Kimi Räikkönen's feelings in his debut-races World Camping Truck- and Nationwide -classes were completely different. He enjoyed fully the Truck-race whereas the Nationwide-stunt mainly brought him pain, sweat and a disappointment in driving pleasure.
– The race started well and Kimi was driving towards a TOP-15 during the first 40 laps. After that the setbacks began and the joy of driving stopped immediately, Todd Hirschfield who conveys Kimi's feelings from the American tour, reported to Turun Sanomat after the race.
– Kimi showed his speed. It speaks for itself when you look at who he had already left behind him when his car worked the way he wanted.
The weather in North-Carolina was considerably hotter than a week ago. There were also problems in heat isolation. The driver who climbed out of Toyota Camry looked like a racer who was remarkably worn out.
– It was incredibly hot in the cockpit. That's why the race felt more longer than it was in reality. The floor burned my sneakers and my soles, Räikkönen sighed.
Räikkönen started from 22nd position and finished in 27th position 4 laps behind. The Truck-race went the other way around when Räikkönen started from 31st position and climbed up to 15th in the race, driving on the same lap as the winner.
– The goal was the same in both races - to drive all laps and finish at the same lap with the top. It was a completely realistic goal but succeeded only in the first race. Kimi drove really well all the time, team manager Rick Ren praised.
Räikkönen proved once again that he can quickly learn a new car and the style of a new racing class and could already in Saturday's race take advantage of the re-starts improving his position all the time.
– It was cool at first when I could overtake and it felt good when the car turned decently. Then everything just went wrong. I couldn't control the car. I couldn't turn it anymore and felt that I had to stop in corners when it was ramming so badly all the time.
– I had the same problem in practice already. We got it better but in the race the problems came back. It's nasty to experience something like that because the car felt so good at times. I even hit the wall a few times because the car didn't turn. I got hits from behind and almost spun. When it gets that tricky you just can't race. You only try to make it through the corners and don't enjoy it one bit, Räikkönen reported.
When pitting around lap 139 Räikkönen moved on too fast and got a penalty for speeding. After that he was 2 laps behind the lead.
On track he got more troubles. A front piece from some car had fallen off and it got stuck on the bottom of Räikkönen's Toyota and after that turning the car became almost impossible.
– I had no grip in the front anymore. Some junk got stuck on the bottom of the car and it didn't come loose until it was pulled off in the pit, Räikkönen cleared.
The rest of the race Räikkönen used mainly to get experience.
Matt Kenseth won before Carl Edwards and Kyle Busch. It was Kenseth's 26th victory in Nationwide -class.
Räikkönen left for Europe on Saturday-night. His plans of continuing in Nascar are now pending.
– Kimi sits down to think what he wants. I hope that these races lit the spark to drive more Nascar-races in the future. I am extremely pleased with his performances. Kimi showed very quickly that he can drive in the same speed as the experienced men in these classes, Hirschfeld says.
If Räikkönen finds himself a competitive car to Sprint Cup -races to so called normal tracks like Sonoma and also Watkins Glen, then it will most definitely decide Räikkönen's will to continue.
Juan Pablo Montoya snatched his first Sprint Cup -victory in Sonoma 2007 and his second one in Watkins Glen 2010.
Turun Sanomat
HEIKKI KULTA
Results
300 laps/200 miles:
1. Matt Kenseth Ford
2. Carl Edwards Ford
3. Kyle Busch Toyota
4. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Ford
5. Reed Sorenson Chevrolet
6. Brad Keselowski Dodge
7. Steve Wallace Toyota
8. Brian Scott Toyota
9. Aric Almirola Chevrolet
10. Elliott Sadler Chevrolet
11. Joey Logano Toyota
12. Sam Hornish Jr. Dodge
13. Justin Allgaier Chevrolet
14. Michael Annett Toyota
15. Cole Whitt Toyota
27. Kimi Räikkönen Toyota
28. Eric McClure Chevrolet
29. Joe Nemechek Chevrolet
30. Derrike Cope Dodge
Courtey: Nicole
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