Apr
At COTA, Kimi Raikkonen’s performance fell short of his expectations, but he still made an impression in his second NASCAR Cup Series race.
The 22nd-place driver in Sunday’s race spent most of the day racing in the middle of the field.
But when a late caution pulled the pack back together, he was in a great opportunity to take advantage and move up the track. With fewer than ten circuits remaining, he pitted right before the yellow flag, stayed out, and moved up into the fourth position.
The happenings that followed, including numerous incidents and numerous late-race restarts, can only be described as chaotic. In the full-contact racing, Raikkonen competed for every position, but he finally faded and spun as well.
At that moment, he was unable to regain the lost track position, ending 29th as the final driver on the lead lap. In addition, Raikkonen was given a 30-second time penalty after the race for skipping the esses on the last lap. He had crossed the finish line in 27th place, but the penalty caused him to fall to 29th.
“I think it wasn’t too bad,” he said post-race. “We got unlucky with the incidents that happened. It was one of those things, unfortunately. Then there were no tires left. They kept coming, getting more restarts and more restarts, so I think after the spin I had, the tires were just done. It’s a shame because when we were there, but then we restart, and just wrong place, wrong time. 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. There’s a bit of mess and luck involved.”
Although Raikkonen hasn’t given his upcoming move much consideration, Justin Marks, owner of the Trackhouse Racing team, has stated previously that the No. 91 car is his to use whenever he pleases.
“I don’t know,” said Raikkonen when asked about any future NASCAR starts. “I mean, nobody knows. It’s such a shame how it went in the end, but I think we did the right thing. 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.
“It was a long race. Our cool suit didn’t work half of the race, it stopped working. So it was quite hot in the car. It was fun going through the field, but it was a bit intense on the restarts.”
Jenson Button, a fellow F1 World Champion, did significantly better in the end and finished 18th in his NASCAR start, leading all the ringers.
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Nascar, NASCAR Cup Series, Xfinity, Kimi Raikkonen, COTA, Raikkonen
