Raikkonen to make Cup Series debut for Trackhouse at Watkins Glen

The first driver for the new Trackhouse Racing “international” entry featuring talents from other racing disciplines has been confirmed, and it’s a big name: Kimi Raikkonen will make his NASCAR Cup Series debut as part of the team’s PROJECT91 program at the Watkins Glen International road course on August 21.

Formula 1 world champion in 2007, Raikkonen won 21 races in F1 across a career spanning two decades, during which time he became the most experienced driver in the sport’s history, with 349 starts to his name.

The Finn retired at the end of 2021 but previously told RACER he would be open to a return to NASCAR after trying his hand at one Truck Series and one Nationwide (now Xfinity) Series race back in 2011, before Cup Series entries at the time fell through.

“Who knows?” he told RACER last year. “Maybe one day. I really enjoyed how they race and how the whole thing runs.

“Maybe for some races. The first thing (in 2011), there were talks that I would do the whole season and I said no way, because I think there were, like, 36 races in a year, and it’s quite a rough season. So I would never do all of it, but some road circuits would be nice, and some ovals. I don’t know, we will see what happens in the future.”

Raikkonen will get to test the No. 91 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE before the Watkins Glen race, ahead of what will be his first public racing event since leaving F1.