FORT WORTH, Tex.—Kimi Raikkonen liked the appetizer, but he’s still waiting for the full-course meal in NASCAR racing.
No, Raikkonen isn’t about to leave his highly prized seat with Ferrari in Formula One, but once his career in the elite open-wheel series winds down, he’d like to try his hand in the stock car ranks again.
Back in 2011, during a two-year break from F1 competition, Raikkonen raced twice during speedweeks at Charlotte in May, finishing 15th in a Camping World Truck fielded by Kyle Busch Motorsports and 27th in a Nationwide Series car .
“I was very pleasantly surprised with how nice and how fun it was,” Raikkonen said. “It’s not easy – like any competitive motorsport. I really enjoyed the time. Hopefully, I can do more of those and hopefully, in the future, some Sprint Cup.
“We’ll see.”
The 2007 F1 champion, who also has raced in the World Rally Championship, was impressed with the challenge NASCAR presented.
“I would like to learn it more,” Raikkonen said. “Like I said, it looks very easy, but it’s not easy. When you look at each circuit, it just looks like an oval, but every corner is different. When you have knowledge of the sport, you can run much stronger.
“I would like to have a good, proper run at it and try to learn and make good results out of it. It’s a different atmosphere, a different way of doing things than F1 or in the Rally, but I really enjoyed it.
Greg is the author of "The Nuts and Bolts of NASCAR: The Definitive Viewers' Guide to Big-Time Stock Car Auto Racing" and has been published in major publications across the country including the Los Angeles Times, the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He was also a contributor to Chicken Soup for the NASCAR Soul, published in 2010, and the Christmas edition in 2016. He wrote as the NASCAR, Formula 1, Auto Reviews and National Veterans Affairs Examiner for Examiner.com and has appeared on Fox News. He holds a BS degree in communications, a Masters degree in psychology and is currently a PhD candidate majoring in psychology. He is currently the weekend Motorsports Editor for Autoweek.
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