Nationwide-race barbequed Kimi's driving pleasure

Kimi Räikkönen's feelings in his debut-races World Camping Truck- and Nationwide -classes were completely different. He enjoyed fully the Truck-race whereas the Nationwide-stunt mainly brought him pain, sweat and a disappointment in driving pleasure.

– The race started well and Kimi was driving towards a TOP-15 during the first 40 laps. After that the setbacks began and the joy of driving stopped immediately, Todd Hirschfield who conveys Kimi's feelings from the American tour, reported to Turun Sanomat after the race.

– Kimi showed his speed. It speaks for itself when you look at who he had already left behind him when his car worked the way he wanted.

The weather in North-Carolina was considerably hotter than a week ago. There were also problems in heat isolation. The driver who climbed out of Toyota Camry looked like a racer who was remarkably worn out.

– It was incredibly hot in the cockpit. That's why the race felt more longer than it was in reality. The floor burned my sneakers and my soles, Räikkönen sighed.

Räikkönen started from 22nd position and finished in 27th position 4 laps behind. The Truck-race went the other way around when Räikkönen started from 31st position and climbed up to 15th in the race, driving on the same lap as the winner.

– The goal was the same in both races - to drive all laps and finish at the same lap with the top. It was a completely realistic goal but succeeded only in the first race. Kimi drove really well all the time, team manager Rick Ren praised.

Räikkönen proved once again that he can quickly learn a new car and the style of a new racing class and could already in Saturday's race take advantage of the re-starts improving his position all the time.

– It was cool at first when I could overtake and it felt good when the car turned decently. Then everything just went wrong. I couldn't control the car. I couldn't turn it anymore and felt that I had to stop in corners when it was ramming so badly all the time.

– I had the same problem in practice already. We got it better but in the race the problems came back. It's nasty to experience something like that because the car felt so good at times. I even hit the wall a few times because the car didn't turn. I got hits from behind and almost spun. When it gets that tricky you just can't race. You only try to make it through the corners and don't enjoy it one bit, Räikkönen reported.

When pitting around lap 139 Räikkönen moved on too fast and got a penalty for speeding. After that he was 2 laps behind the lead.

On track he got more troubles. A front piece from some car had fallen off and it got stuck on the bottom of Räikkönen's Toyota and after that turning the car became almost impossible.

– I had no grip in the front anymore. Some junk got stuck on the bottom of the car and it didn't come loose until it was pulled off in the pit, Räikkönen cleared.

The rest of the race Räikkönen used mainly to get experience.

Matt Kenseth won before Carl Edwards and Kyle Busch. It was Kenseth's 26th victory in Nationwide -class.

Räikkönen left for Europe on Saturday-night. His plans of continuing in Nascar are now pending.

– Kimi sits down to think what he wants. I hope that these races lit the spark to drive more Nascar-races in the future. I am extremely pleased with his performances. Kimi showed very quickly that he can drive in the same speed as the experienced men in these classes, Hirschfeld says.

If Räikkönen finds himself a competitive car to Sprint Cup -races to so called normal tracks like Sonoma and also Watkins Glen, then it will most definitely decide Räikkönen's will to continue.

Juan Pablo Montoya snatched his first Sprint Cup -victory in Sonoma 2007 and his second one in Watkins Glen 2010.

Turun Sanomat

HEIKKI KULTA

Results

300 laps/200 miles:

1. Matt Kenseth Ford
2. Carl Edwards Ford
3. Kyle Busch Toyota
4. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Ford
5. Reed Sorenson Chevrolet
6. Brad Keselowski Dodge
7. Steve Wallace Toyota
8. Brian Scott Toyota
9. Aric Almirola Chevrolet
10. Elliott Sadler Chevrolet
11. Joey Logano Toyota
12. Sam Hornish Jr. Dodge
13. Justin Allgaier Chevrolet
14. Michael Annett Toyota
15. Cole Whitt Toyota
27. Kimi Räikkönen Toyota
28. Eric McClure Chevrolet
29. Joe Nemechek Chevrolet
30. Derrike Cope Dodge

Courtey: Nicole

Kimi Räikkönen is 27th in challenging Nationwide debut

"The Iceman" made his debut in Saturday's Nationwide Series race at Charlotte Motor Speedway, and things got hot all over for Kimi Räikkönen (FSY).

