Raikkonen set for NASCAR debut at Watkins Glen

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Kimi Raikkonen retired to Switzerland at the end of last year's Formula One season and has blissfully spent the last eight months with his young family.

Did he miss racing?

“Not really, no," the 2007 F1 champion said.

Yet here he is, not even a full year into retirement, and Raikkonen will race again.

Raikkonen will race Sunday at Watkins Glen International in upstate New York in — and this isn't a typo — a NASCAR event. The driver known as “The Iceman” for his unintentionally droll demeanor was persuaded to get back behind the wheel by TrackHouse Racing and its ambitious, purpose-driven Project91 program.

Project91 was created to raise NASCAR's worldwide profile with top drivers from other formulas by Justin Marks, the 41-year-old former driver and now co-owner of NASCAR's hot, new winning team. He was prepared to personally fund the debut race at Watkins Glen, a road course where TrackHouse should compete for the win.

Tops on Marks' list of prospects was Raikkonen, who had previously competed in both an Xfinity Series and Truck Series race at Charlotte Motor Speedway during one weekend in 2011, the season Raikkonen took a one-year sabbatical in his 19-year F1 career. There was some bemusement over Raikkonen's mere presence in NASCAR's hotbed, but the most memorable part of his brief NASCAR career was that he was sponsored by Perky Jerky.

Even so, Raikkonen was interested when first presented this NASCAR offer. Marks then sealed the deal in February by traveling to Raikkonen's home in Switzerland to make his pitch in person to the Finnish driver.

“I had to find somebody that would give immediate legitimacy to it and be interested in doing it. And to me, really quickly, it was Kimi," Marks