25 days to Räikkönen's big bang

Turun Sanomat 25.4 2011

Kimi Räikkönen's 'big bang' in the States and elsewhere in motorsporting world, due to his Nascar-debut will be seen in 25 days in Charlotte, North-Carolina.

Camping World Truck -serie's 7th race along with qualification will be held on Friday 20th May. Charlotte Motor Speedway is a 1,5 mile long so called square oval.

On Saturday they will drive for a million dollar prize in all star Sprint Cup -race, where only the established stars in the serie have been invited to.

Räikkönen's ICE1 Racing -team will lease a car from Kyle Busch Motorsports. Kyle Busch himself won the Truck-season during the weekend in Nashville.

Nelson Piquet junior came in 2nd. It was the Brazilian's first podium on Nascar-level and his all time best result in the three main series.

So far they are still only building up Räikkönen's schedule. On top of Charlotte's races we might see Kimi in at least two Nascar-races on normal racing arenas.

Räikkönen's next WRC-rally is in Greece from where he immediately leaves to California.

Räikkönen spent the weekend with his own motocross-team as a mechanic and supporter in Holland's second race of the season. Kimi participated with enthusiasm in the maintenance of the bikes.

Mark Arnall hasn't yet made any special programs for his driver's Nascar-challenges.

– In tests Kimi drove a couple of hundred laps on an oval per day. They turn into the same direction there all the time and in theory the strain on certain muscles is different than for example in rally. The faster you go, the more harder it is on the neck muscles, Arnall thinks.

– In tests Kimi drove about 20 lap stints. I massaged the muscles in the evening. The neck was a bit stiff but I can't say if it was because of the driving strain or something else.

– Let's just wait for the first races. Then they drive 300-400 laps flat out and we will see if something special is required when it comes to the muscles. I think it's the same as it was when starting the season in a F1-car, the more you drive the better your muscles get used to it.

Arnall can't use any expertise-help since on Nascar-level the drivers don't have a personal trainer to help them.

Kaj Lindström doesn't believe that combining two very different genres would in any way mess up the performance level in either way.

– There's nothing wondrous about that. Kimi has planned his Nascar-job so that it won't interfere with our rallies. It didn't come to me as any surprise. You have to try out everything when you get the chance and they have been asking him there for so many times already, Lindström says.

– We were holding the 5th place and we lost it without the driver's mistake. A success like that rewards in a nice way between the ears and gives more trust into one's own doing in the future, Lindström praised.

Then what does Foster Gillett who lured Räikkönen to Nascar-circles expect from the Finn:

– There is a lot of challenge to come come out of the bushes in the middle of the season. Yet Kimi has so much experience of all kind of racing in all kinds of circumstances that I would believe he would feel good in Nascar-races too. I'm sure he will in a way have an advantage of driving rally after his F1-career, Gillett thinks.

– All decisions about his Nascar-continuance is completely up to Kimi, he reminds.

Turun Sanomat

HEIKKI KULTA

Courtesy: Nicole

Former F1 champ Kimi Räikkönen tests Kyle Busch truck, already has sights on Cup, Nationwide races

Former Formula One champion Kimi Räikkönen tested a Kyle Busch Motorsports truck today at Rockingham (N.C.) Speedway and already has talked to team owner Kyle Busch about running Nationwide and Sprint Cup events.

The 31-year-old Finnish driver, who currently competes full time in the World Rally Championship after a nine-year F1 career that included his 2007 championship while driving for Ferrari, tested Monday and Tuesday at Gresham (Ga.) Motorsports Park.

An international star with 18 career F1 victories, Raikkonen has sponsorship from Perky Jerky beef jerky for his NASCAR races and several international companies as personal sponsors – making the Cup talk more than just a driver fantasy.

But his only signed deal as of today, according to sources, is with KBM for an unspecified number of truck races. The first will come May 20 at Charlotte Motor Speedway and the plan likely is to run three to five races.

“He has asked after the truck debut in Charlotte, which is what our first focus is, to kind of evaluate and see where he’s at and how he feels and what he wants to do,” Busch said Thursday at Texas Motor Speedway.

“He has asked about Nationwide and Cup and if Kyle Busch Motorsports could do that or where would be the best place to do that. He wants to re-evaluate all that once we get past Charlotte.”

