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This weekend, the NASCAR Cup Series will take to the observe at Watkins Glen International for the penultimate spherical of the common season. It’s going to be a giant race for lots of causes — together with the truth that it’s going to set a brand new NASCAR document. For the primary time within the sport’s historical past, drivers of seven completely different nationalities will likely be represented on the beginning grid.
Maybe one of many greatest names on the grid this weekend is Finnish F1 World Champion Kimi Raikkonen, who’s profiting from his retirement tour by taking an open NASCAR seat offered by Trackhouse Racing’s Mission 91. He’ll be joined by Le Mans legend Mike Rockenfeller, who we spoke to earlier this week.
However apart from the usual slate of American drivers, the Watkins Glen entry record is probably the most numerous in NASCAR’s Cup Sequence historical past, together with drivers from six different international locations:
- Kimi Raikkonen: Finland / (Trackhouse Racing)
- Daniel Suarez: Mexico / (Trackhouse Racing)
- Mike Rockenfeller: Germany / (Spire Motorsports)
- Loris Hezemens: Netherlands / (Workforce Hezeberg)
- Daniil Kvyat: Russia / (Workforce Hezeberg)
- Kyle Tilley: United Kingdom / (Reside Quick Motorsports)
In case your familiarity with racing comes within the type of European-based collection like Components 1, a seven-nationality subject isn’t all that thrilling. However NASCAR has primarily been a regional sport, its grid peopled virtually completely by American drivers with a handful of worldwide taste thrown in each every so often.
However with the arrival of the Subsequent-Gen automotive, the Cup Sequence has been making an attempt to broaden its attraction around the globe. The ultra-stock inventory automotive is designed to be difficult however versatile sufficient that any racer might get behind the wheel and, with some testing, compete with the massive canine. This weekend represents the primary time we’ll see that purpose in motion.
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