This Sunday at Naval Base Coronado, ex-F1 driver Kevin Magnussen is about to tackle one thing utterly completely different as he races a NASCAR Cup Sequence automobile for the very first time, driving the No. 91 Qualcomm Chevrolet for Trackhouse Racing.
Along with racing in Formulation 1 for a full decade, the 33-year-old Dane has made a number of begins throughout each WEC throughout IMSA, and even competed in an IndyCar race through the 2021 season. However this weekend, he’ll be a part of the sphere of 39 entries for the first-ever NASCAR Cup race on an energetic navy base, racing round a 3.4-mile road course.
Magnussen shall be competing with Trackhouse Racing as a teammate to Shane van Gisbergen, Ross Chastain, and Connor Zilisch. Simply final weekend, he was in France competing within the 94th version of the Le Mans 24 with the BMW Hypercar workforce.
The workforce has posted varied movies of Ok-Magazine’s preparation for San Diego, working towards pit stops and getting fitted for his customized race seat.
“I’m extremely excited and honored to have the chance to compete in NASCAR, so an enormous thanks to Trackhouse Racing and Justin Marks for giving me this opportunity,“ stated Magnussen. „I’ve at all times been interested in exploring completely different types of motorsport, and NASCAR is among the most iconic racing collection on the earth with an extremely passionate fanbase.
„I’ve already hung out with the workforce in North Carolina – assembly everybody, doing the seat match, going via pit cease procedures and all the main points that include getting ready for a NASCAR weekend. They’re an superior group of individuals, extremely devoted, and simply as enthusiastic about this debut as I’m. I actually can’t wait to get to San Diego and expertise all of it for the primary time.”
Trackhouse has a formidable file on highway and road programs, with Van Gisbergen successful six of the final seven on the Cup Sequence schedule. Chastain’s first Cup win additionally got here on a highway course, as did Daniel Suarez’s again when he used to drive for the workforce.
Magnussen goes into the race weekend with zero time on-track, and he could have only one 50-minute observe on Friday earlier than qualifying on Saturday and the race on Sunday.
“It’s a self-discipline that differs loads from what I’m used to, so there’s been a lot to study already,“ stated Magnussen in regards to the problem forward of him. „My father (Jan) had the chance to race in NASCAR again in 2010, and I’ve heard him speak about that have with a lot enthusiasm through the years, which solely made me much more keen on making an attempt it myself in the future. I’m coming into this with completely no NASCAR expertise, and we haven’t had the chance to check the automobile on observe beforehand, so my first laps will come throughout observe. Meaning it’s going to be a reasonably intense introduction, however fortunately, we’re heading to the one road race on the calendar, which is one thing I’m very accustomed to from my years in Formulation 1.“
Phil Surgen, who led Chastain to all six of his Cup wins between 2022 and 2025, will work alongside Magnussen as his crew chief for this weekend’s San Diego race.
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