Kimi Goes Fender-Bangin' (NASCAR) - LONG
From
D Munz@21:1/5 to
All on Tue Aug 23 06:58:46 2022
Good to see Kimi living the motor home life! I record the Indy and NASCAR road races but don't always watch them. I hadn't heard anything about this until I read the following article. I'll check out the race now. (At least the first half...)
FROM THE ATHLETIC DAILY
By Jeff Gluck - Aug 22, 2022
WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. — It wasn’t a surprise to see Kimi Raikkonen find speed during his first weekend as a NASCAR Cup Series driver. Even with a minimal amount of laps in a stock car, the 2007 Formula One world champion was always going to be quick to
adapt.
What wasn’t as expected? The warmth from the “Iceman,” whose famously frosty demeanor was nowhere to be found during his trip to the United States.
There was Raikkonen playfully squeezing the hand of a competitor’s baby moments before climbing into a race car. There was Raikkonen bending down to gently pat his two young children, who were hovering around their father’s legs in a crowd. There was
Raikkonen hanging out all weekend in the drivers’ motorhome lot, living the bus life along with his family.
This was not the Raikkonen seen on interview highlight reels or heard yelling at his F1 crew on the radio. Whether it was because he was more relaxed in a one-off setting or whether he simply did not need the drink, Raikkonen never came close to giving
any soundbites via team communications this time around.
And then there was this scene: Raikkonen actually joking and smiling with other drivers before the race, sharing laughs with the likes of Kyle Busch, Kyle Larson and Martin Truex Jr.
“If it rains, I’m just going to follow you,” Truex told Raikkonen with a chuckle.
“I’ll try to stay out of you in the first corner,” Raikkonen replied with a grin.
NASCAR Kimi was certainly different than F1 Kimi, who Lando Norris said never spoke a word to him in three years of racing in the same series. Though some of Raikkonen’s fans at the track wore T-shirts with his famous “Leave me alone, I know what I’
m doing” line, this version of Raikkonen enjoyed himself too much to be in a sour mood.
Asked about his favorite part of the NASCAR experience, the 42-year-old had another surprising answer: “Everything,” he said.
Clearly, the feeling was mutual for his Trackhouse Racing team and the rest of the NASCAR garage.
“He’s an amazing professional,” crew chief Darian Grubb said. “It’s just as you’d expect: He came in, worked really hard, studied hard, did everything we ever asked of him with no complaints and put in the work. I wish we could have got him
the finish he deserved.”
That finish would have been in the top 15 based on the team’s strategy and Raikkonen’s speed, Grubb said. One driver on the same strategy, Austin Cindric, finished 13th. But as sometimes happens in the full-contact world of NASCAR road courses,
Raikkonen got shoved off the track when cars in front of him came together; it jerked the wheel and sent him into the tire barrier, ending his day at the halfway point of the race.
“Unfortunately, this is a bad result, but nothing we could have really changed,” Raikkonen said after finishing 37th out of 39 cars. “It wasn’t like we (did) it ourselves, we just ended up in the wrong place.”
Raikkonen’s cameo in NASCAR was part of a Trackhouse initiative called Project 91, where team owner Justin Marks plans to create an opportunity for drivers around the world to give NASCAR a try. Raikkonen agreed to be the first one in the car after
Marks flew to Switzerland to pitch him on it; a mutual friend, P.J. Rashidi, helped get them in touch and smoothed the path for a conversation.
Unlike most NASCAR starts from so-called road course ringers in the past, Raikkonen actually had an elite car to work with. Project 91 put together a full effort with separate branding and a professional appearance fitting of a top team. Everything was
buttoned up and all the details were taken care of, from Raikkonen’s simulator time to a NASCAR-sanctioned test session to the logistics and schedules at the track.
For a driver who once called F1 a “hobby,” his NASCAR experience actually seemed to fit that mold. With Raikkonen’s family in tow and a tourist trip to New York City built in, the vibe felt like a summer vacation where Raikkonen happened to do a
race.
