Kasey Kahne: A Win at Daytona May Be Next After Recent Knee Surgery

Kasey Kahne had successful outpatient surgery on his knee Feb. 10 after experiencing swelling in his left knee the prior day.  An MRI revealed a torn meniscus, which was treated with a partial medial meniscus removal. 

Kahne was treated and released from an outpatient facility in Charlotte, N.C. after the common arthroscopic procedure.

The driver of the Hendrick Motorsports Farmers Insurance No. 5 had a procedure on his right meniscus in April of last year, then finished in third place at the following race in Richmond with his RBR car.

Sometimes medical adversity amps up the performance of a driver, as was the case when Brad Keselowski broke his ankle in a testing accident last year and went on a race-winning roll.

Kahne will be ready to practice, qualify and race in all scheduled events during Speedweeks at Daytona. Hendrick Motorsports has no plans for a backup driver to standby for him.

Kahne is anxious to hit the track with his new ride that he waited a year to get. He spent the 2011 season with Red Bull Racing, knowing that his stint with HMS would begin at the end of the year.

Kahne said, "Just really excited to get started. We've had some really good tests. It's been awesome to be part of Hendrick Motorsports, and just excited to get to Daytona."

Kahne added, "It's a big race, and I can't wait to get rolling again. It's been a good off-season, but I'm ready to go."

The HMS driver participated in closed testing of the 2013 Cup car at Homestead last week. Kahne described the new car as really "solid."

He stated, "It looks really good. I think all the cars looked really good that were there, and it drove great right off the start, first time on the track."

During a recent teleconference, a member of the media asked the newest Hendrick Motorsports driver how excited he was to be heading to Daytona with a team that has a really good record there.

Kahne responded:

"

"I think everywhere I go I'm going to be pretty darn excited. But Daytona, as big of a race as the 500 is, and all of us want to win that race so bad. To come down there with Hendrick Motorsports, a team that's won the race, I mean it's just awesome."

"

Now Kahne has two repaired knees, as he makes the trek to Daytona. If one meniscus repair got him a third place finish, could the repair of his other knee mean he will find Victory Lane?

 Information and quotes are from official press releases unless otherwise noted.