Kimi Räikkönen‘s second NASCAR Cup Series start followed a similar pattern to his début: qualify in the twenties, work up into the top ten, be involved in a crash and fall back down the order.
Unlike the first time, Sunday’s race at Circuit of the Americas took place at a track he is more than familiar with, having won the Formula One United States Grand Prix in 2018. Coupled with him already having Cup experience under his belt, he and his #91 Trackhouse Racing Team Chevrolet ran as high as fourth in a significant improvement over his maiden series start at Watkins Glen, where he peaked at eighth before being taken out in a crash.
Much like the race itself, Räikkönen’s day was eventually upended as multiple wrecks in the closing laps extended the event beyond its scheduled distance courtesy of three overtime restarts. Räikkönen was especially hampered as his team’s five sets of tyres ran out, meaning he was on older Goodyear Eagles by the end. On the final restart, he was spun exiting the opening corner, ruining his shot at a good finish.
“We got unlucky with the incidents that happened. It was one of those things, unfortunately,” he explained. “There were no tyres left. They kept coming, getting more restarts and more restarts, so I think after the spin I had, the tyres were just done. It’s a shame because when we were there, but then we restart, and just wrong place, wrong time.”
After crossing the line in twenty-seventh, a thirty-second time penalty for cutting the esses relegated him to twenty-ninth.
Multiple drivers have been vocal about their colleagues’ poor conduct during the overtimes, which third-placed Alex Bowman called “embarrassing”. Fellow F1 alumnus Jenson Button, who finished eighteenth in his NASCAR début, had contact with Räikkönen that caused the former’s car to drop in performance. His Trackhouse team-mates Ross Chastain and Daniel Suárez clashed with each other during and after the race, the latter bumping Chastain out of the way to express his frustration with Bowman on pit road before talking with Chastain after exiting his car.
“It was a case of trying to stay out of the issues in the first corners and every time it looked like you’d be very good, then three corners later, somebody’s going the wrong direction,” he said. “There’s a bit of mess and luck involved.
“Our cool suit didn’t work half of the race, it stopped working, so it was quite hot in the car,” the Finn continued. The Texas heat had also gotten to Button who recalled nearly stopping due to exhaustion from the high temperatures. “It was fun going through the field, but it was a bit intense on the restarts.”
Räikkönen, the 2007 F1 World Champion and ever the straightforward figure, was mum on whether he would be back for more but has been open about enjoying his time in the Cup Series. In November, Trackhouse owner Justin Marks said the #91 was “kind of his ride until he tells me otherwise.” The ride is part of PROJECT91, a programme run by Trackhouse to get international racing stars into stock car racing.
“Nobody knows. It’s such a shame how it went in the end, but I think we did the right thing,” Räikkönen concluded. “We were there, but then on the restart it’s how it was. We’ll see what the future brings. Right now, I have no clue.”