Only days after announcing plans to field a car in NASCSCAARR’s Cup series to international drivers, Trackhouse Entertainment Group’s PROJECT91 revealed that 2007 Formula One World Champion Kimi Raikkonen will be the driver behind the wheel of the No. 91 Chevrolet Camaro.
PROJECT91 and Raikkonen will debut at the road course race at Watkins Glen International in New York on Aug. 21. Trackhouse Entertainment Group is a joint venture between former NASCAR driver Justin Marks and Grammy award winning entertainer artist Armando Christian Perez known as “Pitbull.” Trackhouse Racing currently fields two cars in NASCAR’s Cup series.
In Tuesday’s announcement concerning PROJECT91 Marks said the Next Gen car has given teams a more level playing field. And that with PROJECT91: “Trackhouse has opened the door for global champions while beginning the process of scaling into an internationally recognized racing brand.”
The release also said that the first driver, and race would be announced “soon.”
It would appear however, that the driver was already known, at least to the team, and that perhaps the Raikkonen was the motivation to form PROJECT91.
“Kimi Raikkonen is the driver I first had in mind when we created PROJECT91,” said Marks who won the Rolex 24 as well as a NASCAR Xfinity Series race as a driver in a press release. “Kimi is a world-renowned driver with a tremendous amount of talent and fan following. We have had long discussions, and like us, he is already hard at work preparing for Watkins Glen.”
Raikkonen retired from Formula 1 at the end of 2021. His career began in 2001 and he raced with Sauber, McLaren, Ferrari, Lotus, and Alfa Romeo, winning the F1 World driving title in 2007 when he was with Ferrari. The native of Finland has 21 F1 race wins, and 103 podium finishes and was a popular figure in the sport known for his talent, and dry humor which earned him the nickname of “The Iceman”.
Raikkonen made a brief appearance in NASCAR in 2011 when he competed in the Xfinity and Truck Series races at Charlotte Motor Speedway in May of that year for Kyle Busch Motorsports. He scored finishes of 27th and 15th respectively.
Raikkonen will join former F1 champion Jacques Villeneuve who races in selected Cup races for Team Hezeberg from the Netherlands founded by European driver Toine Hezemans and Dutch entrepreneur Ernst Berg which debuted this season. Villeneuve finished 22nd in the season opening Daytona 500.
The recently retired F1 driver said when he left that he wasn’t open to more racing, however, it seems as though Marks changed Raikkonen’s mind.
“I wasn’t looking to race again, but Justin came to my home in Switzerland and convinced me how serious he was about putting together a top-notch program,” said Raikkonen. “This will be fun, but it’s something I will take very seriously. I know how competitive the NASCAR Cup Series is and it will be a big challenge.”
In the Thursday release Marks said Raikkonen’s entry at Watkins Glen is the only PROJECT91 race planned for 2022 and added he expects more races in 2023 with additional drivers.
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