{"id":90093,"date":"2023-03-10T08:12:33","date_gmt":"2023-03-10T16:12:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/?p=90093"},"modified":"2023-03-10T09:32:13","modified_gmt":"2023-03-10T17:32:13","slug":"jenson-button-to-make-nascar-cup-series-debut-at-circuit-of-the-americas-this-month","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/jenson-button-to-make-nascar-cup-series-debut-at-circuit-of-the-americas-this-month\/","title":{"rendered":"Jenson Button to Make NASCAR Cup Series Debut at Circuit of the Americas this month"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Jenson Button will make his competitive NASCAR Cup Series debut at COTA the last weekend of March – all photos courtesy Mobil 1<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Jenson Button is one of three drivers scheduled to race for Chevrolet at Le Mans, using a NASCAR-spec Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 as the Garage 56 entry in the twice-around-the-clock summer classic. He\u2019ll be joined in that endeavor by seven-time Cup Series champ Jimmie Johnson and by road racing rock star Mike Rockenfeller, who has won the 24 Hours of Le Mans.<\/p>\n

But first Button, the 2009 Formula One champion is going Cup Series racing at Circuit of the Americas (COTA) at the end of March, joining 2007 F1 champ Kimi Raikkonen and sports car star Jordan Taylor turning left and right on the 3.426-mile, 20-corner track. Button, together with Johnson and Rockenfeller, have been testing the ZL1 at Sebring International Raceway, Daytona International Speedway and at COTA, in anticipation of the Le Mans attack. This race will further indoctrinate the Briton on the ins and outs of driving a Cup Series car in competition.<\/p>\n

Button has been racing sports cars since his retirement from F1 after two decades of competition and this outing will showcase his versatility. COTA is the first of three NASCAR Cup Series races he\u2019ll contest during the 2023 season. With support from Mobil 1 synthetic motor oil, Button will race a Rick Ware Racing (RWR) No. 15 Mobil 1 Ford Mustang, with marketing and promotional support from Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR), a team fully imbedded with Mobil 1. In addition to racing at COTA, Button will compete in the inaugural street-circuit contest in Chicago July 2nd before racing on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course August 13th.<\/p>\n

The winner of 15 Grands Prix, including his dominant, six-victory 2009 championship season, Button left the F1 circus in 2017 and has, since then been racing the Japanese Super GT Series\u2019 GT500 class, where he secured the 2018 championship title. He then proceeded, in 2018-2019 to run a five-race stint in the FIA World Endurance Championship, including racing at Le Mans. He\u2019s even competed in off-road endurance competition, running both the 2019 Mint 400 and Baja 1000.<\/p>\n

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Jenson Button has tried many different racing series since leaving F1 – Mobil 1 image<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cI won the world championship with Mobil 1, and 14 of my 15 wins in Formula One were with Mobil 1, as well as winning the Super GT championship with them,\u201d Button confirmed. \u201cWe\u2019ve had a really close relationship over the years, and I can\u2019t think of a better partner\u201d for his three 2023 NASCAR Cup Series entries. \u201cMobil 1 has been a big part of making these NASCAR races happen for me, so I\u2019m very thankful to them for giving me this opportunity. I look forward to working alongside the brand to get the best out of every race weekend.\u201d<\/p>\n

Working in conjunction with his technical and financial partner Mobil 1, the company and the driver will focus on delivering exclusive content and uniting driving enthusiasts. They\u2019ll be using activations and experiences at all three events. \u201cThis partnership with Jenson intersects two of racing\u2019s most prominent series – NASCAR and F1 – and we\u2019re very excited to be a part of his pursuit for success in NASCAR\u2019s premier division,\u201d said Jei Gort, global motorsports and sponsorships manager, on behalf of Mobil 1. \u201cThrough our collaboration, we aim to further celebrate the love of driving and elevate the passion for motorsports.\u201d<\/p>\n

Button had 306 career F1 starts; his final race was the 2017 Monaco Grand Prix, where he subbed for Fernando Alonso, who was racing in the 101st Indianapolis 500 the same weekend. Button\u2019s final full-time season was the 2016 campaign.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe reason I was able to stay in Formula One for so long, was because I always felt I was learning. There was always something new in terms of technologies, or I could still improve my driving or engineering skills within Formula One,\u201d Button explained. \u201cWhen I got to my 17th year in F1, I felt like I lost that hunger a little bit, because it wasn\u2019t new anymore. There wasn\u2019t something to learn.\u201d<\/p>\n

Getting out of that arena gave Button the opportunities to race in a variety of series. \u201cThat excited me. I raced Super GT in Japan. I raced at Le Mans. I raced off-road because it was another skill to learn. You put yourself in a slightly vulnerable position, because it\u2019s not your complete skills set, and there\u2019s still more to learn to be as good as the best. I love that challenge of driving new things. It\u2019s slightly out of my comfort zone, and I found that out with the off-road trucks!<\/p>\n

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Button and Mobil 1 have been long-time partners – Mobil 1 image<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cObviously, racing a Cup car is very different than what I\u2019m used to. It\u2019s a lot heavier with a lot less power and, basically, no downforce. It\u2019s got a sequential gearbox where you need to blip the throttle, so there\u2019s lots of stuff to learn is a very short space of time. But I just get excited about that new challenge,\u201d Button continued, \u201cand when I throw myself into something, I am 100 percent in. I\u2019m not just doing it for fun in some one-off. I want to be competitive, and I know that to be competitive, it\u2019s going to take a bit of time. That\u2019s why doing these three races works very well this season.\u201d<\/p>\n

That last statement can raise the eyebrows. Will Button race full-time in NASCAR\u2019s Cup Series in 2024 or is this his time to be learning a new discipline? Starting at a track, COTA, where he\u2019s made five Formula One starts, \u201cI want to feel comfortable in the car knowing that I can get as much out of the car in any situation as other people out on track. The result is the result, and we\u2019ll see what happens. I want to get the confidence to brake as late as I\u2019d like, to carry the speed through the high-speed corners, and to be able to race close – wheel-to-wheel with the pack.\u201d<\/p>\n

Button\u2019s NASCAR Cup Series experience begins on Saturday, March 25th at COTA, where he\u2019ll practice and qualify with the balance of the Cup field. The 68-lap race the following day begins at 3:30 EDT, with live coverage on FOX and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.<\/p>\n

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Jenson Button is one of three drivers scheduled to race for Chevrolet at Le Mans, using a NASCAR-spec Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, but first he’s gonna take that vehicle for a spin at COTA.<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":65,"featured_media":90094,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3470,5029],"tags":[7597,9529,1425,4437,8613,4015],"class_list":["post-90093","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-racing","tag-circuit-of-the-americas","tag-jenson-button","tag-mobil-1","tag-nascar-cup-series","tag-rick-ware-racing","tag-stewart-haas-racing"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/No.-15-Ford-Mustang-min.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p42YSK-nr7","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90093","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/65"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=90093"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90093\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":90102,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90093\/revisions\/90102"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/90094"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=90093"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=90093"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=90093"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}