The 2007 Formula One champion battled extreme heat in the cockpit that scalded his feet, a pit miscue that resulted in being handed an empty water bottle and an ill-handling Toyota that had the Finn cursing like an American sailor.

Coupled with a speeding penalty exiting the pits on a green-flag stop and the impact of a chunk of another driver's splitter, Raikkonen's 27th-place finish (four laps down) in his Nationwide Series debut could be regarded as inauspicious.

But considering it was his second start in a NASCAR national series and his first — ever — in a stock car on an oval, crew chief Rick Ren took another view of his driver's performance.

"Kimi did a great job," said Ren, who had set a goal of lead-lap finishes for Raikkonen's first two NASCAR races (he achieved it last week with a 15th in the Camping World Truck Series). "Everyone needs to understand that Charlotte is a very difficult racetrack. There are really good, famous race car drivers that have never won at Charlotte.

"For him to finish on the lead lap in the truck, qualify good in the Nationwide cars, run great in the second practice.. .. He's got good feedback for having never driven these types of vehicles. Enough feedback to help me realize what it's doing. I call it a success. The results don't really show how good he really did. If you look at the finishing order, guys in 10th-12th we ran ahead of them a good lick of the day. I think it was all positive. No negatives out of it."

No one is positive, though, of Raikkonen's next move. The enigmatic driver, who notched 18 victories and 62 podiums in F1 while racing for Sauber, McLaren and Ferrari from 2001-09 and now races in the World Rally Championship, was being typically coy after Saturday's race would be his last in NASCAR.

"I don't know that," said Raikkonen, who departed Charlotte immediately for a WRC event in Greece. "For now, I go back to Europe and to some rallies and see what happens."

There are no races scheduled beyond Charlotte for Raikkonen, but Kyle Busch (FSY) Motorsports would be willing to work with him again after supplying a car and truck the past two weeks.

"It's up to him to decide if he wants to come do this again," said Ren, the general manager for KBM. "Hopefully, we did our part, and it was a pleasant experience for him."

Raikkonen, who thanked the team after the race despite filling his radio channel with vulgarities for much of 300 miles, has said he would like to race Sprint Cup and is interested in the June 26 race at Sonoma, Calif. Infineon Raceway is a road course that would suit his background in F1 (which races exclusively on road and street circuits).

But Ren cautioned that Sonoma would be another very hot race, and that KBM (which runs primarily in the truck series) wouldn't be able to secure a Cup car from a front-running team (a Camry was obtained from NEMCO Motorsports for Saturday's Nationwide race).

"We'd have to do (Sonoma) with a Cup team," Ren said. "The Cup teams that could go do that are very, very limited. I have something that maybe could develop if he wanted to do that, but it's cutting it close to go to Sonoma. Engine builders plan engines six to eight weeks out, so it'd be really tough."

Raikkonen tested a car this past week on the Virginia International Raceway road course for Robby Gordon (FSY) Motorsports, which would seem an obvious choice for supplying a Toyota for Cup.

He'll have a lot to mull after a race that didn't go nearly as smoothly as his NASCAR debut a week earlier. Raikkonen qualified 22nd and was satisfied with the handling of his car for the first half of the 200-lap event.

But it began growing uncomfortable quickly. During the first yellow on Lap 26, Raikkonen radioed his feet were "burning" from heat emanating from the floorboards. After joking he might hang his feet out the window, he declined an offer from Ren to stop to put heat shields on his heels — though he demanded more water.

Shifting the position of his feet, though Raikkonen still radioed late in the race that "everything is just burning up, my legs and my (butt)." He seemed to be in no pain walking through the garage in street clothes about 20 minutes after the checkered flag.

"It was hurting on the heels but didn't really do anything," he said. "Just try to keep my foot off the floor and hold them up."

He also was fighting through more discomfort. With Raikkonen demanding water on each stop to manage the heat, Ren said a jack man handed him a mostly empty bottle during a stop under a Lap 74 yellow.

But the car came to life on a Lap 78 restart, picking up three spots in five laps under green, and he was in 15th for a Lap 91 restart. He smacked the Turn 4 wall on Lap 100. As the handling on his car faded, the team held him out longer during a green-flag pit stop sequence. He sped exiting the pits and then ran over a bright orange chunk of a splitter that came off another driver's car. He had to pit again for damage and fell three laps down, losing another later under green.