“I really like it. It’s very relaxed, a nice family atmosphere,” Raikkonen said of NASCAR. “It’s a lot more of a family atmosphere here than in F1.”
Raikkonen’s fans certainly appreciated the chance to see him up close as well, and many took advantage of NASCAR’s more open access policies to get autographs or selfies.
Elena Ceto, who flew from Miami for the race, stood near Raikkonen’s pit during practice with a Finland flag draped over her shoulders. Originally from Russia, Ceto said she’d been a Raikkonen fan since age 11 and named the other times when she’d
been able to see him race (Malaysia in 2013 and Russia in 2015).
Now here she was, having her Finland flag signed by Raikkonen after he qualified 27th.
“He’s just the best,” she gushed after securing the autograph.
Marcel Mongeau, a fan from Michigan, is an F1 supporter who has jumped at the opportunity to see some favorite drivers race stateside. He went to IndyCar’s Belle Isle Grand Prix to see former F1 driver Romain Grosjean drive and then visited Watkins
Glen for Raikkonen.
“I just love his demeanor,” Mongeau said. “No matter what it is, he’ll just say it like it is. I love that dryness. He answers and moves on and doesn’t explain further.”
For those who couldn’t attend in person, there was certainly a large international audience watching on TV as well. Some on Twitter said they were viewing a NASCAR race for the first time.
American stock car racing doesn’t carry the same respect around the world as a series like Formula One, which caused some to wonder how Raikkonen’s appearance would be perceived. NASCAR’s Tyler Reddick, an F1 fan who once had open-wheel aspirations
himself, said he wanted Raikkonen to do well but also said he hoped “he doesn’t make us all look like clowns.”
As it turned out, there was a perfect balance: Raikkonen did well enough to impress drivers with his talent and remind everyone why he’s an F1 legend, but also showed how difficult NASCAR can be in the process. At one point, he had a nice battle with
Chase Elliott — who has been NASCAR’s winningest road racer in recent years.
“He was doing great,” Elliott said. “He was right in the middle of the mess there and he looked right at home.”
Denny Hamlin had similar praise for Raikkonen after practice (calling his 20th-place result “stupid impressive”) and Dale Earnhardt Jr. noted how Raikkonen was able to drop right into the middle of a highly competitive field with little experience.
Raikkonen said he was continuing to learn every lap, but his race was ultimately cut short. Will he ever come back to give NASCAR another try? That’s not up to him, he said, and Project 91 will likely try to get additional famous faces into the series.
But Raikkonen also said he wouldn’t be opposed to a return, and seemed to leave the door open to doing another race at some point.
“I have nothing against (the idea),” he said. “We’ll see.”
--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
From
News@21:1/5 to
D Munz on Tue Aug 23 10:18:03 2022
On 8/23/2022 9:58 AM, D Munz wrote:
Good to see Kimi living the motor home life! I record the Indy and NASCAR road races but don't always watch them. I hadn't heard anything about this until I read the following article. I'll check out the race now. (At least the first half...)
FROM THE ATHLETIC DAILY
By Jeff Gluck - Aug 22, 2022
WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. — It wasn’t a surprise to see Kimi Raikkonen find speed during his first weekend as a NASCAR Cup Series driver. Even with a minimal amount of laps in a stock car, the 2007 Formula One world champion was always going to be quick
to adapt.
What wasn’t as expected? The warmth from the “Iceman,” whose famously frosty demeanor was nowhere to be found during his trip to the United States.
There was Raikkonen playfully squeezing the hand of a competitor’s baby moments before climbing into a race car. There was Raikkonen bending down to gently pat his two young children, who were hovering around their father’s legs in a crowd. There
was Raikkonen hanging out all weekend in the drivers’ motorhome lot, living the bus life along with his family.
This was not the Raikkonen seen on interview highlight reels or heard yelling at his F1 crew on the radio. Whether it was because he was more relaxed in a one-off setting or whether he simply did not need the drink, Raikkonen never came close to giving
any soundbites via team communications this time around.
And then there was this scene: Raikkonen actually joking and smiling with other drivers before the race, sharing laughs with the likes of Kyle Busch, Kyle Larson and Martin Truex Jr.
