Sports car and open-wheel drivers ready for NASCAR at COTA
AUSTIN, Texas — Filling out the NASCAR Cup, Xfinity and Craftsman Truck Series fields is a strong contingency of sports car and open-wheel drivers.
Headlining the bunch is Kamui Kobayashi, who will make his second NASCAR Cup Series start. Kobayashi will drive the No. 50 Mobil 1 Toyota for 23XI Racing.
Kobayashi has a 24 Hours of LeMans win in 2021) and two 24 Hours of Daytona wins (2019, ’20). He also has 16 FIA World Endurance Championship wins and two championships.
IndyCar has a healthy representation this weekend at COTA. Headlining the bunch is two-time winner Marco Andretti. He will continue his foray into stock car racing with a start in the No. 04 Roper Racing entry.
Jack Hawksworth will accompany him, driving the No. 1 TRICON Garage Toyota. Hawksworth’s only NASCAR start came during the 2019 Xfinity Series season, driving the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota at Mid-Ohio. He led five laps and won stage two – a possible indication of success to come this weekend.
In the NASCAR Xfinity Series, Sam Hunt Racing has filled its roster of Toyota entries with IndyCar drivers. Sage Karam will race the flagship No. 26 car while Ed Jones will race the teammate No. 24 car.
Jones’ best IndyCar finish in 63 starts is third in a Chip Ganassi car. Jones earned his best finish in Detroit and Long Beach in 2018. That came on the heels of his only other podium – third – in the 2017 Indianapolis 500.
Like Jones, Karam finished a career-best third in a Chip Ganassi car. That happened at Iowa Speedway in 2015 and was his only podium in 25 starts.
Karam will make his 27th Xfinity Series start at COTA. He is coming off a fourth-place finish in a race at Road America that he nearly won last year.
R.C. Enerson, who recently made a miracle qualifying run to get into the Indianapolis 500 last year, will drive SS-Green Light Racing’s No. 14 Chevrolet.
Enerson’s teammate is former Formula One driver Daniil Kvyat. Kvyat will drive the No. 07.
In 110 Formula One starts from 2014-20, Kvyat earned three podium finishes. In 2022, he made three NASCAR Cup Series starts with Team Hezeberg. He also made an Xfinity Series start at the Charlotte Roval with Sam Hunt Racing.
A driver with great potential is Connor Zilisch who recently earned a class win in the 12 Hours of Sebring. The 17-year-old will make his NASCAR debut driving for Spire Motorsports’ No. 7 entry in the Craftsman Truck Series.
TA2 hotshoe Austin Green will race the No. 32 Chevrolet for Jordan Anderson Racing.
Green races in TA2 for Peterson Racing Group. In the off-season, he said he would run some Xfinity Series races with them. However, the team withdrew for this weekend.
Spec Miata aces and all-around fan favorites Brad Perez and Preston Pardus are also entered.
Perez will drive the No. 45 Chevrolet for Alpha Prime Racing. Meanwhile, Pardus will drive the No. 50 Chevrolet for Pardus Racing Inc.
IMSA Pilot Challenge driver Carter Fartuch will also make his Truck Series debut. He will drive the No. 22 Ford for Reaume Brothers Racing.
Fartuch has support from Skip Barber Racing School where he is a driver coach.
Categories
Discover more from The Racing Experts
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
Jonathan Fjeld View All
Jonathan Fjeld is the co-owner of the The Racing Experts, LLC. He has been with TRE since 2010.
A Twin Valley, MN, native, Fjeld became a motorsports fan at just three years old (first race was the 2002 Pennsylvania 500). He worked as a contributor and writer for TRE from 2010-18. Since then, he has stepped up and covered 24 NASCAR race weekends and taken on a larger role with TRE. He became the co-owner and managing editor in 2023 and has guided the site to massive growth in that time.
Fjeld has covered a wide array of stories and moments over the years, including Kevin Harvick's final Cup Series season, the first NASCAR national series disqualification in over 50 years, Shane van Gisbergen's stunning win in Chicago and the first Cup Series race at Road America in 66 years – as well as up-and-coming drivers' stories and stories from inside the sport, like the tech it takes for Hendrick Motorsports to remain a top-tier team.
Currently, he resides in Albuquerque, N.M., where he works for KOB 4, an NBC station. He works as a digital producer and does on-air reports. He loves spending time with friends and family, playing and listening to music, exploring new places, being outdoors, reading books and writing among other activities. You can email him at fjeldjonathan@gmail.com