Justin Marks Reveals How He Was Able to Convince F1 Royalty Kimi Raikkonen to Drive for His NASCAR Team

Kimi Raikkonen is a household name in the world of Formula One. He is a former F1 World Champion and has been a long-time driver for one of the most iconic teams, Ferrari. Moreover, his peculiarly cold attitude made him synonymous with the name “Iceman”. The “Iceman” recently retired from the sport after the 2021. But, Trackhouse Racing’s Project 91 changed that!

One thing that many people might not know is that Kimi has been associated with NASCAR before. In 2011, he ran Trucks for Kyle Busch Motorsports.

Now, once again, after Kimi’s retirement, Trackhouse’s Project91 got Raikkonen the opportunity to race in the NASCAR Cup Series. However, have you ever thought why that happened?

Justin Marks came to Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s Podcast, the Dale Jr. Download where he answers exactly that.

Marks first started with a call to his friend who got Kimi the KBM ride, “A friend of mine, PJ Rashidi… He helped to facilitate when Kimi came in 2011 ran those races for KBM. And, I called him and said ‘where do you think he’s at these days because we knew he was retiring where do you think he’s at these days?’.”

This led the Trackhouse Racing co-owner to fly to Switzerland and finally get a deal! “He had some interest in it so I flew to Zurich to Switzerland to see him.”

Read More: WATCH: Lewis Hamilton’s Hero Ayrton Senna Revealing His Plans to Quit F1 for NASCAR in Unearthed Interview

“He was excited about coming and being part of this winning organization and all this stuff so um so we ended up it ended up having to be one you know one event”

What Is Project 91 That Brought Kimi Raikkonen Out of Retirement

Well, Trackhouse Racing launched Project91 to allow all the stars of motorsports to come and get a taste of what it’s like driving in NASCAR.

Fortunately, Trackhouse Racing got to launch the project with the Formula One legend, Kimi Raikkonen!

Watch This Story: Kevin Harvick Breaks Hendrick Motorsports Legend Jeff Gordon’s Record in Sonoma

One can only imagine how fun it would be to see Kimi Raikkonen in a NASCAR Stock Car. But do you think he will perform well? Moreover, do you think Project91 will be a success?