Kimi Raikkonen in NASCAR Cup
Discussion
Watkins Glen NASCAR Cup race, pre race Kimi was asked why he would do this an an F1 champion and risk failure if he didn't do well.
In the race, he was running in the top 10 and doing well, then got punted out in what looked like someone else's crash, nowhere to go.
After the race, he thought the car was quick and he had fun, which is the important thing for Kimi, so he might do NASCAR again.
Two talkative interviews, I think he liked it there
.
In the race, he was running in the top 10 and doing well, then got punted out in what looked like someone else's crash, nowhere to go.
After the race, he thought the car was quick and he had fun, which is the important thing for Kimi, so he might do NASCAR again.
Two talkative interviews, I think he liked it there
.Found a few more videos and info now, he started 27th on a 39 car grid, not bad for a 'rookie' . Kvyat started 36th and finished 36th, the last car running. I don't know if he had any issues in the race, whether his team is a slow car, or what.
After qualifying. '13th in group B', I don't know the NASCAR Cup quali system, they must run 2 sessions of half the grid each if he was 27th on the grid?
Pre race interview
I do think he liked it in NASCAR Cup, he was learning stuff as he went but he seemed happy and talkative, I can't remember F1 interviews where he's talked so much.
. Kvyat started 36th and finished 36th, the last car running. I don't know if he had any issues in the race, whether his team is a slow car, or what.After qualifying. '13th in group B', I don't know the NASCAR Cup quali system, they must run 2 sessions of half the grid each if he was 27th on the grid?
Pre race interview
I do think he liked it in NASCAR Cup, he was learning stuff as he went but he seemed happy and talkative, I can't remember F1 interviews where he's talked so much.
Kimi raced in NASCAR over a decade go during his F1 sabbattical in the Nationwide Series and Truck Series (second and third tier respectively to Cup), both times at Charlotte oval.
I can see Daniel Ricciardo having a crack at NASCAR and is a fan of the sport. I remember he bigged up Martin Truex Jr as 2017 Driver of the Year, as well as driving an early RCR Dale Earnhardt Chevy from Zak Brown's collection as his reward for McLaren's first win in a long, long while.
I can see Daniel Ricciardo having a crack at NASCAR and is a fan of the sport. I remember he bigged up Martin Truex Jr as 2017 Driver of the Year, as well as driving an early RCR Dale Earnhardt Chevy from Zak Brown's collection as his reward for McLaren's first win in a long, long while.
I watched the race and follow NASCAR. Kimi was doing really well and was a solid top 10/20 all race (it can be hard to determine exactly where he was due to different pit stop strategies etc). He even got up to 8th at one point (out of ~40 cars), so when you consider the only seat time he had was in qualifying, it was an impressive display.
Ultimately he got caught up in someone else's accident and had nowhere to go. Maybe with a little more experience, he wouldn't have positioned himself there, but it was hardly his fault. If he could've kept out of trouble, I do think he could've been inside the top 15.
Would be good to see him compete again and I think he'd be open to the idea. A previous posted mentioned Daniel Ricardo who I think will venture into the sport at some point in his career and maybe run a full season. He even uses #3 on his F1 car because he was a big Dale Earnhardt fan.
Ultimately he got caught up in someone else's accident and had nowhere to go. Maybe with a little more experience, he wouldn't have positioned himself there, but it was hardly his fault. If he could've kept out of trouble, I do think he could've been inside the top 15.
Would be good to see him compete again and I think he'd be open to the idea. A previous posted mentioned Daniel Ricardo who I think will venture into the sport at some point in his career and maybe run a full season. He even uses #3 on his F1 car because he was a big Dale Earnhardt fan.
T3LLIOTT said:
Would be good to see him compete again and I think he'd be open to the idea.
^^ This. He did much better than most of the drivers who have a go at one race. On the other hand Juan Pable Montoya had a solid careeer in NASCAR from about 2006 to 2014.That wet race at Watkins Glen reminded me of driving the circuit in pouring rain back in 2019!
T3LLIOTT said:
I watched the race and follow NASCAR. Kimi was doing really well and was a solid top 10/20 all race (it can be hard to determine exactly where he was due to different pit stop strategies etc). He even got up to 8th at one point (out of ~40 cars), so when you consider the only seat time he had was in qualifying, it was an impressive display.
Ultimately he got caught up in someone else's accident and had nowhere to go. Maybe with a little more experience, he wouldn't have positioned himself there, but it was hardly his fault. If he could've kept out of trouble, I do think he could've been inside the top 15.
Regardless of the differing strategies in play he was clearly capable of running alongside (and ahead of) names I’m used to seeing way up at the sharp end of Cup racing and you’ve got to see that as a pretty impressive display. Would be great to see him on an oval, and really interesting to see how he got on at a short track. :-)Ultimately he got caught up in someone else's accident and had nowhere to go. Maybe with a little more experience, he wouldn't have positioned himself there, but it was hardly his fault. If he could've kept out of trouble, I do think he could've been inside the top 15.
T3LLIOTT said:
I watched the race and follow NASCAR. Kimi was doing really well and was a solid top 10/20 all race (it can be hard to determine exactly where he was due to different pit stop strategies etc). He even got up to 8th at one point (out of ~40 cars), so when you consider the only seat time he had was in qualifying, it was an impressive display.
Ultimately he got caught up in someone else's accident and had nowhere to go. Maybe with a little more experience, he wouldn't have positioned himself there, but it was hardly his fault. If he could've kept out of trouble, I do think he could've been inside the top 15.
Regardless of the differing strategies in play he was clearly capable of running alongside (and ahead of) names I’m used to seeing way up at the sharp end of Cup racing and you’ve got to see that as a pretty impressive display. Would be great to see him on an oval, and really interesting to see how he got on at a short track. :-)Ultimately he got caught up in someone else's accident and had nowhere to go. Maybe with a little more experience, he wouldn't have positioned himself there, but it was hardly his fault. If he could've kept out of trouble, I do think he could've been inside the top 15.
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