Raikkonen to NASCAR!!!

[danyduc]

This is a big surprise to me, i mean why go to Nascar when you already have quite a steep learning curve in the WRC and you are still trying to get a hold of it?

[donskar]

If true: good news for NASCAR and good news for all fans of tough, no BS racers.

[Sean H]

If true: good news for NASCAR and good news for all fans of tough, no BS racers.

+1 here...

I would even go to a truck race to see the Iceman.

[Echo]

Americans are great in à straight line, ... . NASCAR quite boring (my point of view)!

[Ciro Pabón]

My brother doesn't like chocolate ice cream. I like that, because I can have more ice cream, but I think he lacks something I have that makes me very happy.

For example, next year, if this thread is right, I can watch Kimi Räikkönen driving a NASCAR car and you won't. I have no problem with that, but I'd say you lack... etc. etc.

[Pup]

I've got a friend who prefers strawberry. But he's an idiot.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-03-2 ... -team.html

Kimi Raikkonen, the 2007 Formula One champion, is considering an offer to join a team in the Nascar auto-racing series, his agent David Robertson said.

Robertson declined to identify the team the 31-year-old Finn was talking to.

“Negotiations are ongoing but nothing is guaranteed,” Robertson said by telephone. “Somebody had come to us with an offer and we are considering it.”

Raikkonen is set to join a new team, ICE1 Racing, in the Truck series before moving to the Nationwide and Sprint Cup categories, Autosport.com reported, citing Finland’s Turun Sanomat newspaper.

One of the team’s partners is Foster Gillett, the son of George Gillett, according to Autosport.com. George Gillett is the former owner of the Liverpool soccer team and the Montreal Canadiens ice hockey team.

Raikkonen was the top-earning athlete after golfer Tiger Woods in 2008 with $45 million in income, according to Forbes magazine.

He was dropped by Ferrari after the 2009 season and left Formula One to compete in the World Rally Championship for Citroen last year. Raikkonen remains committed to his contract in the rally series, Robertson said.

[Scorpaguy]

"straight lines"

It seems to me Europe's top drivers seem to find nascar a handful....as do America's top drivers find F1 a handful. But then no American has had a recent drive in a competitive F1 car. I'd surmise both "mountains" are a fairly steep climb.

[Robbobnob]

Once hes finished his foray there, hes should venture down under and give the old V8s a go!!

[djos]

NASCAR is like chess at 320kph and very difficult to master - you can be a great driver with a great team but if you cant work with your crew cheif to extract the performance from your car and keep it tuned throughout the entire race you are finished.

Just look at the last few years of Dale Jr's career, he's sucked harder than a hoover and been thru about 3 or 4 crew chiefs and this is a guy with a stack of race wins and huge pedigree!

Then there are guy's like Aussie Marcos Ambrose, (who won 2 V8SC championships back to back in the worlds toughest touring car category where the ability to drive under tired and over powered tin tops with next to no Aero downforce is key), who has really done it tough to learn the ropes and had a few good results including multiple road course wins in the 2nd tier category plus a bunch of top 5's on Road courses and Ovals.

My point is NASCAR is friggin hard!!!

[Pup]

Chess?

Forgive me, I must laugh.

Since when did they start handing out chess championships via lottery? Forget whether or not it's tough to drive around an oval - the only thing that matters these days in NASCAR is where you happen to be when the last yellow is thrown. 499 laps of filler for the commercials, then a sprint to the end.

[djos]

Chess?

Forgive me, I must laugh.

Since when did they start handing out chess championships via lottery? Forget whether or not it's tough to drive around an oval - the only thing that matters these days in NASCAR is where you happen to be when the last yellow is thrown. 499 laps of filler for the commercials, then a sprint to the end.

So what you are saying is that you've never watched the Daytona 500 or Talladega Races!

Im not a huge NASCAR Fan but I watch it occasionally to keep tabs on Marcos Ambrose - frankly the road course races and super short track races are the only ones I genuinely enjoy.

[bhall]

Before this turns into a flat-out war of "F1 is better than NASCAR"/"No, you elitists don't understand..." may I say that I'm just surprised Kimi is having to come up with his own team - ICE1, same as his WRC team, right? - to race trucks. I'd have thought there would be at least one truck team owner out there willing to take a chance on a recent F1 World Champion.

Or maybe Kimi wants it this way. Who knows?

[sstanescu]

Guys, lets' forget for a second the NASCAR vs F1 vs WRC discussions. Kimi looked "special", a different kind of racer, not the one which wants 20 championships and inflated by sponsorship. What if is simply having fun in his own way? Money shall be no problem for a while, at least. Maybe he simply wants to taste something else and to have parties with his buddies on a different continent?

[djos]

No one saying NASCAR is better than F1 (at least I hope not!), what is being said by those of us who actually watch it is that it is bloody difficult and if he does make it to sprint cup level it won't be a walk in the park for him.

[FW17]

BE should get an oval race and end this discussion of NASCAR better than F1. Make it a wholesome championship with every type of track, circuit, street and oval.