With NASCAR return behind him, where does Kasey Kahne go from here?

In a race that was more eventful than he would have liked, 45-year-old Kasey Kahne came away with a 14th-place finish in the Xfinity Series race at Rockingham Speedway on Saturday.

That was the 18-time Cup Series winner's first NASCAR start since 2018 and his first time in an Xfinity car since 2017.

The finish is not indicative of how the veteran raced. Kahne, named one of NASCAR's 75 Greatest Drivers in 2023, qualified fourth in the No. 33 Chevrolet for Richard Childress Racing and was among the front-runners for the majority of the opening stage.

Kahne's day was turned upside-down when he received right-front damage during a Lap 53 crash with Joe Gibbs Racing's William Sawalich and Joey Gase Motorsports' Katherine Legge. The damage certainly did not help, but Kahne still managed to get back on the lead lap and salvage something from what had the making of a solid top-10 or top-five day.

A rash of cautions in the final stage took out several of Kahne's competitors, vaulting him up to 15th in the running order. The race's initial winner, RCR's Jesse Love, was disqualified for rear suspension issues, moving Kahne up to a 14th-place finish in his return.

When Kahne was forced to step away from Cup Series competition in 2018 due to dehydration issues, as he explained in a February 2025 interview on Dirty Mo Media's "Dale Jr. Download," he turned to another form of racing.

As the owner of Kasey Kahne Racing, Kahne is a full-time competitor racing sprint cars in the Kubota High Limit Racing series this season. Those races are shorter in length and not as hot in the cockpit as the stock cars, something Kahne struggled with, particularly during the summer months when he was in the Cup Series.

Now that his only scheduled start of the season is behind him, does Kahne have any intention of returning to the sport for another race?

"I enjoyed it," Kahne said, per NASCAR.com. "I've really looked forward to it and put a lot into it. It was really fun working with the RCR group, going up to their shop, just being part of a NASCAR team again - that was really cool. And all the people at RCR were great. So, yeah, I mean, I enjoyed it. I don't know about more in the future, but I'm really glad I did this. I wish it would have went much different, but I think we were very competitive and had a shot at being somewhere in that top five if things go our way throughout."

Considering the potential that was there if Kahne had not been collected in the Lap 53 crash and the fun he seemed to have leading up to the weekend, it would not be a shock to see him back behind the wheel in NASCAR again.

A return to the Cup Series may not be as likely, given the lack of top-tier rides that are available and the length of most races that forced Kahne to step away to begin with. Another Xfinity Series start or a return to the Truck Series, where he is a five-time winner, cannot be entirely ruled out if the right situation arises.

He was as competitive as anyone in the field on Saturday and proved that his drive behind the wheel is as strong as it has been. Will the opportunity present itself again for Kahne to make another one-off appearance?