Former F1 champ Kimi Raikkonen to make racing return in NASCAR at Watkins Glen

Former F1 champion Kimi Raikkonen will return to racing later this year in a one-off NASCAR appearance at Watkins Glen in August.

Raikkonen will compete for the Trackhouse Racing team in a NASCAR Cup Series event, alongside teammates Daniel Suarez and Ross Chastain.

Raikkonen, one of the most popular F1 drivers of the modern era, left last year after amassing a record 349 Grand Prix race starts.

Raikkonen had talks earlier in the year about a NASCAR appearance and said things accelerated in recent weeks.

“We had more talks about it, how would it work, where the race would be, and all sorts of other things,” Raikkonen said.

“There’s a lot of things involved, and it all made sense for me. It’s one race, so it made sense for all of us as a family. I always enjoyed it when I had my few races [in the United States].

“Hopefully we have a good race and good fun. Obviously it’s a new car and I’ve never been at the track. But I’m sure we can figure it out.”

Raikkonen hinted that he’s open to doing other events in the future.

The Finn, who won 21 races in his career, remains the last Ferrari driver to win an F1 title.

Raikkonen raced in NASCAR’s Nationwide and Truck series during an F1 sabbatical in 2011.