It is Kimi Räikkönen week in the United States as the legendary Formula 1 racer will make his NASCAR Cup Series debut, driving for the PROJECT91 entry for Trackhouse Racing this weekend at Watkins Glen International.
On Monday, Trackhouse revealed the sponsorship and paint scheme of Räikkönen’s car for this weekend’s race. Räikkönen will pilot a No. 91 Chevrolet Camaro with many blue tones and accents and it will be adorned with a neon yellow number.
Sponsorship for the effort will come from Recogni and iLOQ.
Here is another look at the paint scheme:
Räikkönen is the first driver to ever pilot the Trackhouse Racing PROJECT91 entry, which is designed to give recognizable drivers from International forms of Motorsport a chance to run races in the NASCAR Cup Series.
For the Finnish racing driver, who is affectionately known as “The Iceman” he feels his brief foray into NASCAR in the early 2010’s paved the way for his NASCAR Cup Series debut.
“Without the experience there (in 2011) doing the truck and (now Xfinity) Series, I probably wouldn’t have been that interested in doing this,” said Räikkönen in a team release. “But, knowing what to expect in NASCAR and this being a road course, I’m looking forward to this. There should be a lot of good close racing. Maybe on the road course we will have a good chance to try to do something.”
Trackhouse Racing feels they have given Räikkönen all of the tools to have a successful debut in the preeminent racing series in the United States.
“As a company we have worked hard to get Kimi ready,” said Justin Marks, co-owner of the Trackhouse Racing team. “He has adapted very quickly so far. I know he will be quick. Our job is to help Kimi learn the rules specific to NASCAR to make sure that doesn’t bite us. But everyone knows how much talent he has and its shown on the simulator and at the test.”
Marks also says at this time, Watkins Glen is the only planned race for the No. 91 car in 2022, but that the team is preparing to make multiple starts with multiple drivers in 2023.
