Daniil Kvyat: ‘After F1, I can’t see anything cooler than NASCAR’

Daniil Kvyat the former Red Bull driver has joined forces with team Hezeberg in NASCAR and ahead of his first race has indicated that apart from F1, there is nothing cooler than NASCAR.

The experienced racer is going to make his debut on the coming weekend at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course. As per his latest agreement, Kvyat is going to take part in the remaining three road courses on the 2022 schedule.

The 28-year-old will be in Indianapolis this Sunday and then on Aug 21 at Watkins Glen, N.Y, and finally at the Charlotte Roval on October 9th.

Kvyat is excited about starting a new adventure and has said, “I want to give a lot of energy to NASCAR now, to give myself the best shot at becoming very competitive, I wanted to start with something really cool after my Formula 1 career.“

Kvyat: After F1, I can't see anything cooler than NASCAR https://t.co/XNdu29oLu9 via @motorsport

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“After Formula 1, I couldn’t see anything cooler than NASCAR, that’s for sure.”

Daniil Kvyat has spent the last few weeks in America and is doing his best to fully understand the racing culture there, moreover, he has run laps at the Hickory Motor Speedway with the help of driver/owner Josh Reaume, the duo also visited the NASCAR R&D center in CONCORD to receive approval to compete and spent time picking up parts in the Mooresville area where his team assembled the #27 Toyota in which Kvyat is going to compete.

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Daniil Kvyat wants to do everything it takes to compete in the Cup Series on a full-time basis

“NASCAR Cup Series has a very rich history and is extremely popular in the United States and also worldwide, I think it has managed to maintain this very good balance between modern and old-school racing.”

“It made me very curious to try it. It’s very tough racing. There are tough guys racing at a very high level. For a few years, I’ve been trying to try it, and finally, I got an opportunity here.”

Daniil Kvyat made his debut in Formula One in 2014 with Toro Rosso when he was only 19 years old and after a successful first season, the Russian was promoted to the Red Bull senior team.

His move to Red Bull brought his first podium finish at the Hungarian Grand Prix where he became the second youngest driver to get on the podium at just 21 years of age.

His last official role in Formula One was with Alpine where he performed the duties of a reserve driver last year.

After his F1 career, the Russian has now got his eyes set on NASCAR and has indicated that he wants to do it on a full-time basis.

“Whatever I do, I try to do with the maximum competitive approach, whatever I do, I try to do with the maximum competitive approach.”

“I’m open-minded to racing on the oval tracks and trying to make this transition. I really want to race for the highest results and one day fight for the championship here.”

Kvyat has been following the NASCAR events for some time and knows that the sport can be cruel at times and especially to the newbies. “I always was a big fan of contact racing,” he said. “I’ve never had issues putting my elbows out and I don’t think I would have any problems with that in NASCAR, either. I’m used to that – I kind of enjoy that.“

The 28-year-old is still open to making a return to Formula One but feels at the current stage of his career, he is very much focused on NASCAR.

“I think there are a lot of good things I can make of it here if I put my focus here,” he said. “Of course, what other opportunities might be in Formula 1, it can be open for discussion. But right now I am making my NASCAR Cup debut and I am giving all my energy to that at the moment.”

During his second race at Watkins Glen, Kvyat will get the opportunity to race against former F1 driver Kimi Raikkonen who is making his Cup Series debut.

The former F1 Champion will be driving for Trackhouse racing as part of his track 91 initiative that is designed to attract World renowned drivers to NASCAR.

“My old, old friend,” Kvyat said with a laugh. “I know Kimi from Formula 1, obviously. He’s an interesting character. I’m quite excited that both of us will be sharing the grid in NASCAR.”

“I think it’s great for NASCAR to get involved more and more internationally. With former Formula 1 names, it just shows how competitive this series is getting. He’s a fair driver; a very strong driver.”

“It’s going to be great to see him again there.”

Daniil Kvyat is extremely excited to meet Kimi Raikkonen at the Watkins Glen and given the pedigree that the Finnish driver has got, the event is going to be a must-see for all motorsports enthusiasts.

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