AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at the Circuit of the Americas included several road race aces in the field, incluing former Formula One champions Kimi Raikkonen and Jenson Button.
Raikkonen drove Trackhouse Racing’s Project91 entry that is designed to give a seat in NASCAR to drivers from others disciplines. He finished 27th.
Raikkonen was running as high as fourth on a late race restart but was quickly shuffled into the pack.
“I think it wasn’t too bad,” said Raikkonen. “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 lock involved.”
Button drove for Rick Ware Racing as part of a three-race deal for road courses this season. He was 18th.
“Finished 18th after almost stopping because I had heat exhaustion,” Button said. “It was so hot, I don’t have a fan in my seat which really didn’t help me too much. It was so hot, I thought I was going to faint in the car. So, I stopped twice for a minute. They put ice on me, gave me loads of water, and I went back out. I was so close to getting out of the car because I thought I was going to faint. I must’ve drank eight… nine bottles of water during the race. The team kept me calm, and it’s the reason why we got a good result in the end. So, I was happy.”
Another “road course ringer” on the track Sunday was sports car driver four-time IMSA champion Jordan Taylor driving for injured Chase Elliott, who is still recovering from a fractured leg in a snowboarding accident and participated in the Fox Sports broadcast booth remotely from Colorado. Taylor finished 24th.
“Yeah, it was definitely wild,” Taylor said. “I wouldn’t say I survived. I feel like I’m beat up pretty much. Every restart, you just get smashed in the front, rear, side. So yeah, it was pretty much just survival. The guys knew I’d be a little bit more hesitant, so they would take advantage of it. At the end, I got more aggressive and made our way almost back to the top-10. On the last restart, I don’t know who went down on the inside, but they were never going to make the corner and used us to stop themselves.”
Trackhouse team owner Justin Marks expects Project91 to run several times this season. Project91 ran only Watkins Glen with Raikkonen last season.
“We’re going to definitely race this car multiple times this year," Marks said.
COTA’S NASCAR FUTURE
After three years racing at the track built for Formula One, signs point to a possible return for NASCAR in 2024.
Speedway Motorsports, which runs the event and rents the track for a week, has an option to return next season. Ticket holders have been given an option to reserve spots for 2024.
UP NEXT
The series moves to short track racing next Sunday at Richmond Raceway in Richmond, Virginia. Denny Hamlin is the defending race winner.
