Raikkonen planning debut in Nascar this year

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Raikkonen planning debut in Nascar this year

Published: 30 Mar. 2011, 19:32

HELSINKI, Finland - Former F1 world champion Kimi Raikkonen will make a surprise Nascar debut this year while also competing in rallies, Finland’s Turun Sanomat newspaper reported on Tuesday.

The Finn, who took the F1 title with Ferrari in 2007, has been driving a Citroen in the world rally championship since he left Formula One at the end of 2009.

The paper said the 31-year-old now plans to enter some Nascar races with his ICE1 team when world rally championship commitments permit.

“I am excited about getting to know the Nascar world. I have been following it for a long time,” the paper quoted him as saying.

“I am 100 percent sure it will be fun and challenging,” he added.

The paper said Raikkonen will drive his first race in the truck series, before then moving up to other Nascar series’.

Four-time Sprint Cup champion Jeff Gordon welcomed the report.

“I think it would be cool and exciting,” he told Reuters in a statement.

Reuters