Raikkonen is a Red Bull athlete but Red Bull Racing has not had any conversations with him about competing in NASCAR, team general manager Jay Frye said Friday. He has talked with other Cup teams, according to sources. The most likely place for a Cup debut would be at the road course at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, Calif. in June.

KBM might be able to field a Nationwide car for Raikkonen, but a Cup program likely would be a stretch for Busch’s organization.

“We just said we would evaluate,” Busch said about what he told Raikkonen when asked about doing Nationwide or Cup. “I’ve told everybody here that KBM would like to go to Nationwide. We would like to have a full-time Nationwide team next year. In order to work towards that, you would work towards that this year.

“If it came to be the right situation and we could get cars built or get cars from JGR, it would all be a tell-tale thing, so we’ll just have to wait and see. Right now, our focus is on Charlotte and the truck race there and making sure we get the right stuff under Kimi that he can run well there.

” As far as the tests in the last few days, Busch said Räikkönen has had no problem going fast in the truck.

“The test went really well at Gresham,” Busch said. “Kimi is a race-car driver so he does know how to drive race cars and drive them well. … I got to get in the truck myself and ran some laps just to kind of see where I compared to where he was at on tires and stuff, and we ran identical lap times.

“So he’s right there. He knows what he’s doing.”

Part of the test at Gresham was to get Räikkönen used to the intricacies of NASCAR racing.

“It was just kind of getting his feet used to running caution laps, running down pit road, watching the lights on the tach and how all that goes and then working on some restart stuff and getting him accustomed to coming up through the gears quick and not spinning the tires on restarts,” Busch said. “There are still some things that we’d like to work on a little bit more, but we don’t feel like there’s any time before he gets back [for the race].

“They were in Rockingham [Thursday] with our trucks, and he did good again. He ran a lot better than we expected to run there, a lot faster than we expected to run there. So I’m real happy with it.”

Source: SceneDaily
Courtesy: Miezicat

Autosprint: Kimi in Nascar, Max Papis's suggestions

Max Papis's opionion about Kimi in Nascar. From Autosprint of this week



When people ask me: do you race with vans? I answer, no, I race in the NASCAR Truck Series. Raikkonen's arrival in our series is an opportunity to explain you my world. The top Nascar series is divided into three categories: Sprint Cup, Nationwide and Truck. All three have vehicles made with a similar chassis, steel hand-built tubular and covered with a body that must look like the road cars as closely as possible: saloon car in the NASCAR Sprint Cup and pick up in the Truck Series, the popular vehicles with rear body that are the most popular cars ever in USA along with the SUV.

The Truck engines are the same as NASCAR Sprint Cup: all 5.8-liter V8 with more or less restrictions, depending on the category, to produce 650 hp in Truck Series and 800 hp in the Cup (that's how we name the Sprint Cup Series in USA). All the cars share the transmission and the gear box that you can choose among different suppliers, but all with front clutch and 4 H speed gearbox . Now that you know that the Truck is not a sort of modified Ape car but “naughty racing beast” I'll tell you that in the Truck Series there are four manufacturers with many models: the Chevrolet Silverado, the Ford F-150, the Dodge Ram and my Toyota Tundra. The championship is of 26 races and is held the same weekend of the Cup and Nationwide, but we are not a lower category as the GP2 with F1, but a real all-in-one Nascar event. The races are broadcasted live on Speed TV with an audience of more than 800,000 listeners every race, much more than Indycar, so this makes the Truck Series the third motorsport in the United States. There are a lot different drivers, former Sprint Cup drivers like Hornaday and Bodine, now in the Truck, and drivers like me, who tired to drive a not competitive car in the Cup, decided to race in a top team in the Truck Series. And also young drivers, who are part of a development Sprint Cup team, and compete into Truck series to gain experience. All these ones are the 36 drivers who compete in each race, where 40-42 Trucks try to qualify and the first 25 have the place on the grid guaranteed. As normal in the U.S., all the 36 runners receive a race prize, from $ 8.000 of the 36th to 50-80.000 dollars for the winner.