"That just took us out of the day," Ren said. "Now it damaged the front of the car, took the downforce out, and now it really won't turn. It pretty much ended our day."

Raikkonen said he still managed to have fun until the car went away and seemed to show improvement on restarts.

"It was nice in the beginning," he said. "I could overtake on the restarts, and it felt really good when it turned. But it turned out to be really bad, the handling. It felt I had to stop in the corner, just pushing all the time. But it's the same thing happened in the first and second practice. We could improve it in the second practice, but somehow it came back for me. Anyhow, it's a shame because at some points, it felt quite good.

"Once it got difficult, it's because you cannot race, and it's just trying to survive through the corners, and it's not so much fun. Until that point, it was good."

That might have been hard to discern from Raikkonen's radio, which often was littered with the same vulgarities used by NASCAR champions having rough days. But Ren didn't think the frustration necessarily impacted Raikkonen's performance or his ability to tune on the car.

"Someone else is passing you, or you drive in corner and it won't turn, there's nothing more frustrating," Ren said. "It's easy for a guy to get upset. Especially a guy who's won grand prix events and is an F1 champion and runs rally cars and is a very experienced race car driver.

"But he's not any different from Kyle (Busch), Carl (Edwards), Jimmie (Johnson) or Kevin Harvick (FSY). If they have a bad day, they get upset. We listen and try to cheerlead and do the best we can with cards we've been dealt."

Though Raikkonen radioed repeatedly that something was "wrong" with the car, Ren said it's just a matter of learning to adapt to a car that weighs twice as much as an F1 car and has much skinnier tires.

"The front-running guys are saying the exact same thing (about handling)," Ren said. "These things just do not handle very well. You'll hear drivers say the tires feel like they're basketballs. It's just a new feel to him. I'm sure he's never raced cars with that much air pressure in the tires. It feels abnormal, but it's part of how these cars react."

So how will Raikkonen react after his second NASCAR start and what will it mean for his future? Like much of his racing career, it's a mystery.

"I don't personally know what his expectations were when he came to the United States," Ren said. "I have no idea what his real goals are. We just tried to prepare the best vehicle we could and put him in good, quality equipment and try to have a really good day.

"We had a really good day going. I still look at it as positive: 43 started, he still finished 27th. It wasn't a disastrous day. There was no doubt he was a top 15 guy again."

Source: USA Today

Kimi Räikkönen making Nationwide debut but uncertain about NASCAR future

Kimi Räikkönen does not know when or if he will return to NASCAR following Saturday's Nationwide Series race at Charlotte Motor Speedway

Kimi Räikkönen will make his Nationwide Series debut at Charlotte Motor Speedway this weekend, but as far as his future plans, the former Formula One champion said he was unsure whether he will return to NASCAR and when that return might come.

Räikkönen, who drove a truck for Kyle Busch Motorsports last week at Charlotte and then tested a Sprint Cup car for Robby Gordon Motorsports on Tuesday, will drive for Nemco Motorsports in a KBM-prepared Nationwide car this weekend in the Top Gear 300.

Whether the 31-year-old Finnish driver goes Cup racing remains to be seen.

“You always have in mind to try to do [Cup],” Räikkönen said Thursday prior to Nationwide practice. “Another thing is it going to happen or not. I don’t know.

“Of course I am probably more keen to the road courses than anything else. I leave Saturday as soon as the race is over back to Europe. I have other things to do. After that, I don’t know when I will be back.”

Räikkönen, whose primary racing job is competing for his own team in the World Rally Championship in Europe, crashed during his Cup test Tuesday at Virginia International Raceway. It didn’t give him much of a feel for whether to return to NASCAR to compete in the Cup event at Infineon Raceway next month.

“I just ran a bit wide and decided to go with the grass, but unfortunately there was a big hole or something in the grass so it destroyed the front end a bit,” Räikkönen said. “It was fun to drive it. … I probably ended up doing only 20 laps.

“We just put tires on the car. We didn’t do any changes. We didn’t have time. Like I said, it would be nice to go and do [that Cup race at Sonoma] but I don’t know if it is going to happen or not. I do this week and then I have to go back to do my Rally stuff and we’ll see if I come back.”

