Kimi Raikkonen, the 2007 Formula 1 World Champion is a rookie in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series and he will contest his maiden race this Friday on Charlotte Motor Speedway’s 1.5-mile oval.
NASCAR.com talked about Raikkonen with series’ director Wayne Auton.
“The one thing we will do for him, just like any other driver, is bring him in, set him down, talk to him, explain to him some NASCAR ways, and mostly make him feel comfortable. As the series director, that's part of my job [to explain things],” said Auton.
"We bring them in and say, 'Here's when the meetings are. Here's the papers you've got to sign. Here's where the drivers meeting location is and by the way, you've got to go to the rookie meeting or you miss practice. You've got to be at the drivers meeting or you go to the rear. You've got to be at driver introductions in uniform, ready to go,” Autun said.
Raikkonen, who won 18 F1 races over eight seasons, was impressive enough during testing sessions to land a ride with Kyle Busch's Truck team this season, beginning with Friday's 200-miler at Charlotte. Even though he's run more than a dozen World Rally Championship races, Auton said stock cars should present a different challenge to Raikkonen.
"I think the biggest thing he's going to have to get used to is he's used to open-wheel, open-cockpit [cars]," Auton said. "Now he's going to have a roof over his head and windows around him. And oh, by the way, there's going to be 35 other competitors -- and no disrespect to any other racing series, but these guys are usually side by side for 200 miles, 250 miles, whatever we race."
The majority of Raikkonen's racing experience has come in high horsepower-to-weight ratio, high downforce vehicles. Because of that, Auton said his decision to try the Truck Series first was a smart move.
"The good thing about Kimi coming to trucks is -- of all of our NASCAR national series -- the Truck Series has the most downforce, but it's also the draggiest," Auton said. "So it sort of offsets.
"How does it plant when you go in? Where do you let off to actually make the truck turn itself without fighting it? Do I get on the brakes here? For him coming from a vehicle with the tons of downforce that they have, it's probably going to be a lot less than he's used to but it's a lot more than what it would be if he was in a Nationwide or a Cup car."
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| (Photo: Ice1) |
NASCAR.com talked about Raikkonen with series’ director Wayne Auton.
“The one thing we will do for him, just like any other driver, is bring him in, set him down, talk to him, explain to him some NASCAR ways, and mostly make him feel comfortable. As the series director, that's part of my job [to explain things],” said Auton.
"We bring them in and say, 'Here's when the meetings are. Here's the papers you've got to sign. Here's where the drivers meeting location is and by the way, you've got to go to the rookie meeting or you miss practice. You've got to be at the drivers meeting or you go to the rear. You've got to be at driver introductions in uniform, ready to go,” Autun said.
Raikkonen, who won 18 F1 races over eight seasons, was impressive enough during testing sessions to land a ride with Kyle Busch's Truck team this season, beginning with Friday's 200-miler at Charlotte. Even though he's run more than a dozen World Rally Championship races, Auton said stock cars should present a different challenge to Raikkonen.
"I think the biggest thing he's going to have to get used to is he's used to open-wheel, open-cockpit [cars]," Auton said. "Now he's going to have a roof over his head and windows around him. And oh, by the way, there's going to be 35 other competitors -- and no disrespect to any other racing series, but these guys are usually side by side for 200 miles, 250 miles, whatever we race."
The majority of Raikkonen's racing experience has come in high horsepower-to-weight ratio, high downforce vehicles. Because of that, Auton said his decision to try the Truck Series first was a smart move.
"The good thing about Kimi coming to trucks is -- of all of our NASCAR national series -- the Truck Series has the most downforce, but it's also the draggiest," Auton said. "So it sort of offsets.
"How does it plant when you go in? Where do you let off to actually make the truck turn itself without fighting it? Do I get on the brakes here? For him coming from a vehicle with the tons of downforce that they have, it's probably going to be a lot less than he's used to but it's a lot more than what it would be if he was in a Nationwide or a Cup car."
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| (Photo: Ice1) |