The Truck Series is the most internationally NASCAR championship because like me, an Italian, there are Paludo and Piquet Jr. who are Brazilian, some Canadians and in May Raikkonen will also come, bringing even more attention to our series. I hope Kimi leaves the arrogance at home and comes in the U.S. with the humility of one who has to learn, because here everything is different, from the use of yellow flags, to the hardness on the track. There is much malice but not wickedness: here we say "rubbing is racing" as saying that leaning is part of the game. But this doesn’t mean to throw out your competitor; if you do it, next race you let him pass through or you're the one who doesn’t finish the race. Because in Nascar you pay your debts on the track, not in front of the stewards.

Kimi will certainly have much to learn even if he is a super champion with a great talent, because you can’t test on the tracks where we run in the race and because we don’t use any data system. This means that your reference will be seeing the others drivers in the race. That’s why learning to go fast in Nascar takes time. Raikkonen has never competed in a race on an oval and will be difficult at the beginning because the ovals are a strange “beast”. Each track is different, from Martinsville that is just 800 meters long with a banking angle of 8 degrees and where a lap can be covered in just 19 seconds, to Daytona, 4 km long with a banking of 33 degrees and a lap of 51''.

The experience that Raikkonen has gained in recent years in rallies will help him a lot more than if he had started in Nascar directly from F1, because you have to react, improvise, to adapt yourself to the car and to the change of the track and tyres grip.

And then the trajectories: you must learn to change them frequently, and there is not the ideal line but the line that best fits the setup of your truck. A good quality of the Nascar world is that if you don’t understand much, you can always go and ask people who are more experienced than you: and the more you will be sincere, the more the champions will open their hearts with you and give you a real hand, they will bring you on the track with the pace car to explain you the secrets of the circuits. Like Jimmie Johnson and Mark Martin have done with me. And with that I welcome Raikkonen in the Truck Series hoping he will enjoy as much as I enjoy myself. And I hope that this is another step forward to bring the Italian fans in the special world of NASCAR, where everything is tailor made for the spectator, and not vice versa.

Source: Autosprint.it
Courtesy: _TaniaS_

Is Kimi Räikkönen NASCAR's next international superstar?

Is Kimi Räikkönen serious about pursuing a career in Sprint Cup? It sure sounds like he is, based upon his released statement before testing for Kyle Busch's Camping World Truck team Monday and Tuesday at Gresham Motorsports Park in Georgia. Räikkönen has a multi-race deal with Busch for this year, starting at Charlotte Motor Speedway on May 20.

"I am really excited to have the opportunity to start my venture into NASCAR with Kyle Busch Motorsports," Räikkönen said. "Kyle is one of the best in NASCAR and being able to draw on his knowledge will be a valuable asset as I make my transition to a new form of racing."

NASCAR has seen an influx of ex-F1 drivers in recent years, starting with Juan Pablo Montoya in 2006. Scott Speed arrived in Trucks in 2008 and made it to Cup by the next season. Jacques Villeneuve has made cameo appearances since 2007, but hasn't been able find the sponsorship for a full-time job in any of the three touring series. Nelson Piquet Jr. is running full-time in Trucks this year and Narain Karthikeyan ran nine Truck races last year.

So, what's the big deal about Räikkönen? He was F1 world champion in 2007. The last F1 world champion to race full-time in an American-based series was Nigel Mansell in CART's Champ Cars in 1993 and 1994. Mansell arrived as the world champion and sent international interest in the series soaring. He took CART global, expanding the television market and ratings and establishing it as a viable alternative to F1 for race promoters. In the next few years, even after Mansell departed to return to F1, CART was signing lucrative deals in Brazil and Japan. With massive television numbers in the global marketplace, sponsorship poured into CART.

NASCAR understands the value of an international television following. The Mansell model and the addition of Montoya has verified it.

That said, NASCAR has an approval process to allow drivers on the track and it's fairly stringent. The committee doesn't announce it, but it turns drivers down on a fairly regular basis. It's a process that typically begins with a driver being approved for a short track in the Truck series and then advancing to bigger tracks and eventually to the Nationwide and Cup series.