The original plan for Räikkönen, who has sponsorship from Perky Jerky and is being represented by the HMS Worldwide sports agency in his NASCAR effort, was to do three to five races for KBM in a truck. But team owner Kyle Busch said Friday that Raikkonen and his sponsors have only paid for the truck race last week and the Nationwide race.

“It's either up to Kimi or up to the financial people that run Kimi's business side of things and decide that they need to find the sponsorship funds in order to carry the experience for him further [with us],” Busch said.

Busch said he was pleased with Räikkönen’s debut last week – a 15th-place finish in the truck race.

“Certainly, he gave the truck a good ride,” Busch said. “It was really loose and he did a nice job with car control and everything else.”

Räikkönen said racing in traffic last week was fun and he enjoyed the NASCAR-style racing. He hopes that this weekend is a little easier for him.

“Once you do it once, you know much more how things go,” Räikkönen said. “I had no idea what we should do during [the race]. I know how to do restarts, but I didn’t know exactly how it goes because I haven’t really seen it or done it before.

“All those things I know now. It’s much easier to go for the second time.”

Source: SceneDaily.com

Kimi Räikkönen To Make NASCAR Nationwide Series Debut At Charlotte

Kimi Räikkönen is moving up the NASCAR ladder rather quickly, it appears.

After Räikkönen made a solid NASCAR debut in Friday's Truck Series race at Charlotte Motor Speedway, the former Formula One champion is already headed for the Nationwide Series, according to the Top Gear 300's entry list.

Räikkönen is entered in Joe Nemechek's No. 87 car, and the car is already locked into the field (there are 46 entries). Nemechek, who is running for Nationwide Series points this season, will attempt the race in the No. 97 car instead.

The car is apparently being prepared by Kyle Busch Motorsports – it's been housed at the KBM shop, according to Busch. But Busch insisted to reporters this weekend that he didn't own the car, so it makes sense that Nemechek is actually the owner.

How is Räikkönen moving up so quickly, you ask? Follow the dollar signs. The Finland native brought money to the KBM truck and apparently had plans all along to drive in the Nationwide race during his trip to America.

So far, it's gone well. Räikkönen seemed comfortable in the Truck race and finished 15th – though, as NASCAR fans know, the competition gets much tougher in the upper levels.

It's unclear whether Räikkönen will stick around and drive more races this season, but he already has an eye on making a Sprint Cup start or two if his NASCAR plans stay on track.

Source: SBNATION
Courtesy: Kriss

Not even Dennis was surprised over Räikkönen's switch

Kimi Räikkönen's surprising debut in USA:s Nascar-serie took place the same weekend as Spain GP. In spite of that the matter was on the wall even on the F1-paddock.

Ron Dennis is the man who came up with the nickname ’’Iceman’’ for Räikkönen.

How did the former team manager feel about Räikkönen's Nascar-switch?

– Kimi has always liked to do different things and what he himself wants. That's why I'm not at all surprised over what he is doing. He drove quite well rally too. I don't know more about the Nascar-thing except that he went there, Dennis replied.

Räikkönen's physical trainer from Sauber, Josef Leberer, admits that Kimi driving in USA was a pleasant surprise.

– Kimi was a pale and thin guy when he started with us but while he was driving the bike I immediately noticed his body's coordination. At that point I knew that since he has a natural talent to drive fast, the coordination skill will help him no matter where he drives. I'm sure it helps him in Nascar too, Leberer said.

Sebastian Vettel said beforehand that Räikkönen has an exceptional freedom to do whatever he wants and take all the fun out of it.

– Of course I have been completely concentrated on my own weekend but I did look at the results from Charlotte and I was surprised over how well Kimi did. I haven't had time to look into the details. Kimi really is a man who is a maker: no matter what he races with he always makes a *** No swearing *** good job, Vettel praised.

David Coulthard drove with Räikkönen for three years at McLaren.

– I am happy that Kimi has once again found something new. It's good for the F1-sport when a top driver like Kimi can go to rally or USA's ovals and make a good work there too.

– Kimi has shown that whatever he does, he has always made good choices.

Stefano Domenicali doesn't doubt that Räikkönen might become competitive also in USA.

– Maybe it will happen if Kimi feels that it's fun enough. I have to call him and ask how he is doing, Domenicali said.