“If it rains, I’m just going to follow you,” Truex told Raikkonen with a chuckle.
“I’ll try to stay out of you in the first corner,” Raikkonen replied with a grin.
NASCAR Kimi was certainly different than F1 Kimi, who Lando Norris said never spoke a word to him in three years of racing in the same series. Though some of Raikkonen’s fans at the track wore T-shirts with his famous “Leave me alone, I know what I
m doing” line, this version of Raikkonen enjoyed himself too much to be in a sour mood.
Asked about his favorite part of the NASCAR experience, the 42-year-old had another surprising answer: “Everything,” he said.
Clearly, the feeling was mutual for his Trackhouse Racing team and the rest of the NASCAR garage.
“He’s an amazing professional,” crew chief Darian Grubb said. “It’s just as you’d expect: He came in, worked really hard, studied hard, did everything we ever asked of him with no complaints and put in the work. I wish we could have got him
the finish he deserved.”
That finish would have been in the top 15 based on the team’s strategy and Raikkonen’s speed, Grubb said. One driver on the same strategy, Austin Cindric, finished 13th. But as sometimes happens in the full-contact world of NASCAR road courses,
Raikkonen got shoved off the track when cars in front of him came together; it jerked the wheel and sent him into the tire barrier, ending his day at the halfway point of the race.
“Unfortunately, this is a bad result, but nothing we could have really changed,” Raikkonen said after finishing 37th out of 39 cars. “It wasn’t like we (did) it ourselves, we just ended up in the wrong place.”
Raikkonen’s cameo in NASCAR was part of a Trackhouse initiative called Project 91, where team owner Justin Marks plans to create an opportunity for drivers around the world to give NASCAR a try. Raikkonen agreed to be the first one in the car after
Marks flew to Switzerland to pitch him on it; a mutual friend, P.J. Rashidi, helped get them in touch and smoothed the path for a conversation.
Unlike most NASCAR starts from so-called road course ringers in the past, Raikkonen actually had an elite car to work with. Project 91 put together a full effort with separate branding and a professional appearance fitting of a top team. Everything was
buttoned up and all the details were taken care of, from Raikkonen’s simulator time to a NASCAR-sanctioned test session to the logistics and schedules at the track.
For a driver who once called F1 a “hobby,” his NASCAR experience actually seemed to fit that mold. With Raikkonen’s family in tow and a tourist trip to New York City built in, the vibe felt like a summer vacation where Raikkonen happened to do a
race.
“I really like it. It’s very relaxed, a nice family atmosphere,” Raikkonen said of NASCAR. “It’s a lot more of a family atmosphere here than in F1.”
Raikkonen’s fans certainly appreciated the chance to see him up close as well, and many took advantage of NASCAR’s more open access policies to get autographs or selfies.
Elena Ceto, who flew from Miami for the race, stood near Raikkonen’s pit during practice with a Finland flag draped over her shoulders. Originally from Russia, Ceto said she’d been a Raikkonen fan since age 11 and named the other times when she’d
been able to see him race (Malaysia in 2013 and Russia in 2015).
Now here she was, having her Finland flag signed by Raikkonen after he qualified 27th.
“He’s just the best,” she gushed after securing the autograph.
Marcel Mongeau, a fan from Michigan, is an F1 supporter who has jumped at the opportunity to see some favorite drivers race stateside. He went to IndyCar’s Belle Isle Grand Prix to see former F1 driver Romain Grosjean drive and then visited Watkins
Glen for Raikkonen.
“I just love his demeanor,” Mongeau said. “No matter what it is, he’ll just say it like it is. I love that dryness. He answers and moves on and doesn’t explain further.”
For those who couldn’t attend in person, there was certainly a large international audience watching on TV as well. Some on Twitter said they were viewing a NASCAR race for the first time.
American stock car racing doesn’t carry the same respect around the world as a series like Formula One, which caused some to wonder how Raikkonen’s appearance would be perceived. NASCAR’s Tyler Reddick, an F1 fan who once had open-wheel
aspirations himself, said he wanted Raikkonen to do well but also said he hoped “he doesn’t make us all look like clowns.”
