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| 2005 Season |
| Final Points Standing | 23rd
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| After First 26 Races | 20th
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| Earnings | $5,183,697
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| Starts | 36
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| Poles | 0
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| Wins | 1
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| Top 5 | 5
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| 6-10 | 3
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| Laps Led | 430
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| Lead Lap Finishes | 18
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| Bonus Points | 55
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| Races Led | 10 |
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| 2005 Performance |
| Below is the ranking of the team on each type of track along with the driver's best finish. |
| Track Type | Ranking |
| Flat Tracks | 23rd
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| Best Finish | 2nd, Indianapolis
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| Intermediate Tracks | 24th
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| Best Finish | 3rd, Darlington
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| Plate Tracks | 16th
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| Best Finish | 13th, Talladega
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| Road Courses | 32nd
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| Best Finish | 17th, Watkins Glen
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| Short Tracks | 5th
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| Best Finish | 1st, Richmond |
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2006 Spin
The Dodge Dealers team had such high hopes entering the 2005 season. Kasey Kahne set the racing world ablaze in 2004, recording 13 top 5s and four poles as a rookie. The '05 campaign was supposed to be the year he earned that first win and made an all-out run at a title. Things didn't work out according to plan.
While he did get his win, a dominating performance at Richmond, Kahne underachieved in every other category. It's hard to overstate the problems the Dodge teams are having on the intermediate tracks with the new Charger. For proof, note that Kahne had eight top 5 runs on the intermediate tracks in 2004 running the Intrepid. In '05 with the Charger, that number dropped to two. Until the aero balance on these machines gets figured out, we will see more of the same.
Ray Evernham restructured his organization during the offseason, shifting Jeremy Mayfield's team over to the No. 9 side of the shop. Kenny Francis will serve as team director, taking over for Tommy Baldwin Jr., who left for Robert Yates Racing at the conclusion of the 2005 season. Once again, chemistry will be very important if this team wants to get back to its 2004 form.
2006 Recap
A legendary Sophomore Slump. Kasey Kahne's 2005 campaign did not get going until the fourth race of the season at Atlanta. He notched a top 5 there and followed up with three more in the ensuing seven races. His first career win finally came at Richmond, and most expected more to follow quickly. They didn't.
Kahne suffered through a miserable seven-race stretch from the Coca-Cola 600 to the Chicago event in July when he averaged a 29th-place finish. The team simply never recovered.
There were four top 10s sprinkled in the remaining 18 races, most notably a runner-up at the Brickyard.
The team got as high as 19th in the point standings before fading to 23rd down the stretch. The team finished on a bad note, with an average finish of 24.6 through the season's final 10 events.
• The Good: Kahne's win at Richmond was accomplished in convincing fashion. He won the pole and led 242 of the 400 laps, beating Tony Stewart to the checkers in his 47th career start.
• The Bad: After several terrific runs on the intermediates in '04, Kahne had just three top 10s last year.
• The Ugly: Kahne lost his temper with Kyle Busch at New Hampshire. After Busch put Kahne in the wall, Kahne caught him under caution for the payback. He was parked and invited for a visit with Mr. Helton in the NASCAR trailer.
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