Turun Sanomat, Barcelona

HEIKKI KULTA

Courtesy: Nicole

Kimi Räikkönen at Nascar Charlotte in pictures

Photos of Kimi Räikkönen at Nascar Camping World Truck Series Charlotte 2011












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NASCAR: Q & A with Kimi Räikkönen

Former Formula One world champion and current World Rally Championship driver Kimi Räikkönen on Friday met with reporters at Charlotte Motor Speedway, where he will make his NASCAR debut on Friday night in the Camping World Truck Series. Here's what the "Iceman" had to say

Question: What attracted you to NASCAR?
Kimi Räikkönen: Hi everybody.

What brings me here? I think it's many, many different reasons for that. Since I stopped in Formula One, my interests have always been in many different motorsports. I want to try different things and this wasn't the first time that I have been offered to come here. I had a good time to come and see how it is and learn and try to get better in it. That's really the only reason that I came. I was interested to see how it is and how it feels and how it is racing in NASCAR.

Q: Where do you expect to go with this NASCAR experience?
KR: I don't really know. I don't have big plans--I don't have any plans for next year or anything of what I do. I see how it is because I didn't have any expectations when I came here. It's a bit like when I went to rally. I didn't have much expectation. I wanted to see how it is. It's the same story here.

For sure, it's a different sport. Different type of racing than what we have in Europe. It's very popular here and maybe it looks easy, but it's not so easy to be fast. We'll see how it goes and what the future will bring. We go step-by-step and see what happens.

Q: What has been the biggest challenge in driving the trucks?
KR: I think from Formula One to rally was a big, big difference. I think from the rally, coming here is kind of not such a difficult thing than it was from Formula One to rally. I'm still learning, I haven't driven--the first time today here. Wasn't very good day, but we have to start from somewhere. Improve hopefully in qualifying and in the race we can do a bit better.

Of course there's a lot of things to know what you want from the car. It looks quite similar, the circuits here, but it's not. You have to learn all the best things on every circuit and what you can do and the best lines. That really comes with the knowledge and experience. We try to survive through the day and try to do the best that we can and hopefully we are much more smarter and we know more things after that.

Q: Did you practice in traffic today?
KR: Not so much. . . . I hoped to have a little bit more during the practice, but the handling of the car was not what I wanted and at the end it was a bit better. I'm still not happy, but it would be nice to still have some more practice. It is what it is and it will be interesting to see how it goes in the race because that is really the first time now that you have some cars beside you and you can go and overtake some guys. It is a different thing once we go all together in the start and the first laps. We have to learn it and hopefully it goes smoothly.


Q: Will you ever return to F1?
KR: There was many reasons why I stopped. I don't know if it's set or if it's going to be forever. Right now and after that I wasn't really missing Formula One. I wanted to try other things and I had the perfect opportunity to go and do rally and learn that.

Now I had time to come here and see how the NASCAR is. I'm happy how things pan out. I never really have said that I am never going to go back. Maybe I will never go or maybe I go. Only the future will tell. Like I said before, I have no plans for next year. I didn't really have any plans for this year before January. It might take some time to know exactly what I will do.

Q: What was the atmosphere like in the garage for you this morning?
KR: It's been very much what I expected really because I've seen one race at the end of last year at Miami. I knew kind of how it looks at least. I think it's a good team for me to come and work with my own racing team. Like I said, they try to help you as much as they can, but it's quite difficult to tell you how to drive because you don't know how to drive the car and people come tell you and try to teach you, but it probably will never be very good results.

People are nice and they try to help wherever they can. So far it's been good and today I wanted to be a bit better. So far, at least we really didn't destroy anything.

Q: What is more fun to drive, rally car or the NASCAR truck?
KR: Completely different things. In here you have a few corners in it, but I think the whole thing changes once the race starts when you have all the 40 cars or something at the same time on a circuit, so it's a different story than in practice. OK, sometimes you have people overtake you, overtake some people, but once you run side-by-side for many laps it's a different story.

In rally you have everything: you have snow, gravel , tarmac, every corner is different. You're in the middle of the forest usually, so you cannot really compare. The feeling sometimes is a bit similar, at least it helps to know when the car goes sideways that there is really no need for panic and it's pretty normal in rally, but it's a big difference between those two sport.

