Le Mans winner Rockenfeller to join Räikkönen and Kvyat at NASCAR Watkins Glen race

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Overall Le Mans winner and former DTM champion Mike Rockenfeller which make the stockcar switch later this month

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Rockenfeller is set to make his NASCAR debut at Watkins Glen

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Le Mans winner and former DTM champion Mike Rockenfeller is set to make his NASCAR debut at Watkins Glen later this month.

The German, who conquered La Sarthe in 2010 and claimed the DTM crown in 2013, will compete for Spire Motorsports in the top-tier cup series race.

He’ll be joined in the race by 2007 F1 champion Kimi Räikkönen and the Finn’s fellow grand prix alumni Daniil Kvyat, with the former making a one-off appearance and the latter seeking to rebuild his racing career in the US after his G-Drive WEC seat fell through following FIA sanctions against Russian team entries following the conflict in Ukraine.

Rockenfeller, who also won the Daytona 24 Hours in 2010 and his class at Sebring in ’17, will compete at the Charlotte ‘Roval’ round as well, in a field which is set to feature former IndyCar driver Marco Andretti too.

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“Since starting my professional racing career back in the early 2000s, I’ve always kept a close eye on NASCAR,” said the 2010 Le Mans winner. “What’s more, after teaming up with Jimmie Johnson [at Daytona last year] – one of the heroes of the sport – my respect and appreciation for NASCAR has grown.

“It’s an immensely competitive series with some of the world’s greatest drivers racing wheel-to-wheel, merely centimetres apart. Room for error is minimal, at best. Watkins Glen is a difficult track in any car but given how sensitive and big a NASCAR Cup Series car is, I think this will be an even bigger challenge.”

Rockenfeller has competed in a wide variety of machinery through his successful career, but stockcar racing is set to be the biggest departure of all.

“I’ve been fortunate to race LMP prototypes, DTM, and GTs, but now I’m ready to get my name out there in NASCAR,” he added.

“This is a huge honour for me to be racing the No.77 NationsGuard Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, and I want to say thank you to Spire Motorsports for giving me this opportunity to start a new chapter in my career.”