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Kimi Räikkönen‘s first NASCAR Cup Series race started with loads of fanfare, however resulted in disappointment when he was concerned in a crash that ended his day after forty-four laps. Regardless of the retirement, he remained upbeat concerning the expertise and what’s at present a one-off might turn into extra begins sooner or later.
The 2007 Components One World Champion certified twenty-seventh for Sunday’s race at Watkins Glen Worldwide, and was in a position to achieve eleven spots by the tip of the primary stage. Pit technique and an total sturdy efficiency enabled him to enter the highest ten, the place he battled with the likes of pole winner and Cup common season champion Chase Elliott earlier than pitting previous to Stage #2’s conclusion to complete it twenty-fifth.
On lap 44, Trackhouse Racing team-mate Ross Chastain collided with Austin Dillon as they exited the Bus Cease chicane, sending Dillon right into a spin. Räikkönen was operating on Chastain’s left when he and Loris Hezemans had been despatched off track, with Räikkönen hitting the wall. With entrance harm terminal, he retired and was categorised thirty-seventh.
“I had an excellent line there however everyone got here from the left and sadly, I had no time to react,” Räikkönen instructed NBC Sports activities’ Parker Kligerman. “The affect was small, however the very first thing was someone hit the tyre or the wheel immediately and the wheel spun and one thing went improper with the race, however that’s the way it goes.”
Regardless of the disappointing end, he described the race as “good enjoyable. I felt extra confidence on a regular basis and had some good battles and it’s a disgrace. I believe the automobile felt prefer it had loads of velocity in there, however that’s the way it goes some day.”
When requested about returning for extra races, he merely instructed Kligerman, “We’ll see. I don’t know.”
Trackhouse fielded the #91 for Räikkönen within the début race for PROJECT91, a programme supposed to carry worldwide racing stars to NASCAR. Whereas Watkins Glen is the entry’s lone Cup race for 2022, crew proprietor Justin Marks hopes it’ll run six to eight races in 2023.
“In the end, PROJECT91 is a programme that operates at the entire highway programs throughout the season after which probably a number of the main occasions, just like the Daytona 500, Coca-Cola 600, or one thing like that,” Marks defined in a Saturday media availibility. “I believe in some unspecified time in the future, you get so many races that it’s a must to have a look at simply truly fielding a 3rd full-time automobile. However I believe for PROJECT91, it’s a six to eight-race programme probably subsequent yr and past. It’s a model extension of Trackhouse. I believe we are able to get actually distinctive on the content material aspect, on the merchandise aspect and simply create nice tales. That’s kind of the place I’d wish to see it go.”
Fellow F1 alumnus Daniil Kvyat, who together with Räikkönen had been amongst seven non-Americans in the race, briefly exited with mechanical failure earlier than returning. He subsequently overtook the retired Räikkönen for thirty-sixth.
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