Q: Have you been surprised how friendly people are in NASCAR?
KR: I'm not really surprised. I think that the whole feeling in NASCAR comparing to many other sports is different. Comparing to Formula One, it is definitely more relaxed and more open here. Rally is so, so much more open and more kind of friendly feeling, so this is more like that, I mean pretty similar. And for sure in Formula One things run slightly different way. But that's how they want to do it.

I mean [my old McLaren F1 teammate Juan Pablo Montoya] was nice to see. I haven't seen him in for a long time. I've seen some results from what he has done, but it is not very easy to follow well in Europe so it's not often that you see them on TV. It's really from stuff like that.

Q: Is NASCAR full-time an option for you or would you consider doing this part time and going back to rally cars?
KR: I mean, I have always planned to do the rally this year so this is really when I have time, but the NASCAR I wanted to see how it is, how it feels, how I do here. So I mean if I completely suck here, there's probably no reason to come back, but hopefully it goes better than today. I mean, I don't know yet. Like I said, we go day-by-day and see how it goes and what comes in the future it comes.

Like I said, I have no plans for next year so it's too early to think about it.

Q: What are your future NASCAR plans?
KR: This weekend and then hopefully next week here [also at Charlotte] and then after that there's no really big plans yet, so hopefully I can get to run some Cup races. That would be nice. But there's not an awful lot of planning done and I really don't want to hurry up in a situation and try to do the best now and see what happens.

Q: Have you found communication with the team difficult?
KR: Yeah, I mean we tested and I felt how I'm used to and they told what they are used to hear and we found a good solution. And of course sometimes I tell in a way that we used to do in rally or Formula One, but it's not so much different that we don't understand each other. I mean, of course there's lot to learn during the race if you want some changes and to make it most easiest to explain what I need to him, but I think that's why we're here--to try to learn the things and do the best that we can.

Source: AutoWeek

Räikkönen earned his Nascar-spurs

Kimi Räikkönen's first and only Camping World Truck -race on Charlotte's Motor Speedway brought back Kimi's passion to compete also in track-racing.

Räikkönen shuttled in both the end and the top during the race that was filled with constant SC-car incidents - at his best he was 5th and at his worst he was 34th.

Räikkönen started from 31st position and the end result from this exciting hour and a half was 15th position - and the prize he got was the respect from his competitors, which is so important in Nascar-races.

As usual Räikkönen drove fairly yet also roughly when it was necessary.

You could see from Räikkönen how good the race felt and how pleased he was with his debut in new challenges that was so much fussed about. Kimi was the best of three former F1-drivers when Nelson Piquet junior spun in the end and Max Papis crashed earlier.

Great race - what did you think of it yourself?

– It was pretty good. I hit the wall twice - the other time a bit slower, the other time a bit harder. It felt like the steering suffered from it, Räikkönen thought.

Whereas Kyle Busch who won his 3rd truck-race in a row spinned on this difficult oval, the rookie-Räikkönen's mistakes were limited only to those two bumps on the betonwall.

Räikkönen enjoyed more and more after he got into a real racing feeling.

– The car started to work better and better the longer the stints were. Unfortunately those SC-incidents came over and over again. After them it always took a while until the car started to work like it was supposed to work. If I would have had the chance to make longer stints, then the result would also have been better.

Räikkönen lost most often the place he already achieved in re-starts.

– I had the same car ahead of me every time. In re-starts it first accelerated and then braked. I couldn't get anywhere. I drove many times flat-out into it so it would go somewhere, Räikkönen explained.

Faster and faster

In the end Räikkönen got into his best speed.

– I dared to go faster. A lot depends upon which side of the track you are on - outside or inside. If you are on the inside and another comes there beside you, then it takes the air away and you spin really easily.

Were you close to spin?

– In the end I was when trying to overtake that one without succeeding. When you are side by side for a longer time there is no air. So I took it wide then, Räikkönen told Turun Sanomat.

Next Saturday to Nationwide

Räikkönen will continue his Nascar-career next Saturday. He is in for a promotion to Nationwide -serie and Kyle Busch told in the press conference that he would have one car for that in his team.

The international media also asked Räikkönen if he will drive a Nationwide -race nex.

– It remains to be seen, Räikkönen responded.

How satisfied are you with your performance?

– Of course I would always want to get a better position but after how the car felt in the morning I'm very pleased with how good it felt in the race. Sure I have a lot to learn and improve but I believe that when I drive the second race, it will go better, Räikkönen said.

