When asked by Autosport if his NASCAR debut was likely to lead to an uptake in interest and potentially new drivers making the switch from Japan, which held three exhibition races in Japan during the late 1990s, Kobayashi said: "Honestly I think yes. Kobayashi will be the first Japanese driver to start a top-level NASCAR race since Hideo Fukuyama at Sonoma Raceway in June 2003, although Akinori Ogata has made a handful of starts in the Xfinity and Truck Series in recent years. "Definitely I want to do more but unfortunately, it was my schedule this year this is the only one we found." And the only one we find is the Ind圜ar track. "Also, we need to have a lead-in time to have a simulator session, seat-fitting, couple of test days probably, that makes not fit at all for any other track. "I have a still racing in WEC and also I'm doing the Super Formula as well in Japan so obviously to find no clashing schedules as a part of a race in NASCAR is quite tricky," he explained. Six road courses feature on the Cup Series schedule in 2023, and Kobayashi's choice of Indianapolis came down to scheduling around commitments in the WEC and Super Formula with KCMG.
"We understood that it was his dream one day to race in NASCAR, and so with this great new Next-Gen Camry TRD, the stars and planets started to align themselves." "Kamui has become a friend and we're doing some really neat collaborations elsewhere," he said. Wilson explained that they had "been working on this assignment for a couple of years". Photo by: John Harrelson / NKP / Motorsport Images Pastrana previously raced 23XI Racing Toyota "I always keep saying, 'I want to try' and finally made it happen," he added. He repeatedly asked Wilson for an opportunity, which yielded a simulator try-out on the virtual Bristol oval. And I remember thinking one day to race in NASCAR was my dream."Įven after his F1 career, which yielded a single podium from 75 race starts between 20, Kobayashi found that his NASCAR dream remained in the back of his mind. "What I saw when I was really young was a NASCAR race, because it was an oval. "And the first time when I raced a go-kart, honestly I didn't know Formula 1. Joining Toyota Racing Development USA president David Wilson on stage, Kobayashi revealed that he "was for a long time" searching for the right opportunity to go stock car racing as "actually my memory, first racing on TV was actually NASCAR". Kobayashi will take over the #67 car previously driven by Travis Pastrana to an 11th place finish at the Daytona 500 for his first outing in a stock car, following in the footsteps of fellow ex-Formula 1 racers Kimi Raikkonen, Daniil Kvyat and Jenson Button who have all made Cup debuts in the last 12 months.
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