The committee has approved Räikkönen for Charlotte, which is surprising. It's 1.5 miles, big, fast and dangerous. The committee places a high value on him being an F1 champion, and they should; he's one of the world's greatest race car drivers. But it's also a deviation from the usual thought process, made to accommodate Räikkönen's schedule in the World Rally Championship. Montoya, for example, began his NASCAR career at .75-mile Memphis. NASCAR understands that a driver of Räikkönen's magnitude could deliver massive worldwide ratings, offset the shrinking domestic numbers and keep global brand sponsors such as FedEx, Shell, Red Bull and many others happy.

Montoya has had a spectacular career: He was the Indy 500 champion in 2000; he picked up six victories in F1 from 2001 to 2006; and he experienced success in Cup that includes two wins and a Chase appearance in 2009. He has fans everywhere and says they've followed him to Cup.

"People are watching," Montoya said. "When I came over, people started paying attention to how I ran and I think a lot of people got hooked on it. I still receive e-mails from people from Formula 1 [that read] good luck in the race, great qualifying.

"It's like, 'Oh, you're paying attention.' That is surprising."

Montoya takes take all the credit for NASCAR's international appeal. "I think maybe if you would get the numbers of how many people internationally are watching these races, not only in America, but in Europe and Asia, I think you would shock yourself," he said. "I think they are pretty amazing."

With no disrespect to Montoya, Räikkönen's international following on television would surpass his. Räikkönen has 18 wins and a world championship with Ferrari.

Räikkönen's truck schedule hasn't been full determined. "I would say we're talking three to five races," Busch said at Martinsville last weekend. "Right now, it's only Charlotte. We'll see how he feels about Charlotte. He did express interest in running up to three or maybe up to five. We'll just see how it plays out. Right now, it's only one.

"It comes down to his schedule. It's just a matter of logistics for him to come over here. Obviously, he lives overseas and does most of his business overseas with the Rally stuff. It's a big deal for him to be able to fit in when he can. They picked Charlotte for whatever reason. They were adamant about Charlotte and running that race. I don't know if he feels that he wants a challenge right off the bat, but I think it will be good for him."

Räikkönen's contract is with the team and requires him to bring the funding.

"My contract is with Kimi himself," Busch said. "He's responsible. I do know that there's three sponsors involved. There is money backing him." (Perky Jerky announced Wednesday that it's one of them and also mentioned Tag Heuer, Oakley and Alpine Stars in it's press release.)

Bob Varsha, SPEED television's F1 anchor since 2004, found both the announcement and the decision by Raikkonen to test the waters in NASCAR out of character.

"My initial reaction was total shock and I'm still trying to get my arms around the fact that Kimi, who is famously self-absorbed when it comes to other forms of racing around the world, would suddenly put his signature to quotes that gushed endlessly about the spirit of American racing and that NASCAR looks like fun," Varsha said. "It's not like Kimi at all, who is one of the most taciturn individuals I've ever come across, certainly in motor sports.

"Unless Kimi just thinks he's going to come over here and be Kimi and not talk to anyone ... in which case I think the whole thing probably will come to a bad end. But it's very early days here, so who knows? Maybe Kimi will fall in love with the idea of oval-track racing and NASCAR and become the greatest un-American-born star in the history of the sport. I'm not trying to poison the waters for Kimi. He may do very well, but I just don't know where the interest is coming from."

Räikkönen's test at Gresham was closed to the media and public, and a request for an interview from SI.com was turned down. Räikkönen has left questions unanswered. Still, based upon the fact that he's going to race this year, Räikkönen appears serious in his pursuit of a career in NASCAR, and you know he's not going to settle for being in Trucks for very long. You can be sure that NASCAR's France family is his biggest fan.

Source: SportIllustrated
Courtesy: Sleenster

Räikkönen faces challenges in NASCAR

Kimi Räikkönen ran over 200 laps in a test for Kyle Busch Motorsports at Gresham Motorsports Park on Monday.

KBM’s general manager Rick Ren said the test was a success.

“Things went very well today,” Ren said. “Very good driver feedback.”

Räikkönen, 31, is scheduled to make his NASCAR debut in the Camping World Truck Series at Charlotte Motor Speedway on May 20. Charlotte was chosen due to the Finn’s current World Rally Championship schedule.

Ren says the decision for KBM to test at GMP was “data-based” since Busch had accumulated data from previous Truck tests at the half-mile track.

Ren believes the experience that Raikkonen has gathered racing in a variety of series “is not a bad thing” when it comes to making the transition to NASCAR.

