A few days ago, TrackHouse Entertainment Group announced a third NASCAR Cup Series TrackHouse Racing car would be allocated to an international driver at a NASCAR track during the 2022 season. On Thursday, May 26 the first driver was announced and it’s 2007 Formula One World Champion Kimi Raikkonen. TrackHouse’s PROJECT91 program allows the Finn to compete in the No. 91 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 on the road course at Watkins Glen International on August 21st.
Raikkonen is the first driver to join the team’s PROJECT91, whose goal is to expand the organization’s international reach by fielding a NASCAR Cup Series entry for renowned international racers. Raikkonen joins TrackHouse Racing’s regular-season racers No. 99 Camaro fielded for Daniel Suarez and the No. 1 of two-time 2022 winner Ross Chastain.
“Kimi Raikkonen is the driver I first had in mind when we created PROJECT91,” said team principal Justin Marks, who has won races as a driver, including the 2009 GT class in the Rolex 24 at Daytona and NASCAR’s Xfinity Series at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course with Chip Ganassi Racing. “Kimi is a world-renowned driver with a tremendous amount of talent and fan following. We have had long discussions and, like us, he is already hard at work preparing for Watkins Glen,” where he’s never competed before now.
Darian Grubb, who has won 23 Cup races and was the 2011 Cup Series champion crew chief with Tony Stewart, will lead Raikkonen’s team; PROJECT91 intends to bring their new driver to the team’s race shop in Concord, North Carolina for preparations.
“I wasn’t looking to race again, but Justin came two my home in Switzerland and convinced me how serious he was about putting together a top-notch program,” the driver said. “This will be fun, but it’s something I will take very seriously. I know how competitive the NASCAR Cup Series is and it will be a big challenge,” he understands.
Raikkonen, whose 21-year F1 competition began in 2001 and has included driving positions with Sauber, McLaren, Ferrari, Lotus and, most recently Alfa Romeo, retired from Formula One following the 2021 season. He won the World Championship with Ferrari in 2007, recording 21 race victories throughout his stellar F1 career, together with 103 podium appearances.
This isn’t the native of Espoo, Finland’s first NASCAR venture. He competed in the Xfinity and Truck Series races at Charlotte Motor Speedway in May of 2011. Marks said Raikkonen’s Watkins Glen entry is, to date, the sole PROJECT91 race planned for 2022. He expects to engage other stellar international drivers for the 2023 campaign.
Marks announced the formation of PROJECT91 on May 24th without giving away the name of its initial driver. “PROJECT91’s mission is to activate the intersection point of NASCAR racing and global motorsport culture,” he said at the time. “I truly believe the Next Gen car represents an opportunity for NASCAR to enter the global professional motorsport conversation. We now have a race vehicle with international technological relevance, where world-class drivers from other disciplines can compete at NASCAR’s highest level without the steep learning curve that the previous generation cars required.” TrackHouse Racing has secured two Cup victories so far in the 2022 season with Chastain at the wheel.
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