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TRUCKS: Kimi’s Long, Strange Trip
Kimi Raikkonen is trying his hand at NASCAR...
Megan Englehart  |  Posted April 04, 2011   Charlotte, NC
Former Formula One World Champion Kimi Raikkonen will try NASCAR. (Photo: LAT Photographic)
Many in the Formula 1 world were taken aback over the weekend when 2007 champion Kimi Raikkonen became the latest open-wheel standout to throw his hat into the NASCAR ring.

“My initial reaction was total shock and I’m still trying to get my arms around the fact that Kimi, who is famously self-absorbed when it comes to other forms of racing around the world, would suddenly put his signature to quotes that gushed endlessly about the spirit of American racing and that NASCAR looks like fun,” said Bob Varsha, the voice of F1 on SPEED. “It’s not like Kimi at all, who is one of the most taciturn individuals I’ve ever come across, certainly in motor sports.”

Raikkonen’s entrée into NASCAR with Kyle Busch Motorsports marks his second major move since the conclusion of the 2009 season, when he left F1 after nine seasons for World Rally Championship.

He is scheduled to make his debut in the May 20 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at Charlotte Motor Speedway and tested a KBM Toyota for the first time at Gresham Motorsports Park near Jefferson, Ga., on Monday.

Several former open-wheel standouts have paved the narrow path to heavy stock cars, most with limited, if any, success. Raikkonen’s 18 wins and 62 podium finishes in 156 Formula 1 starts won’t count for much when it comes to manhandling a 3,400-pound race truck.

“He doesn’t seem to be taking the warning signs from guys like Dario Franchitti and (Juan Pablo) Montoya that NASCAR obviously is a hell of a lot more difficult than it looks,” said SPEED F1 analyst David Hobbs, a former F1 driver. “There is something about NASCAR that’s not as easy as it looks. I would have thought that for the sake of his reputation, it probably would be better to steer clear of it.”

The 31-year-old, though, may have found one of the best intermediary points between F1 and NASCAR with his current WRC endeavor, as the discipline requires strong car control skills.

“I think rally is an exceptional preparation for NASCAR,” Varsha commented. “Kimi, being a native Finn, and growing up driving on slippery roads all the time, will have very good car control skills. … Now here is Kimi practicing as a top-level rally driver in a low-downforce car with a lot of sliding around. I think that will set him up perfectly to deal with the challenges of NASCAR.”

Technical discrepancies between the two disciplines aside, one of Raikkonen’s most daunting challenges could be accommodating the up-close-and-personal NASCAR media and fans.

“I find it odd because he is such a reserved guy and hated dealing with the press in Formula 1,” Varsha stated. “That supposedly was one of his motivations for leaving the sport after winning the ’07 World Championship. If Kimi knows anything about NASCAR, he knows NASCAR drivers are almost compelled to be gregarious, fan-friendly, work with the press and so on, which is completely unlike the Kimi those of us who have been involved with his career in F1 know.”
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Megan Englehart

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