Kahne the latest to blame others for own struggles

At Indianapolis last weekend, Kasey Kahne took the low road in blaming his latest disappointing finish on Tony Raines. AP

Immaturity has been a running theme this year in Nextel Cup. Between the Busch brothers, Tony Stewart, and even Juan Pablo Montoya, it's been a year of watching good drivers stop short when it comes to the arena of common sense.

Apparently, this weekend was Kasey Kahne's turn to step up.

It's no secret the driver of the No. 9 Dodge for Evernham Motorsports is going through a nightmarish season. After a 2006 in which he posted six wins and 12 top-five finishes, the best Kahne's been able to muster in '07 are two top 10 runs at Daytona International Speedway. In between, he's endured four DNFs, eight finishes of 31st or worse, and countless media criticism over how his team went from fast to flop in little more than a blink of an eye.

Certainly, the collapse should not all be placed on Kahne's shoulders. The suspension of crew chief Kenny Francis at Daytona after a cheating scandal set the season off on the wrong foot, and the two have struggled to achieve the right chemistry since he returned in March. Fifty-year-old team owner Ray Evernham's public relationship with his own ARCA driver half his age, Erin Crocker, along with the pending sale of the team to investor George Gillett has made the team a source of constant scrutiny week in, week out.

But the one thing Kahne can control throughout a difficult season is his attitude -- and that's been a struggle. As the poor-handling cars and rough finishes have become a weekly occurrence, so, too, has Kahne's tendency to take his frustration out on others -- and the examples of his loss of composure are slowly building.

The latest of these occurred at Indy -- a track where Kahne was initially hopeful. Qualifying fifth with an '06 Charger and a setup that had led to success last season, he expected the team's desperate move of looking to the past to build his future could pay off.

Instead, an ill-handling car found itself in the wall before 40 laps were even complete, as Tony Raines got caught up in a crash that appeared to be the result of a young driver all but giving up on his day.

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