Kimi Räikkönen is no stranger to Circuit of the Americas, having won his final Formula One race there at the 2018 United States Grand Prix. On the other hand, he is still fairly new to NASCAR, having just made his Cup Series début at Watkins Glen in 2022 after a decade away from the discipline.
On 26 March, both worlds will collide as Räikkönen returns to Trackhouse Racing Team‘s #91 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for the Cup race at COTA.
“I had a fantastic time in NASCAR,” said Räikkönen. “There was a lot to learn in a very short amount of time, but everyone was very helpful, the competition was a big challenge. This time I get to race on a track I am familiar with so there won’t be as steep of a learning curve. I want to have fun, but also do as well as we can.”
Räikkönen’s maiden Cup start saw him ride in the top ten before being collected in a crash on lap 44 that relegated him to thirty-seventh. Despite the abrupt end, he was willing to give it another shot in the future and Trackhouse owner Justin Marks even said the #91 is “kind of his until he tells me otherwise.” The #91 is fielded under the PROJECT91 banner, an initiative by Trackhouse to bring international racing stars to NASCAR, especially as the Next Gen Cup car is more capable of road course racing and takes pages out of other disciplines’ books like touring and sports cars.
“I’m sure there are a lot of drivers that would like to have a chance to try NASCAR,” Räikkönen continued. “It’s not very easy, so maybe it will open some doors in the future for more chances to try and get more Europeans into the sport.”
Trackhouse also fields the #1 and #99 for points leader Ross Chastain and fourth-placed Daniel Suárez, respectively. Both scored their first career Cup win in 2022 on road courses, with Chastain taking the COTA race, while driving cars sponsored by Onx which will also appear on Räikkönen’s #91.
“When we announced Kimi last year, I said he was the global superstar I had in mind when we created PROJECT91,” offered Marks. “I think you saw the fan reception across the world and Kimi’s performance in the car was proof of the concept. Kimi’s following is massive and it’s great for NASCAR, Trackhouse plus I think Kimi really enjoys our racing.”
Besides the usual Cup regulars, Räikkönen will also compete against stars of other series at COTA including IndyCar veteran Conor Daly and IMSA champion Jordan Taylor.
