more rain drenched the track. NASCAR wanted to restart the event, but the rain showers wouldn't stop.

The victory was Bowyer's sixth-career Nationwide Series win.

Kasey Kahne was visibly upset when the rain brought the cars to pit road on lap 171 saying that he "pretty much blew that." Kahne had been all over the rear bumper of Bowyer's No. 2 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet for many laps, but wanted to make the pass clean.

Denny Hamlin led early until a flat-tire forced him to pit road on lap 37 and Martin Truex Jr. got tapped by David Ragan off of turn 2, spun into turn 3, and was clipped by Kyle Busch very early in the event. Both Truex and Busch were knocked out of the race.

And yes, there apparently were some Nationwide Series regulars in the event, with Brad Keselowski finishing 4th.

Thankfully, NASCAR was able to get a majority of its schedule completed Saturday afternoon despite the heavy threat of rain. The forecast for Sunday's Food City 500 looks sunny and clear.

Kasey Kahne ran the fastest lap in Saturday afternoon's final practice at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, but that doesn't mean he's up to running 267 of those on Sunday afternoon.

The Enumclaw, Wash.-driver has been battling sinus infection symptoms all weekend, and as a result, longtime Nationwide Series veteran Jason Keller will stand by on pit road for the UAW-Dodge 400 to get in the No. 9 Budweiser Dodge if need be.

From ESPN.com:

LAS VEGAS -- Kasey Kahne was suffering through a sinus infection Saturday, but the illness didn't stop him from posting the fastest lap in Happy Hour.

[...]

"After the first [Cup] practice, we knew we might do something to allow Kasey the time to get better for Sunday's race," said Mark McArdle, vice president of competition for GEM. "He's been taking fluids and getting plenty of rest."

Kahne opted not run in Saturday's Nationwide Series Sam's Town 300 in the No. 9 Gillett Evernham Motorsports car due to his condition, and instead, GEM teammate Patrick Carpentier took the wheel.

That may have been a good move considering the incredible amount of sheet metal torn up in the Nationwide race. Carpentier brought the Dodge home 8th.

Kahne, if he starts the race (which I imagine he will for points), will roll off the grid in 37th-place.

After nearly 50 haulers passed through the Las Vegas Strip on Thursday afternoon, the Sprint Cup teams got off to a fresh start at Las Vegas Motor Speedway Friday.

And yes, the weather for the weekend looks much, much better than teams were treated to at Auto Club Speedway last weekend. Sun is the only thing in the forecast with highs Friday topping at 77 degrees, and a high of 68 degrees expected for Sunday's UAW-Dodge 400.

Though the weather seemed plenty nice Friday afternoon, several Dodge teams had some significant problems during pre-qualifying practice, according to Jayski:

#77-Hornish scraped the turn two wall early in practice; #10-Carpentier (pictured) spun off turn 4 and looped around a couple times; #42-Montoya slammed the turn 2 wall hard and will go to a backup car. #41-Sorenson spun off turn 4; #9-Kahne smacked turn 4, unknown if they have to go to a backup, but little damage. Late in the session, #43-Labonte lost it in turn 4 and spun around, slapping the wall with the left rear and drivers side, the team will go to a backup car.

So the list of teams who will head to a backup car include Juan Pablo Montoya and Bobby Labonte. Kasey Kahne could end up there.

The fastest laps of the practice session were turned by Kyle Busch, Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, Tony Stewart and David Reutimann. Busch's quickest lap of 179.946mph is just under five miles per hour slower than Kahne's pole-winning speed a year ago.

Qualifying starts with Travis Kvapil out first at 6:40pm/ET Friday on SPEED.

Juan Pablo Montoya made a big statement Tuesday afternoon at Las Vegas Motor Speedway to doubters of the NASCAR's next-generation race car for the Sprint Cup series.

Turning a lap of 186.761mph, Montoya would have taken the official track record away from Kasey Kahne (184.856mph in 2007) had it been an official qualifying session.

