Kimi Raikkonen's Truck Debut

#1
Burhead

Burhead

God-Emperor of Politics
Joined
Jan 3, 2009
Messages
26,276
Likes
10,068
#1
Was tonight and finished a solid 15th and on the lead lap. He held his own all night and aside from brushing the wall a couple of times he really impressed me on how quickly he got up to speed.

It looks like now he'll be racing the Nationwide race at Charlotte next week. There is a NNS Toyota at the KBM shop that is said to have been built in house. Kyle after the race said that he nor JGR "owns" the car. Kimi apparently has a sponsor and just needs a car number to race. The speculation (mine included) that is making its way around is that it will be technically a Joe Nemechek "owned" car. Also it looks like he'll attempt a Cup race sometime this year as well, maybe Sonoma.
 
#2
#2
Burhead said:
Was tonight and finished a solid 15th and on the lead lap. He held his own all night and aside from brushing the wall a couple of times he really impressed me on how quickly he got up to speed.

It looks like now he'll be racing the Nationwide race at Charlotte next week. There is a NNS Toyota at the KBM shop that is said to have been built in house. Kyle after the race said that he nor JGR "owns" the car. Kimi apparently has a sponsor and just needs a car number to race. The speculation (mine included) that is making its way around is that it will be technically a Joe Nemechek "owned" car. Also it looks like he'll attempt a Cup race sometime this year as well, maybe Sonoma.
Click to expand...

A decent showing, first time in this type of car and track. Not earth shattering, but decent.
 
#5
#5
There seems to be more fascination with Kimi than any other F1 star who has moved to NASCAR.
Posted via VolNation Mobile
 
#9
#9
TennesseeFan07 said:
Kimi is really moving fast. He will make the jump to cup a lot faster than any other F1 driver probably ever will. Then again, he's Kimi Raikkonen. If he fails, he's only got a billion dollars to go play with.
Click to expand...

Exactly, what's the point in him staying in trucks or even Nationwide? He wants to see if he likes Nascar so why not jump to the Cup level immediately? He has nothing to lose from his standpoint, if he likes it great, if not then he can go back to Europe and race there.
 
#10
#10
Burhead said:
Exactly, what's the point in him staying in trucks or even Nationwide? He wants to see if he likes Nascar so why not jump to the Cup level immediately? He has nothing to lose from his standpoint, if he likes it great, if not then he can go back to Europe and race there.
Click to expand...

The point is to get some seat time in the lower level series to get acclimated to a whole new type of car and track. To just jump into a Cup car is to risk the fate of Dario Franchitti.
 
#11
#11
rbroyles said:
The point is to get some seat time in the lower level series to get acclimated to a whole new type of car and track. To just jump into a Cup car is to risk the fate of Dario Franchitti.
Click to expand...

True, but he doesn't even know yet if he wants to stay in Nascar. I would think the best thing for him would be to race against the top competition for a race or two to see if he does and that is in the Cup series. If he likes then fine, he'll stay for awhile. If not he can go back home with no loss.
 
#13
#13
Burhead said:
Exactly, what's the point in him staying in trucks or even Nationwide? He wants to see if he likes Nascar so why not jump to the Cup level immediately? He has nothing to lose from his standpoint, if he likes it great, if not then he can go back to Europe and race there.
Click to expand...

Dude would get his ass handed to him if he raced cup this year IMO.
Posted via VolNation Mobile
 
#16
#16
If he's serious he'll listen to Jaun. Read the JPM comments from this weekend. He basically laid it out.

Also, if you read the press release when Jaun left F1, his comments make even more sense.
Posted via VolNation Mobile
 
#18
#18
Escape Goat said:
Where can I find the Press release, and comments at ? YouTube?
Posted via VolNation Mobile
Click to expand...

Raikkonen talks about Cup; Nationwide race next UPDATE: Kimi Raikkonen, who makes his NASCAR debut tonight in the Camping World Truck Series, spoke to the media Friday for the first time, indicating that he would like to run in Cup later this year and also hinting that if things go well tonight, he might drive a Nationwide car next weekend at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Raikkonen, the 2007 Formula One champion, is driving for Kyle Busch's team tonight. Raikkonen made it through both practice sessions Friday morning without any major incidents (he did scrape the wall). He ranked 30th quickest among 36 drivers in the first practice session and was 30th among 37 drivers in the final truck practice session. Raikkonen, who is slipping his NASCAR events in between rally races he's scheduled to do, said he wanted to come to NASCAR because "I want to try different things. I was interested to see how it is. I don't have any plans for next year in anything I do. If I completely suck, there's no reason to come back. Hopefully, it goes better than today.'' As for his NASCAR schedule this year, Raikkonen said: "I'm looking at this weekend and hopefully next weekend I'm here. Then after that, there's no real plans yet. Hopefully, I can get to run some Cup races that would be nice. There's not awful lot of planning. I'll try to do the best now and see what happens.''(Virginian Pilot)(5-20-2011)
UPDATE: The pieces to the Kimi Raikkonen Nationwide Series puzzle are coming together. FOXSports.com has learned that the car is being assembled by Kyle Busch Motorsports but the owner points will come from Joe Nemechek's #87 entry, registered under NEMCO Motorsports, which is currently 19th in the NASCAR Nationwide Series points standings. The crew will come from NEMCO with additional support from KBM employees. NEMCO will provide transporter, equipment and back up car for the race. Raikkonen finished 15th in his NASCAR Camping World Truck debut. The 2007 Formula One champion was approved to compete in next Saturday's Nationwide Series race prior to Friday night's event.(FoxSports)(5-21-2011)
Click to expand...

YouTube - ‪Kimi Raikkonen NASCAR press conference 20.05.2011‬‏
YouTube - ‪Kimi Raikkonen Charlotte NCWTS practice‬‏
 
#20
#20
is this the guy that dominated F1 back in the day? think the guys name was pronounced Hakkinen.
Posted via VolNation Mobile
 
#23
#23
He is testing Robby Gordon's #7 Cup car at Virginia International Raceway today.
 
New posts
You must log in or register to reply here.

VN Store



Back
Top