Kimi Raikkonen, the former Formula 1 World Champion, is making his NASCAR Nationwide debut this weekend at Charlotte and may continue his adventure in a Sprint Cup car at Infineon Raceway.
The Finn tested Robby Gordon's Sprint Cup car earlier this week at Virginia International Raceway, and said he'd like to attempt the June 26 event on Infineon’s road circuit in California.
"It would be nice to go and do it, but I don't know if it's going to happen or not," said Raikkonen, who also competes in the FIA World Rally Championship in a Citroen DS3 WRC.
"We'll see what happens really after this weekend. I have to go and do my rally stuff, so we'll see if I come back."
If Raikkonen competes in Sonoma, it would not be behind the wheel of a car backed by Kyle Busch Motorsports.
"As far as the Sonoma race, we've had no discussions about Cup stuff at all," Kyle Busch said. "As far as I know, this weekend is the last hoorah with Kimi unless he wants to come back to do further races in NASCAR."
The former Ferrari F1 driver could run the Sonoma race for Gordon’s team, whose No. 7 car he tested at VIR. "Obviously it's what our goal was, to have a good test and see how it went," Gordon said. "Unfortunately, the test went bad. That doesn't mean we wouldn't do it still."
Any Robby Gordon Motorsports entry for Raikkonen at Sonoma would be a second car, although Gordon isn't sure whether it would be the No. 7 he usually drives -- which is locked into the top 35 in owners' points -- or a No. 77, which would have to make the race on speed. Although Gordon said he believes Raikkonen has sponsorship for a Sonoma effort, he added the car suffered damage in the test and would require about two weeks' worth of repair work.
The Finn tested Robby Gordon's Sprint Cup car earlier this week at Virginia International Raceway, and said he'd like to attempt the June 26 event on Infineon’s road circuit in California.
"It would be nice to go and do it, but I don't know if it's going to happen or not," said Raikkonen, who also competes in the FIA World Rally Championship in a Citroen DS3 WRC.
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| Kimi Raikkonen talks with car owner and fellow driver Joe Nemechek (Photo: Getty Images for NASCAR) |
"We'll see what happens really after this weekend. I have to go and do my rally stuff, so we'll see if I come back."
If Raikkonen competes in Sonoma, it would not be behind the wheel of a car backed by Kyle Busch Motorsports.
"As far as the Sonoma race, we've had no discussions about Cup stuff at all," Kyle Busch said. "As far as I know, this weekend is the last hoorah with Kimi unless he wants to come back to do further races in NASCAR."
The former Ferrari F1 driver could run the Sonoma race for Gordon’s team, whose No. 7 car he tested at VIR. "Obviously it's what our goal was, to have a good test and see how it went," Gordon said. "Unfortunately, the test went bad. That doesn't mean we wouldn't do it still."
Any Robby Gordon Motorsports entry for Raikkonen at Sonoma would be a second car, although Gordon isn't sure whether it would be the No. 7 he usually drives -- which is locked into the top 35 in owners' points -- or a No. 77, which would have to make the race on speed. Although Gordon said he believes Raikkonen has sponsorship for a Sonoma effort, he added the car suffered damage in the test and would require about two weeks' worth of repair work.