Turun Sanomat, Charlotte

HEIKKI KULTA

Results

134 laps:

1. Kyle Busch Toyota
2. Clint Bowyer Chevrolet
3. Cole Whitt Chevrolet
4. James Buescher Chevrolet
5. Ron Hornaday jr Chevrolet
6. Johnny Sauter Chevrolet
7. Austin Dillon Chevrolet
8. Parker Kligerman Dodge
9. Justin Marks Chevrolet
10. Brad Sweet Chevrolet
11. Travis Kvapil Toyota
12. Ricky Carmichael Chevrolet
13. Justin Lofton Toyota
14. Jason White Chevrolet
15. Kimi Räikkönen Toyota
16. Joey Coulter Chevrolet
17. Clay Rogers Chevrolet
18. Chris Fontaine Chevrolet
19. Bryan Silas Ford
20. Johanna Long Toyota

Courtesy: Nicole

Räikkönen: Never say never

After one million and one denials that he could return to F1, Kimi Räikkönen now says maybe he's not done with the sport

Kimi Räikkönen walked away from F1 at the end of the 2009 season after parting ways with Ferrari and failing to land a race-seat with a race-winning outfit.

The Finn instead turned his attention to the World Rally Championship while this weekend he made his NASCAR truck debut at the Charlotte Motor Speedway

But while Räikkönen is still trying his hand at various series around the world, the 2007 Formula One World Champ refused to say no to a possible F1 return.

"There were many reasons why I stopped (racing in F1)," he told Autosport.

"I always said that I don't know if it's going to be forever or not but after that I wasn't really missing Formula 1. I wanted to try other things and I had a perfect opportunity to go and do rally and learn that and now I have time to come here and see how NASCAR is.

"I'm happy how things are now but I never really have said that I'm never going to go back (to F1). Maybe I will never go, maybe I'll go, but only the future will tell.

"Like I said before I have no plans for next year. I never really had any plans for this year before January so it may get quite late to know exactly what I will do."

Source: Planet-F1

TRUCKS: Räikkönen Has ‘Fun’ In NASCAR Debut

Kimi Räikkönen finished 15th in his first Camping World Truck Series start...

Kimi Räikkönen had more fun than he expected in his Camping World Truck Series debut.

Finishing 15th wasn’t the fun part for a driver who has 18 Formula One wins as well as the 2007 Formula One championship trophy, but from where he started his day Friday, Räikkönen seemed satisfied following the N.C. Education Lottery 200 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Raikkonen, who struggled in practice and started 31st in the 36-truck field, actually scrubbed the wall twice during the race but avoided the carnage in a race that had 10 cautions.

“The racing was fun,” Raikkonen said. “[There were] too many cautions. Every time when I feel the car starts to work better then you have a caution and it takes a long time before the handling comes back.”

The 32-year-old Finnish driver said “we’ll see” when asked if he would run the Nationwide Series race next week. No deal is done but Kyle Busch said he has a Nationwide car at his shop.

“It is much easier once you do one race because you learn on restarts as to where you should go and stuff like that,” said Raikkonen. “It actually was more fun than I expected.

“I was OK once I knew the car was fine. It was much better than it was this morning. … I’d rather be more higher [at the finish].”

Raikkonen actually caught a break when he made a mistake when he missed pit road early in the race. But that actually allowed him to restart ninth and then a caution came out when team owner Kyle Busch spun right when Raikkonen had to pit for fuel.

That allowed him to keep decent track position and race in the mid-teens throughout the remainder of the event.

“There was too much talking going on on the radio,” said crew chief Rick Ren, who also is the general manager of Kyle Busch Motorsports. “I wanted to pit but everybody was on the radio. I’ve had experienced Cup guys do the same thing. It was no big deal.”

Raikkonen said he wasn’t too surprised by any event.

“It’s not really one thing,” Raikkonen said. “It’s just more to know what to do on restarts and where to put the car and sometimes you push a bit too hard and you run wide and then you lose places and it’s hard to get back to places.

“It’s more to really knowing where to be in the right position, but not anything real surprising.”

Ren said he was most impressed with Raikkonen on the restarts.

“What impressed me more than anything was restarts – he didn’t spin the tires and was pushing people,” Ren said. “I am wondering if F1 cars, they put down so much power that he’s got a really good feel for when the tires are slipping.”