But one thing Montoya did was to prove that the new race car isn't as slow as everyone thought, and that teams are adapting to the packages well. It should be noted, of course, that teams aren't loudly disapproving of the tires that Goodyear brought like they did last year for the race at Vegas.

As you may recall, Tony Stewart's approval of the tires in '07 terms for describing them was "crap" on the newly configured surface.

As teams, though, head into their travel/work day before testing at California Speedway on Thursday and Friday, the general consensus seems to be that teams are getting a handle on the car and the track in Vegas. That's only good news for race fans.

A.J. Allmendinger, Casey Mears, Kasey Kahne and Reed Sorenson rounded out the five fastest cars at LVMS.

Jeff Burton tore up a race car early Tuesday while Tony Stewart scraped the wall and Michael Waltrip looped his -- all in turn three. The test session was ended a few minutes early after Jeff Gordon laid oil down on the track.

Keep it here at NASCAR Fanhouse for plenty of updates on the Sprint Cup testing in California.

Kasey Kahne finished as the fastest driver through the past two weeks of testing at Daytona International Speedway, but the Toyota camp left with the biggest smile.

On a day that saw the entire day's testing session squeezed into a seven-hour multi-car parade at 180mph, Kahne dropped a lap of 189.111 mph to put his No. 9 Dodge Charger at the top speed chart. Forecasted rain -- it never materialized -- forced NASCAR to skip a lunch break and run one entire session until 4pm.

The Toyotas, though, left on a much higher note than they left the Daytona 500 last year -- with slow cars and a dense cloud hanging over the operation from Michael Waltrip's fuel additive scandal. Instead, Camrys ran consistently at the top of the charts in single-lap speed sessions and had good-handling cars in the draft.

The love was spread among many of the teams, as well, with Bill Davis Racing (Blaney), Red Bull Racing (Allmendinger & Vickers), Michael Waltrip Racing (Waltrip, Dale Jarrett & David Reutimann) and Joe Gibbs Racing (Kyle Busch, Tony Stewart & Denny Hamlin) all getting near the top of the chart.

The Toyotas didn't completely dominant the drafting side of things, though, with Kahne's Dodge pacing the way, the Toyotas of Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin second and third, Dario Franchitti's Dodge fourth, and Regan Smith's Chevy in fifth. The fastest Ford was Matt Kenseth in seventh.

The next round of preseason NASCAR testing heads out west to California and Las Vegas. Vegas will see the Sprint Cup stars January 28-29 and California will get the drivers Jan. 31-Feb. 1.

Tuesday, word came out about legal troubles involving Sprint Cup Series Driver Kasey Kahne. The Gillette-Evernham driver has a misdemeanor charge of battery against him as well as a civil suit from his actions stemming from an altercation with a security guard at Homestead-Miami Speedway in November, which you can read more about here.

The lawsuit has been officially filed, seeking $15,000 in damages for Archibald Hutchison, the security guard at HMS that Kahne allegedly knocked to the ground -- while wearing his Busch Series driving suit, nonetheless -- for this oh-so-short list of reasons:

bodily injury; pain and suffering; disability; physical impairment; disfigurement; mental anguish; inconvenience; loss of capacity for the enjoyment of life; aggravation of an existing disease or physical defect; activation of a latent disease or physical defect; expense of hospitalization, medical and nursing care, and treatment in the past; expense of hospitalization, medical and nursing care, and treatment to be so obtained in the future; earnings lost in the past; and loss of ability to earn money in the future.

To be honest, I'm a little surprised that the suit is only requesting 15 grand. That's got to be one of the more legitimate financial claims to come across a court room for a major public figure in a long time.

Regardless, the fact that Hutchison was treated for "bruises and abrasions" at the Speedway makes an accusation of "loss of capacity for the enjoyment of life" or "loss of ability to earn money in the future" seem a little outlandish for me. Now, I realize I wasn't there and didn't witness it, but really, did Kahne really shove the dude that hard?

