Kasey Kahne to Have Surgery on Both Knees After Season

Filed under: Kasey Kahne, FanHouse Exclusive, NASCAR

Kasey Kahne will be having surgery on both knees in the days following this weekend's NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway and is expecting to be sidelined about six weeks, the driver of the No. 83 Red Bull Toyota told FanHouse Wednesday.

Kahne, the 2004 Cup Series Rookie of the Year, characterized the operation as "no big deal" and said doctors were just going to clean up the area surrounding the knees. He said he opted to have both knees worked on at once because it was "either six weeks this way, or 12 weeks doing it one after the other.''

While this means Kahne won't be participating in offseason testing -- including the Jan. 20-22 tire test at the newly paved Daytona International Speedway -- he fully expects to be behind the wheel of his Red Bull Racing Toyota in time for the Feb. 20 season-opening Daytona 500.

Kahne is the second high-profile driver to undergo knee surgery this year. Championship points leader Denny Hamlin had a more serious surgery to repair a torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in his left knee on March 31 and raced two weeks later without a relief driver. He won the next race, 19 days later at Texas Motor Speedway and currently holds a 15-point edge over Jimmie Johnson in the championship standings entering Sunday's season finale.

 

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Source: http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2010/11/17/kasey-kahne-to-have-knee-surgery-after-season/

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