Raikkonen said he wasn’t used to a one-day show that the trucks had with practice in the morning, qualifying in the afternoon and the race at night.


Kimi Raikkonen hits the track at Charlotte Motor Speedway. He said he enjoyed his first NASCAR experience.

“Everybody has been very nice and very welcome so it is a nice atmosphere, very relaxed – it’s been good,” Raikkonen said.

Ren said Raikkonen’s next step will be up to him.

“It’s going to be up to him,” Ren said. “I think his first hit on NASCAR was probably pleasant compared to what it could be.

“The media stuff I hear went good today. The race went well for him.”

Source: NascarSpeedTv
Courtesy: Kriss

Kimi Räikkönen Makes NASCAR Debut For Kyle Busch Motorsports

Former Formula One world champion Kimi Räikkönen made his NASCAR debut Friday at Charlotte Motor Speedway, taking the wheel of the No. 15 truck for Kyle Busch Motorsports. Running 30th in both practice sessions, Räikkönen was unhappy with the day's progress but knew there would be a major learning curve in NASCAR.

“Since I stopped in Formula 1, my interests have always been in many different motorsports,” Räikkönen said. “I want to try different things and this wasn’t the first time that I have been offered to come here. I had a good time to come and see how it is and learn and try to get better in it. That’s really the only reason that I came. I was interested to see how it is and how it feels and how it is racing in NASCAR.”

Making his debut this weekend in Charlotte, Räikkönen said he had no further plans set in place, but hopes to get a chance to run some Sprint Cup Series races if all goes well.

“I don’t have big plans – I don’t have any plans for next year or anything of what I do,” he said. “I see how it is because I didn’t have any expectations when I came here. It’s a bit like when I went to rally (cars) – I didn’t have much expectation, I wanted to see how it is.

"It’s the same story here. For sure, it’s a different sport. Different type of racing than what we have in Europe. It’s very popular here and maybe it looks easy, but it’s not so easy to be fast. We’ll see how it goes and what the future will bring. We go step-by-step and see what happens.”

Friday’s practice sessions reinforced that sentiment, as he struggled to find a handle on the No. 15 truck.

“Wasn’t very good day, but we have to start from somewhere,” Räikkönen said. “Improve hopefully in qualifying and in the race we can do a bit better. Of course there’s a lot of things to know what you want from the car. It looks quite similar, the circuits here, but it’s not. You have to learn all the best things on every circuit and what you can do and the best lines. That really comes with the knowledge and experience. We try to survive through the day and try to do the best that we can and hopefully we are much more smarter and we know more things after that.

“I hoped to have a little bit more during the practice, but the handling of the car was not what I wanted and at the end it was a bit better. I’m still not happy, but it would be nice to still have some more practice. It is what it is and it will be interesting to see how it goes in the race because that is really the first time now that you have some cars beside you and you can go and overtake some guys. It is a different thing once we go all together in the start and the first laps. We have to learn it and hopefully it goes smoothly.”

Throughout the days two practice sessions, Räikkönen was able to talk things over with team owner Kyle Busch between track time.

“Expectations for Kimi tonight are pretty simple,” Busch said. “Just try to get him to run all the laps, try to get him to gain some experience, get him out there around some other trucks. Try to drive the truck a little harder and get a feel for it. Feel the loose, feel the tight. Apparently we’ve already given him both of those, but to be able to get him to feel that in traffic and race around some other guys and see if he can’t make his way forward. Essentially, just try to complete all the laps and get experience.”

Running rally cars in Europe, Räikkönen is making NASCAR attempts as it fits into his schedule.

“I have always planned to do the rally this year so this is really when I have time, but the NASCAR I wanted to see how it is, how it feels, how I do here,” he said. “So I mean if I completely suck here, there’s probably no reason to come back, but hopefully it goes better than today. I mean, I don’t know yet. Like I said, we go day-by-day and see how it goes and what comes in the future it comes. Like I said, I have no plans for next year so it’s too early to think about it.”

Indicating his plans are to run this weekend and next weekend, Raikonnen left the door open for a Nationwide Series start as the Camping World Truck Series has the weekend off. Busch said his team would be unable to field Räikkönen in the Nationwide Series race next week as his team does not have a Nationwide license and his crew members are not licensed to work in the Nationwide Series, “so it would have to be with somebody else.”

Courtesy: Kriss