“With him most recently coming from rally cars is probably a lot better than just coming over from Formula One cars to be able to adapt to what we do,“ Ren said. “I think the rally cars will be a plus for what we do.

“I’ve worked with new guys before, but it was when racing wasn‘t nearly as challenging. Back when I did it the playing field had a lot more have-nots than haves. There weren’t a lot of good teams. Now, the playing field is so even, it really puts a lot of it into the driver's hands. It will be a challenge, but every situation is challenging, you just have to go into it with an open mind. I think it’s a great avenue for Kyle Busch Motorsports to be involved with a guy that’s trying to get his career started here.

” During his nine seasons in Formula One, Räikkönen won the 2007 title and 18 races. He’ll become the sixth F1 racer to make the move to stock cars including fellow champion Jacques Villeneuve, Juan Pablo Montoya, Nelson Piquet Jr., Scott Speed and Narain Karthikeyan.

Richard “Slugger” Labbe worked with Villeneuve when he first attempted the move from open wheel to NASCAR. Labbe described the experience as “tough.”

“I remember the first test we went to with Jacques and he couldn’t find reverse,” Labbe said. “We had to back him up. It’s a challenge and whoever is going to be working with him will need a lot of patience. The hard part with Kimi is, with some of these tracks, where are you going to take him to test for Charlotte? We were forced to take JV to Chicago before he went to Vegas but it’s tough with the NASCAR’s new rules to try to find a place to test that’s comparable to Charlotte. That’s going to be the challenge.”

Former Truck champ Travis Kvapil is looking forward to competing against Räikkönen at Charlotte. Kvapil believes Räikkönen will be fine “once he gets some seat time” and familiarizes himself with the vehicle.

“Charlotte is a tough track, but in the Truck series you almost run wide open,“ Kvapil said. “It’s not like you come to Martinsville or Bristol for your first race.

“I was excited when Juan Pablo came to NASCAR. I’m a motorsports fan. I love Formula One and I was a Ferrari/Kimi Räikkönen fan, so to have the opportunity to compete against one of the world’s finest drivers will be pretty cool.”

Source: FoxSports
Courtesy: Sleenster

Former F1 Champion Räikkönen to Drive Limited Schedule for KBM

MOORESVILLE, N.C. (April 2, 2011) – Kyle Busch Motorsports (KBM) announced today that they have signed former Formula 1 champion Kimi Räikkönen to drive a limited schedule in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series during the 2011 season. Raikkonen is scheduled to make his NASCAR debut as a teammate to owner Kyle Busch in the N.C. Education Lottery 200 at Charlotte Motor Speedway on May 20.

Räikkönen comes to NASCAR with a resume that includes the 2007 Formula 1 World Drivers’ Championship. Over his nine year career in Formula 1, the Finnish driver registered 18 wins and 62 podium finishes. The 31-year old is currently competing for a World Rally Car Championship for his own team, ICE 1 Racing.

“We are honored that Kimi Räikkönen, a former Formula 1 World Drivers’ Champion and proven winner, has chosen to start his career in NASCAR with Kyle Busch Motorsports,” said Busch. “Adding one of the most talented drivers in the world is a continuation of building a team of proven winners and champions at KBM. I look forward to assisting in Kimi’s transition to NASCAR as both an owner and teammate.”

“I am really excited to have the opportunity to start my venture into NASCAR with Kyle Busch Motorsports,” said Räikkönen. “Kyle is one of the best in NASCAR, and being able to draw on his knowledge will be a valuable asset as I make my transition to a new form of racing. He has put together an experienced team that builds fast race trucks. I look forward to being a part of a team that has proven to be a winner on and off the race track.”

“We are extremely excited to have Kimi Räikkönen begin his transition to NASCAR behind the wheel of Kyle Busch Motorsports’ Toyota Tundra’s,” said KBM General Manager Rick Ren. “As NASCAR looks to expand their fan base and generate further interest in certain demographics, having a former Formula 1 Champion with worldwide appeal is a huge deal not just for KBM but for the sport as a whole.”

Details of sponsorship and a schedule of races that Räikkönen will compete in will be released at a later date.

Source: Kylebuschmotorsport
Courtesy: Miezicat