As it turned out, there was a perfect balance: Raikkonen did well enough to impress drivers with his talent and remind everyone why he’s an F1 legend, but also showed how difficult NASCAR can be in the process. At one point, he had a nice battle with
Chase Elliott — who has been NASCAR’s winningest road racer in recent years.
“He was doing great,” Elliott said. “He was right in the middle of the mess there and he looked right at home.”
Denny Hamlin had similar praise for Raikkonen after practice (calling his 20th-place result “stupid impressive”) and Dale Earnhardt Jr. noted how Raikkonen was able to drop right into the middle of a highly competitive field with little experience.
Raikkonen said he was continuing to learn every lap, but his race was ultimately cut short. Will he ever come back to give NASCAR another try? That’s not up to him, he said, and Project 91 will likely try to get additional famous faces into the
series.
But Raikkonen also said he wouldn’t be opposed to a return, and seemed to leave the door open to doing another race at some point.
“I have nothing against (the idea),” he said. “We’ll see.”
Appropriately, at the Glen.
--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
From
~misfit~@21:1/5 to
D Munz on Wed Aug 24 11:55:29 2022
On 24/08/2022 1:58 am, D Munz wrote:
Good to see Kimi living the motor home life! I record the Indy and NASCAR road races but don't always watch them. I hadn't heard anything about this until I read the following article. I'll check out the race now. (At least the first half...)
FROM THE ATHLETIC DAILY
By Jeff Gluck - Aug 22, 2022
WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. — It wasn’t a surprise to see Kimi Raikkonen find speed during his first weekend as a NASCAR Cup Series driver. Even with a minimal amount of laps in a stock car, the 2007 Formula One world champion was always going to be quick
to adapt.
What wasn’t as expected? The warmth from the “Iceman,” whose famously frosty demeanor was nowhere to be found during his trip to the United States.
There was Raikkonen playfully squeezing the hand of a competitor’s baby moments before climbing into a race car. There was Raikkonen bending down to gently pat his two young children, who were hovering around their father’s legs in a crowd. There
was Raikkonen hanging out all weekend in the drivers’ motorhome lot, living the bus life along with his family.
This was not the Raikkonen seen on interview highlight reels or heard yelling at his F1 crew on the radio. Whether it was because he was more relaxed in a one-off setting or whether he simply did not need the drink, Raikkonen never came close to giving
any soundbites via team communications this time around.
And then there was this scene: Raikkonen actually joking and smiling with other drivers before the race, sharing laughs with the likes of Kyle Busch, Kyle Larson and Martin Truex Jr.
“If it rains, I’m just going to follow you,” Truex told Raikkonen with a chuckle.
“I’ll try to stay out of you in the first corner,” Raikkonen replied with a grin.
NASCAR Kimi was certainly different than F1 Kimi, who Lando Norris said never spoke a word to him in three years of racing in the same series. Though some of Raikkonen’s fans at the track wore T-shirts with his famous “Leave me alone, I know what I
m doing” line, this version of Raikkonen enjoyed himself too much to be in a sour mood.
Asked about his favorite part of the NASCAR experience, the 42-year-old had another surprising answer: “Everything,” he said.
Clearly, the feeling was mutual for his Trackhouse Racing team and the rest of the NASCAR garage.
“He’s an amazing professional,” crew chief Darian Grubb said. “It’s just as you’d expect: He came in, worked really hard, studied hard, did everything we ever asked of him with no complaints and put in the work. I wish we could have got him
the finish he deserved.”
That finish would have been in the top 15 based on the team’s strategy and Raikkonen’s speed, Grubb said. One driver on the same strategy, Austin Cindric, finished 13th. But as sometimes happens in the full-contact world of NASCAR road courses,
Raikkonen got shoved off the track when cars in front of him came together; it jerked the wheel and sent him into the tire barrier, ending his day at the halfway point of the race.
“Unfortunately, this is a bad result, but nothing we could have really changed,” Raikkonen said after finishing 37th out of 39 cars. “It wasn’t like we (did) it ourselves, we just ended up in the wrong place.”
