2007 Formula One Champion Readies for First NASCAR Cup Series Start

Concord, North Carolina – After years of dreaming, months of planning and a few days to get the driver ready, Trackhouse Racing’s PROJECT91 makes its debut Sunday with 2007 Formula One World Champion Kimi Räikkönen driving the No. 91 Recogni/iLOQ Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 in the NASCAR Cup Series race on the road course at Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International. Räikkönen becomes the first driver to join the team’s PROJECT91 program announced in May by Trackhouse Founder and Owner Justin Marks.

PROJECT91’s goal is to expand the organization’s international reach by fielding a NASCAR Cup Series entry for renowned international racing drivers. Marks thought of the idea years ago when he was a part-time driver in NASCAR and full-time competitor in sports car racing. He announced the project and Räikkönen’s involvement in May. Räikkönen arrived in America on Aug. 9 and worked at the team’s shop in North Carolina. He spent time on the Chevrolet computer simulator on Aug. 10, then joined in a driver orientation in an older version of a Cup Series car at Virginia International Raceway for two hours on Aug. 11.

“As a company we have worked hard to get Kimi ready,” said Marks. ”He has adapted very quickly so far. I know he will be quick. Our job is to help Kimi learn the rules specific to NASCAR to make sure that doesn’t bite us. But everyone knows how much talent he has and its shown on the simulator and at the test.”

Trackhouse Racing – a division of Trackhouse Entertainment Group – now fields the No. 99 and the No. 1 Chevrolets for Daniel Suárez and Ross Chastain. The Trackhouse drivers have combined to win three races in 2022 and will join in the 2022 NASCAR playoffs that begin Sept. 3 at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway. Räikkönen retired from Formula One in 2021 after competing with the Sauber, McLaren, Ferrari, Lotus and Alfa Romeo teams since he started in 2001. The native of Espoo, Finland won 21 races and stood on 103 podiums in his F1 career.

His Formula One highlight came in 2007 when he won the F1 World Driving title for Scuderia Ferrari. This will not be his first venture in the NASCAR world. He competed in the Xfinity and Truck Series races at Charlotte Motor Speedway in May 2011.“Without the experience there (in 2011) doing the truck and (now Xfinity) Series, I probably wouldn’t have been that interested in doing this,” said Räikkönen.

“But, knowing what to expect in NASCAR and this being a road course, I’m looking forward to this. There should be a lot of good close racing. Maybe on the road course we will have a good chance to try to do something.”Marks said Räikkönen’s entry at Watkins Glen is the only PROJECT91 race planned for 2022 but expects more races in 2023 with additional drivers. Marks visited Räikkönen’s Zurich home in Switzerland in February to discuss PROJECT91.Sunday’s race in Watkins Glen begins at 3 p.m. EDT & 7 p.m. GMT Räikkönen and Marks will be in the Watkins Glen media center at 9:30 a.m. EDT Saturday morning for media availability. Click here for NASCAR broadcaster in each country

Kimi Räikkönen, Driver of the No. 91 Chevrolet Camaro

How did Justin Marks convince you to do this?“At first I wasn’t really looking into this in a serious way. Obviously, we had more talks about how it would work, where the race would be and all sorts of things. It was just one race so it made sense for all of us as a family. I enjoyed it when I had my few races there (2011). Hopefully I’ll have a good race and good fun. There are new cars there and I have never been at the track and things like that, but I am sure we can figure it out quickly.”Watch Kimi Räikkönen discusses his first day driving a NASCAR Cup Series Car at Virginia International Raceway.

Will your Formula One and road course experience be an advantage Sunday?“I don’t think so. It’s a new track for me and the cars are completely new. F1 cars are completely different. Looking at how these new cars are in NASCAR it compares more to Australian V8s. We will go and see how it is. I’m sure we will do fine.”

Trackhouse Racing Teammate Daniel Suárez on Räikkönen

You joined Kimi Räikkönen on the Chevrolet simulator and at Virginia International Raceway last week. What are your impressions?“Yeah, it was good, it was short.  But it was good and I felt like Kimi….I have been trying to learn as much as I can from him because he is an amazing race car driver. But I believe a race car driver is great not just because of driving, I think it is just everything else around him. How he thinks and how open or closed minded he or she is.  And in this case he is having a great time, and he is not just here to have fun, but he is here to be a competitor and wants to do well. So, its been a lot of fun to work with him the last few days and I am really looking forward to seeing what he can do next week.”

