NASCAR: Kasey Kahne Out at RPM Effective Immediately

Coming off a drama and frustration filled race on Saturday night for Kasey Kahne and RPM, the latest and most crucial part of the storyline unfolded late Wednesday night. Per a press release by RPM, Kasey Kahne has been released from his driving duties at RPM effective immediately and will be replaced by Aric Almirola for at least this weekend's race at Martinsville.

Prior to Wednesday's announcement and being named the driver of Kahne's car, Almirola was slated to drive the No. 83 Toyota for Red Bull Racing. Popular belief is that Kasey Kahne will move over to Red Bull Racing and begin preparing for the 2011 season, where he will race for the team full time.

It is believed that the news of Kahne moving to Red Bull Racing will be announced as soon as Thursday morning and the opportunity will provide Kasey with a chance to build chemistry with the team in preparation for a title run next year.

Update 10/21 at 9:30am/ET:

Officials at Red Bull Racing announced this morning that Kasey Kahne will indeed pilot the No. 83 car starting this weekend at Martinsville and will remain in the car for the remainder of the 2010 season.

Also announced, was that Kahne will take over the No. 82 car that is currently piloted by former F1 driver Scott Speed full-time next season and the car number will be switched to No. 4—the number Kahne drives in sprint cars.

With this announcement, it appears that Scott Speed will be the odd man out at Red Bull Racing and the team will not expand to three cars for the 2011 Sprint Cup season.

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