Kimi, Kimi, Kimi! The Iceman Cometh: Raikkonen to make NASCAR Cup debut Sunday at Watkins Glen
Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Watkins Glen International will have a little bit of international flair.
While stock car racing has been traditionally associated with the “good ole boys” from down South, an international motorsport superstar will make his Cup debut in the PROJECT 91 entry for Trackhouse Racing.
2007 Formula One World Champion Kimi Räikkönen will drive the No. 91 Recogni/iLOQ Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 in NASCAR’s annual visit to the 2.45-mile, seven-turn road course in central New York.
Here's Räikkönen's car in its full paint job. Photo courtesy Trackhouse Racing.
While Sunday’s race will be Räikkönen’s first Cup Series race, it will not be the first time he has competed in NASCAR. The 42-year-old Finn made a Camping World Truck Series start as well as Xfinity Series start for Kyle Busch Motorsports in 2011. Both starts came during the Memorial Day weekend at Charlotte, where Räikkönen started 31st and finished 15th in the truck and started 22nd and finished 27th in the Xfinity car.
However, there is great anticipation that Räikkönen will fare much better at the Glen as he has decades of experience on road courses considering his racing background globally in F1 across Europe, Asia, Mexico and South America and more.
"I think he is going to be fast,” said Trackhouse teammate Daniel Suárez, who tested with Räikkönen in a simulator and on the track at Virginia International Raceway last week. “The speed is there and the racing part is going to be a process because it doesn't matter how much you practice in the simulator, doesn't matter how many tests you do - the racing part is the racing part.
“It's different and he doesn't know all these drivers. He doesn't know how they race, he doesn't know how aggressive they are, so that part is going to take a little bit. You can bring the best driver in the world and it is going to take some time in the racing part. I think (as far as) the speed, I think he is going to be good."
Räikkönen retired from Formula One in 2021 after a phenomenal 19 seasons that saw him race for Sauber, McLaren, Ferrari, Lotus and Alfa Romeo and win 21 Grand Prix events in the process.
However, NASCAR racing is drastically different from F1, and Räikkönen credits his past stock car adventures from over a decade ago as inspiration for his involvement with PROJECT 91.
“Without the experience there (in 2011) doing the truck and (now Xfinity) Series, I probably wouldn’t have been that interested in doing this," Räikkönen said. "But, knowing what to expect in NASCAR and this being a road course, I’m looking forward to this. There should be a lot of good close racing. Maybe on the road course we will have a good chance to try to do something."
Räikkönen’s involvement with the project was announced in May. He has been stateside since August 9 to prepare for Sunday’’s race.
"As a company, we have worked hard to get Kimi ready," said Trackouse owner and founder Justin Marks. "He has adapted very quickly so far. I know he will be quick. Our job is to help Kimi learn the rules specific to NASCAR to make sure that doesn't bite us. But everyone knows how much talent he has and it's shown on the simulator and at the test."
Marks visited Räikkönen at his home in Switzerland in Febuary to pitch the opportunity.
“At first I wasn’t really looking into this in a serious way,” Räikkönen said. “Obviously, we had more talks about how it would work, where the race would be and all sorts of things. It was just one race so it made sense for all of us as a family.
"I enjoyed it when I had my few races there (in NASCAR). Hopefully, I'll have a good race and good fun. There are new cars there and I have never been at the track and things like that, but I am sure we can figure it out quickly.”
While Räikkönen’s entry at Wakins Glen remains the only PROJECT 91 entry of 2022, the team expects more starts for the No. 91 Chevy in 2023 with additional international drivers.
“My goals for PROJECT 91 ideally would be to identify a handful of races every year that are the ones that these guys (international drivers) can come into and be successful right away,” Marks said. “That’s basically all the road courses.
“There’s bigger visions for the brand potentially in other forms of motorsports besides just NASCAR. But for right now it's bringing the stars of motorsports around the world to the Cup Series in a competitive way.”
However, Räikkönen may be interested in doing even more races in 2023, including potentially the Daytona 500. While four-time Indianapolis 500 winner Helio Castroneves is also interested in the opportunity with Trackhouse, if it presents itself, he said earlier this week that he will defer to Kimi first to see if he's interested in running at Daytona.
A Diverse Field
Räikkönen won’t be the only international driver competing in Sunday’s race. In fact, seven countries are represented in the 40-car field - the most in a single race in NASCAR history.
Besides Räikkönen (Finland) and teammate Suárez (Mexico), the race will also see four more international racers.
Two-time NASCAR Whelen Euro Series champion Loris Hezemans of the Netherlands will make his fourth Cup Series start this year in the No. 27 Ford for Team Hezeberg. Joining him will be Russian Daniil Kvyat in Team Hezeberg's No. 26 entry.
Mike Rockenfeller of Germany will make his Cup Series debut in the No. 77 Chevrolet for Spire Motorsports. Rockenfeller won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2010.
British sports car racer Kyle Tilley will drive the No. 78 Ford for Live Fast Motorsports. Tilley has four previous Cup starts, all previously with Live Fast on road courses.