Raikkonen NASCAR debut ends early after sideswipe

Kimi Raikkonen's NASCAR Cup debut at Watkins Glen ended early when the Iceman was the victim of a stack-up on a restart that sent him careering into the barriers and out of the race.

Up to then, Raikkonen who started 27th had enjoyed a solid afternoon in the ran-disrupted event, running as high as P8 in the race's second stage.

After undertaking a green-flag pit stop, Raikkonen rejoined the track in the thick of the pack but on a restart, a contact in the inner loop between the Finn's Trackhouse Racing teammate Ross Chastain and Austin Dillon sent the latter spinning, which forced the #27 Ford of Loris Hezemans into the side of Raikkonen's car which darted off helplessly into the barriers.

For the 2007 F1 World Champion, it was unfortunately an early end to his day of racing at the Glen.

"I thought I had a good line there, but everybody seemed to come (to) the left. Unfortunately, I had no time to react," explained the Finn after a brief check-up at track's care center.

"The first impact, somebody hit the tyre or the wheel directly and the (steering) wheel spun. There is something wrong with the wrist, but that's how it goes."

Despite his early exit, the Finn was anything but put off by his maiden Cup experience.

"I felt more confidence all the time and had some good battles and yeah, it's a shame. The car felt like it had a lot of speed in there but that's how it goes sometimes."

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Asked whether he would be ready to give NASCAR another shot, Raikkonen said: "We'll see, I don't know."

But Trackhouse Racing crew chief Darian Grubb was impressed with the 42-year-old rookie's performance.

"He was learning every lap,” Grubb told NASCAR.com. "You could see how he was racing those guys, how he was able to learn their styles, where they were fast, where they were slow.

"And he was able to maintain really well with them. So he’s obviously a very quick study.

"The way the strategy scenario was working, I think he was gonna have a good chance to go race hard with the guys.

"He had good tyres and able to race his way up, he was able to make some passes and stuff already. And I think we had a good shot to be up in the top 10, which is what our goals were for the weekend.

"So disappointing end, but he did an amazing job all week preparing for it, coming in and ready to go."

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