Kasey's bro Kale sure doesn't think so:

Kasey Kahne will head to court next month for his role in an incident in the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series' season-finale weekend at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Kahne was apparently involved in an altercation with a HMS security guard while trying to access the driver motor home lot. According to the police report:

Kahne was attempting to access a restricted recreational vehicle parking lot on a golf cart after he finished driving his racecar when Hutchison stopped him and asked him for credentials. Kahne stated that he was a driver and didn't need any, then got out of the golf cart and tried to walk through the gate, the report stated. When Hutchison blocked the entrance and asked Kahne for credentials again, Kahne pushed Hutchison to the ground [...]

For that incident, Kahne will now face a misdemeanor charge of battery in a January 8 court appearance in south Florida.

Kasey Kahne must be a really hard pusher (or trying to fit the role of a Budweiser driver better) as the security guard, Archibald Hutchison, still hasn't returned to work -- according to a lawsuit to-be-filed against Kahne.

To me, it looks like a man trying to make a buck or million off of a very small incident. But I'll let you decide:

Welcome to the 2007 NASCAR FanHouse Year in Review. Follow along each day until the end of 2007 as we look back on the top 25 drivers of the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series for the 2007 season. Heck, bookmark us if you have to! Today, we review the season of 19th-place Kasey Kahne.

Driver: Kasey Kahne -- Enumclaw, Washington
Team: No. 9 Dodge Dealers Dodge
Points: 19th (-3234)
2006: Finished 8th in Season Standings (Qualified for Chase)
Key Stats: 2 poles, 1 Top-5, 8 Top-10s, 6 DNFs
Back in 2008?: Yes

Kasey Kahne joined the NASCAR scene in 2004 aboard a rocket ship that didn't want to ever stop. 13 Top-5s in his rookie season was mighty impressive, and most figured by 2007 he'd be on contention to win his first or maybe even second NASCAR Nextel Cup Series title.

Kahne slumped somewhat in his sophomore season with just 5 Top-5 finishes despite his first career win. 2006, though, saw the No. 9 return with some series muster. 6 wins, 6 poles, and 19 Top-10s put Kahne into the Chase.

There wasn't a repeat of that success in 2007 and nobody -- possibly even Kahne -- knows why. With just 1 Top-5 finish in 2007, frustration was the name of the game. At Phoenix in the fall, the frustration boiled over when he let it fly in a television interview after wrecking early in the race, informing his fans that it was "time for the day to be over" amid a slurry of unstated frustrations.

Kasey Kahne, this Bud is for you.

Gillett-Evernham Motorsports announced today that the Anheuser-Busch product Budweiser will be the primary sponsor on Kasey Kahne's No. 9 starting in 2008 with -- coincidently enough -- the Budweiser Shootout at Daytona.

No terms of the deal were announced, but you've got to imagine Kahne is excited to be switching from Mountain Dew and Dodge commercials to the access a Budweiser sponsorship allows.

"I just think it's the coolest sponsor out there. There's so many things from NASCAR to drag racing to sports. You go to a baseball game, a football game, the Super Bowl, the Final Four, it's everywhere. I think that's going to be really a lot of fun for myself to be able to get involved in some more of these sports and be able to get involved with it."

Think he's talked to Dale Earnhardt Jr. about perks at all in the past few weeks?

Kahne is admittedly already a "beer man", too.

"I've been a beer guy for a while," he said with a laugh. "I like Budweisers."

And Budweiser thought things would be easy jumping up just one car number. Think they knew Kahne was a fan of their product, too?

I think the new ride looks pretty good, too. To change up the scheme a little bit from that of Dale Jr.'s, Budweiser has brought back the bowtie behind the main logo on the hood, among other subtleties. It's not a huge change, but it's enough to recognize.

Note: Apologies that the FanHouse can't get a legal photo of anything at today's announcement, but you can check out the GEM website for a little more. Think Kahne gets some of the Clydesdales as well? Also, be sure to come back at 1:00pm/ET on Wednesday for a LIVE BLOG of Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s announcement.