Kimi Räikkönen is back! After making his NASCAR Cup Series debut for Trackhouse Racing's PROJECT91 entry at Watkins Glen, Räikkönen will contest the March 26th NASCAR Cup Series race at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas for the team.
The 43-year-old racer will pilot the No. 91 Chevrolet Camaro for Trackhouse Racing and sponsorship for the effort will come from long-time Trackhouse partner Onx Homes and iLOQ, which supported Räikkönen's NASCAR effort last season.
The Finnish racer competed admirably in his Cup Series debut at Watkins Glen a season ago. Despite not being familiar with the course, Räikkönen posted competitive lap times all weekend long and even found himself in the top-15 of the running order in the race before being swept up in a crash on lap 45.
Trackhouse team owner Justin Marks says that Räikkönen fully embodies what the team had in mind when they created the PROJECT91 entry.
“When we announced Kimi last year I said he was the global superstar I had in mind when we created PROJECT91," Marks said in a team release. "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.”
Now, this time around, Räikkönen heads to a track that he knows quite well in COTA.
“I had a fantastic time in NASCAR,” said Räikkönen of his Cup Series debut at Watkins Glen. “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 scored the F1 victory at the 2018 Pirelli United States Grand Prix at COTA, which served as the final victory of his illustrious F1 career. The racer has run a total of eight F1 Grand Prix events on the picturesque race course in Texas.
Overall, Räikkönen is a 21-time winner in F1 competition.
In addition to his NASCAR Cup Series debut event in 2022, Räikkönen has competed in one NASCAR Xfinity Series race and one NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race, both of which came at Charlotte Motor Speedway in 2011.
