CONCORD, N.C. -- There isn't much of an offseason in NASCAR. And for Kasey Kahne, it hasn't even started just yet.
"This first off week there's been a lot of news, a lot of things going on," he smiled.
On Wednesday, it was announced that Keith Rodden will take over as the crew chief for the No. 5 team. Twenty-four hours later, Hendrick Motorsports announced that Kahne had signed a three-year extension, keeping him with the organization through 2018.
"I've had a blast at Hendrick Motorsports, and to know I'm going to be racing here through 2018, to work with the same group of guys here at HMS, the same three drivers as my teammates -- the guys are awesome to work with," he said. "It feels really good to know that and know where we stand and start getting excited for next season."
As if that wasn't enough, it was also announced that Kahne's No. 5 Chevrolet SS will have a new primary sponsor on board for 2015 -- LiftMaster.
"It's going to be really neat to have them on for a couple races next season with Farmers Insurance, Great Clips, Time Warner Cable, Pepsi, Pepsi Max -- so we have a lot of good partners," Kahne said. "I'm excited about where we're at."
Kahne said that he will use the offseason to prepare, "trying to be better than we were last year."
In 2014, Kahne made the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup for the third consecutive season, but he said he will look for even more in 2015.
That work will come with Rodden as his crew chief, as outgoing No. 5 crew chief Kenny Francis has taken on the new role of vehicle technical director.
"I know we'll still work a lot with Kenny, a little bit of a different way, but we'll still work a lot with him and I'm excited to have him part of everything he's taking on," Kahne said.
As for Rodden, he and Kahne previously worked together for 10 years. The crew chief said that relationship will help him "hit the ground running" in 2015, and Kahne agreed.
"I've always felt really confident with Keith in the past. We worked really well together," he said. "I'm pretty excited about Keith as well and looking forward to everything we have going on for 2015 and beyond.