Raikkonen’s cameo in NASCAR was part of a Trackhouse initiative called Project 91, where team owner Justin Marks plans to create an opportunity for drivers around the world to give NASCAR a try. Raikkonen agreed to be the first one in the car after
Marks flew to Switzerland to pitch him on it; a mutual friend, P.J. Rashidi, helped get them in touch and smoothed the path for a conversation.
Unlike most NASCAR starts from so-called road course ringers in the past, Raikkonen actually had an elite car to work with. Project 91 put together a full effort with separate branding and a professional appearance fitting of a top team. Everything was
buttoned up and all the details were taken care of, from Raikkonen’s simulator time to a NASCAR-sanctioned test session to the logistics and schedules at the track.
For a driver who once called F1 a “hobby,” his NASCAR experience actually seemed to fit that mold. With Raikkonen’s family in tow and a tourist trip to New York City built in, the vibe felt like a summer vacation where Raikkonen happened to do a
race.
“I really like it. It’s very relaxed, a nice family atmosphere,” Raikkonen said of NASCAR. “It’s a lot more of a family atmosphere here than in F1.”
Raikkonen’s fans certainly appreciated the chance to see him up close as well, and many took advantage of NASCAR’s more open access policies to get autographs or selfies.
Elena Ceto, who flew from Miami for the race, stood near Raikkonen’s pit during practice with a Finland flag draped over her shoulders. Originally from Russia, Ceto said she’d been a Raikkonen fan since age 11 and named the other times when she’d
been able to see him race (Malaysia in 2013 and Russia in 2015).
Now here she was, having her Finland flag signed by Raikkonen after he qualified 27th.
“He’s just the best,” she gushed after securing the autograph.
Marcel Mongeau, a fan from Michigan, is an F1 supporter who has jumped at the opportunity to see some favorite drivers race stateside. He went to IndyCar’s Belle Isle Grand Prix to see former F1 driver Romain Grosjean drive and then visited Watkins
Glen for Raikkonen.
“I just love his demeanor,” Mongeau said. “No matter what it is, he’ll just say it like it is. I love that dryness. He answers and moves on and doesn’t explain further.”
For those who couldn’t attend in person, there was certainly a large international audience watching on TV as well. Some on Twitter said they were viewing a NASCAR race for the first time.
American stock car racing doesn’t carry the same respect around the world as a series like Formula One, which caused some to wonder how Raikkonen’s appearance would be perceived. NASCAR’s Tyler Reddick, an F1 fan who once had open-wheel
aspirations himself, said he wanted Raikkonen to do well but also said he hoped “he doesn’t make us all look like clowns.”
As it turned out, there was a perfect balance: Raikkonen did well enough to impress drivers with his talent and remind everyone why he’s an F1 legend, but also showed how difficult NASCAR can be in the process. At one point, he had a nice battle with
Chase Elliott — who has been NASCAR’s winningest road racer in recent years.
“He was doing great,” Elliott said. “He was right in the middle of the mess there and he looked right at home.”
Denny Hamlin had similar praise for Raikkonen after practice (calling his 20th-place result “stupid impressive”) and Dale Earnhardt Jr. noted how Raikkonen was able to drop right into the middle of a highly competitive field with little experience.
Raikkonen said he was continuing to learn every lap, but his race was ultimately cut short. Will he ever come back to give NASCAR another try? That’s not up to him, he said, and Project 91 will likely try to get additional famous faces into the
series.
But Raikkonen also said he wouldn’t be opposed to a return, and seemed to leave the door open to doing another race at some point.
“I have nothing against (the idea),” he said. “We’ll see.”
Thanks for that. I'd heard during the Indycar race commentary that Kimi was driving in NASCAR the
next day but didn't feel like watching a race to see how he did.
--
Shaun.
"Humans will have advanced a long, long way when religious belief has a cozy little classification
in the DSM"
David Melville
This is not an email and hasn't been checked for viruses by any half-arsed self-promoting software.
--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)