NASCAR has announced a new rule for ‘Elite guest drivers’ for speed integration of them to the sport following the PROJECT91 announcement

NASCAR has announced a new rule for ‘Elite guest drivers’ for speed integration of them to the sport following the PROJECT91 announcement

Kimi Raikkonen

Trackhouse Racing has been making waves in NASCAR over the two years this year as the team has been revolutionizing the way the team is run. The three wins they were able to secure this year with two coming from Ross Chastain and the latest one coming from Daniel Suarez in Sonoma Raceway have helped the team to position itself as the team to beat in 2022.  

Trackhouse Racing in its bid to get the sport internationally known has recently announced the PROJECT91 which aimed at bringing drivers from different motorsport racing series to give them an efficient debut in the cup series which can attract a new market to the sport. Former F1 world champion with Ferrari Kimi Raikkonen was announced as the first driver that will drive the No:91 car soon after the announcement of the project.

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Now NASCAR also has been doing its part in widening the market share and demand for the sport in areas where it has limited or no presence is now on board with the Trackhouse plans as they announced a rule change considering the drivers that might come in. The new rule is aimed at providing Elite drivers more time and resources to integrate themselves with NASCAR before actually racing in it.

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NASCAR has introduced three new sections to the rulebook namely 3.2.7, 13.2.7.1, and 13.2.7.2 which will give the guest drivers ambient time to get familiarised with NASCAR. The new rule gives drivers the chance to do Next-Gen car test runs in any of the tracks which are under the NASCAR schedule. The change is aimed at the drivers who are considered Elite-level athletes in other series of racing.

The rule change does not imply that a guest driver can just go onto a race track and do the test drive as it has some catch to it. The team which the drivers will race for cannot host the test sessions for the guest driver as it should be done by another team that has taken permission from NASCAR to do so. The prime tea will be allowed to send a maximum of 4 representatives to the testing session of their guest drivers.

The new decision will help to curb the learning constraints the guest drivers will have coming to race in the sport and with the new rule changes, the Trcakhouse team will have enough time and resources to get Kimi more acclimatized with the sport. Being part of Chevy a major Manufacturer in NASCAR the team won’t be facing any struggles in getting another team to host Test drives of Kimi and getting teams like HMS on board with them if they can be a huge advantage.

Also read: My journey was different,’ Daniel Suarez on his atypical NASCAR journey that makes his first career win at Sonoma special

How NASCAR Twitter reacted to the rule change

Justin Marks
Justin Marks and Kimi Raikkonen

There have been only positive reactions to the changes that are made in the rule book as fans are also onboard with seeing their favorite drivers from another elite form of racing getting a fare short at the Cup series. Some fans have already dubbed the rule the ‘Kimi Rule’ alluding to the fact that it is coming in the wake of his proposed Cup debut.

Also read: “There’s a little bit less weight on my back right now,” Daniel Suarez on how the Sonoma Cup race win has been a pressure reliever

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