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After almost a year away from racing, Kimi Raikkonen will mark his return to NASCAR in the Cup Series on a track that he is quite familiar with - Circuit of the Americas (COTA) in Austin, Texas.
Raikkonen made his NASCAR debut following his retirement from Formula 1 at the end of the 2021 season. He raced in NASCAR under the PROJECT91 banner, an initiative that introduced drivers from other racing series into the sport.
The Finn will be behind the wheel again this year and is excited to race at COTA. He stated that there was a lot to learn about NASCAR, but he would want to "have fun" this time around.
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The Race quoted him as saying:
"I had a fantastic time in NASCAR. 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."
The Circuit of the Americas is special for Raikkonen as his last F1 race win came here, back in the 2018 season. He won the race with Ferrari, who were very competitive at the time.
He was replaced by Charles Leclerc at the end of the season. Raikkonen then completed his switch to Alfa Romeo, where he would go on to race for three more seasons before calling it quits on his time in F1.
Kimi Raikkonen expected to have a better performance in NASCAR this time around
Kimi Raikkonen's first stint in NASCAR didn't go too well. The Finn qualified 27th for his Cup Series debut at Watkins Glen International in August 2022. However, a crash brought an early conclusion to his race, with 'The Iceman' finishing 37th.
However, since he has experience from last year and COTA is a much more familiar track, he is expected to have a much better finish during the race.
Kimi Raikkonen also competed in NASCAR while he was still racing in Formula 1 in 2011. He raced in the Xfinity Series and Truck Series for Kyle Busch Motorsports.
Raikkonen set milestones in his F1 career, winning his only world championship with Ferrari in 2007. Although he has been off the track for almost a year, his race at COTA is expected to be an entertaining one.