How will he do in Watkins Glen? “I think he is going to be fast. The speed is there and the racing part is going to be a process because it doesn’t matter how much you practice in the simulator, doesn’t matter how many tests you do – the racing part is the racing part. Its different and he doesn’t know all these drivers. He doesn’t know how they race, he doesn’t know how aggressive they are, so that part is going to take a little bit. You can bring the best driver in the world and it is going to take some time in the racing part. I think (as far as) the speed, I think he is going to be good.”Do you think pit stops will be an issue?“That is part of the racing part I am talking about. Racing, restarts, taking care of your tires, taking care of your brakes, pit stops….like that part of the racing is what it takes to win races. That is the part I feel like is going to be a process for him.  Just because he has never done it before. With that being said, he did pit stop practice a couple of days ago and he did well.  There was a couple of things he was doing and I told him, ‘hey, you need to do this this way, you need to do this different, because the transmission works this way and you have to use your blower’. I tried to guide him as much as I can and I really feel he is trying to prepare himself as good as he can.  If I was going to do a race in Europe one day, I wish I could prepare myself the way he is doing it.”

Watch Justin Marks Talk About Kimi Räikkönen and PROJECT91

The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is the sanctioning body for the No. 1 form of motorsports in the United States and owner of 16 of the nation’s major motorsports entertainment facilities. NASCAR consists of three national series (NASCAR Cup Series™, NASCAR Xfinity Series™, and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series™), four regional series (ARCA Menards Series™, ARCA Menards Series East & West and the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour™), one local grassroots series (NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series™) and three international series (NASCAR Pinty’s Series™, NASCAR Mexico Series™, NASCAR Whelen Euro Series™). The International Motor Sports Association™ (IMSA®) governs the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship™, the premier U.S. sports car series. Based in Daytona Beach, Florida, with offices in eight cities across North America, NASCAR sanctions more than 1,200 races in more than 30 U.S. states, Canada, Mexico and Europe. For more information visit www.NASCAR.com and www.IMSA.com, and follow NASCAR on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat (‘NASCAR’).

     No. 91 Trackhouse Team Roster Founder: Justin Marks, Rocklin, CaliforniaPresident: Ty Norris, Sumter, South CarolinaDriver: Kimi Räikkönen, Espoo, FinlandCrew Chief: Darian Grubb, Floyd, VirginiaCar Chief: Gary Putnam, Vernon, ConnecticutSpotter: Keith Barnwell, Hudson, North CarolinaEngine Builder: ECR Engines, Welcome, North CarolinaEngine Tuner: Jason Watkins, Ridgeway, VirginiaFueler: Ryan Dextrase, Wichita Falls, TexasFront Tire Changer: Jacob NelsonRear Tire Changer: Justin Fiedler, Milwaukee, OregonJackman: Aslan Pugh, Wilmington, DelawareTire Carrier: Brendan Foley, Baltimore, MarylandEngineer: Zac Brown, Eolia, MissouriMechanic: Bret Gipson, Park Forest, IllinoisMechanic: Eric Hoyle, Asheville, North Carolina. Truck Driver: Dan Collins, Columbus, Ohio

Notes of Interest

Trackhouse founder Justin Marks competed in six Cup Series races with a best finish of 12th-place in the 2018 Daytona 500. He made 35 starts in the Xfinity Series posting a win, three top-five and seven top-10s. He won the Xfinity Series race at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course on Aug. 13, 2016 driving for Chip Ganassi Racing. Marks competed in 39 races in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series posting four top-10s and capturing two pole awards. He started eighth and finished 31st at Mid-Ohio on July 9, 2022.He joined four co-drivers in winning the 2009 Rolex 24 in the GT division.Justin Marks

Before turning a wheel in 2021, Trackhouse Racing became one of the more popular teams in NASCAR when it announced GRAMMY® Award-winning global superstar Pitbull had become a partner. Not only is he an active partner on the Trackhouse executive team, but Pitbull also serves as a brand and philanthropic ambassador. The Trackhouse team won the 2021 NASCAR Diversity Team Award. Marks won the 2022 “Byrnsie Award” from Fox.