Raikkonen Returns to Trackhouse Racing’s PROJECT91 at NASCAR’s COTA Cup Series race
Trackhouse Racing’s PROJECT91 will see 2007 Formula One champion Kimi Raikkonen racing for the team a second time, after debuting last year on the Watkins Glen International road course August 21st. This time the Finn will compete in PROJECT91’s Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 in NASCAR’s Cup Series visit to Circuit of the Americas (COTA), slated for March 26th.
While Raikkonen was unfamiliar with Watkins Glen, never having raced there in F1, he has competed at COTA eight times, earning his most recent and 21st F1 victory on October 21, 2018, leading 39 laps on the 3.426-mile, 20-turn circuit that has hosted F1 since 2012.
“I had a fantastic time in NASCAR,” Raikkonen confirmed. “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,” he said.
Fun seems to be the launch word for Trackhouse Racing, a division of Trackhouse Entertainment Group, fielding the No. 1 Chevy for Ross Chastain and the No. 99 with Daniel Suarez, who have both brought the young team victories in NASCAR’s top tier Cup Series.
Team owner Justin Marks, who is also a racer and competed last week at St Petersburg in the SRO series, created PROJECT91 last year with the intent of expanding his organization’s global reach by fielding a Cup Series entry for renowned international racing drivers.
“When we announced Kimi last year, I said he was the global superstar I had in mind when we created PROJECT91,” Marks explained. “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 and for Trackhouse – plus I think Kimi really enjoys our racing!” Marks hasn’t indicated another stellar international driver who might compete in the No. 91, but Sebastien Vettel comes to mind.
Raikkonen will pilot the No. 91 Onx/iLOQ Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 at COTA. He’ll have the benefit of 23-time winning crew chief Darian Grubb calling the shots; Grubb helped Tony Stewart to his 2011 NASCAR Cup Series championship. The Finn’s backers for this excursion at COTA, Onx’s X+ construction system is fully-integrated that merges high-end design and leading technology. The company sponsored Chastain’s winning car at COTA in 2022 and also supported Suarez’s victory in Sonoma last June. iLOQ is a Finnish pioneer of smart and mobile locking systems.
Before he raced with Trackhouse in 2022, Raikkonen, of Espoo, Finland, visited the team’s Concord, North Carolina race shop and tested with the team at Virginia International Raceway. During the Watkins Glen race, he qualified 27th, raced in the top-10 for most of the afternoon before a late race accident – caused by another driver – ended his day.
Marks said Raikkonen will, once again, visit the shop in the days before the Austin, Texas event, but no test sessions are scheduled before that race. “I’m sure there are a lot of drivers that would like to have a chance to try NASCAR,” Raikkonen said. “It’s not very easy, so maybe it will open some doors in the future for more chances to try and get more Europeans into the sport.”
Raikkonen retired from Formula One in 2021. During a career that began in 2001, he raced with Sauber, McLaren, Ferrari, Lotus and Alfa Romeo. His F1 highlight came in the 2007 season season, when he secured the F1 World Driving title for Scuderia Ferrari. Raikkonen has previous driving experience in NASCAR, having competed in May 2011 Xfinity and Truck Series races on the Charlotte Motor Speedway.