In motorsport, certain drivers have created an allure for themselves in a single discipline that begs the question of whether their skills are transferable to other disciplines. Kimi Raikkonen entered the world of F1 in 2001 as an enigma, with only 23 races under his belt before his debut for Sauber. He left the sport in 2021 as the last-ever Formula 1 world champion for Ferrari.
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But in between his illustrious career at the pinnacle of single-seater, open-wheel motor racing, the Finnish racing ace — more commonly known as ‘The Iceman’ — tried to ply his trade across the pond in NASCAR. But has he ever won?
The simple answer is no. But it must be appreciated that Raikkonen never participated in a full season of Stock Car racing. The 2007 F1 world champion took a hiatus from the premier racing series for two seasons between 2010 and 2011. During that time he competed in the World Rally Championship and NASCAR.
Raikkonen raced for Kyle Busch Motorsports in the Truck Series for a one-off appearance at the North Carolina Education Lottery 200. Despite qualifying 31st, Raikkonen ended the day with a strong 15th. He also participated in the Nationwide Series on the same track for one race.
Kimi Raikkonen has raced in NASCAR before
His first-ever being in the Truck Series, finishing a solid 15th!
He raced again at the Nationwide Series, where he finished 27th due to a penalty, pitstop and DRINK problems pic.twitter.com/azbreLJK8t
— midkkönen (@kimidrai) May 26, 2022
After hanging up his racing helmet for good in Formula 1, Raikkonen tried his hand at the coveted NASCAR Cup Series. In 2022, he decided to race for Trackhouse Racing, sporting the No. 91 Chevrolet at Watkins Glen. His debut Cup Series race saw him run briefly in the top 10 before crashing out.
He returned to the No.91 Chevy next year — this time running around the Circuit of the Americas. He was placed as high as fourth in the dying embers of the race but a chaotic end saw him plummet down to 29th at the end of the day.
Raikkonen has also made it very clear that he does not have any plans of racing in the championship on a full-time basis. Rather, he only wanted a “positive experience,” as per Racing America. Hence, we might never see the Iceman take to victory lane in NASCAR.
