NASCAR Cup Series fans have quickly taken a liking to Trackhouse Racing Team‘s PROJECT91, a programme intended to bring international racing stars to the sport, especially after a generally successful début with Kimi Räikkönen in 2022. However, they will have to wait a little longer to see the #91 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 in action.
Despite initial hope of the #91 entering the season-opening Daytona 500, Marks tweeted Tuesday that it will not take place and the car will instead continue to run road course races. Consequently, only full-timers Ross Chastain (#1) and Daniel Suárez (#99) will represent the team in the 500.
“We took a hard look at the Daytona 500 with @THProject91 but at the end of the day decided to focus on the road courses and the 1/99 @ Daytona,” said Marks. “We have some exciting P91 stuff being finalized.”
The #91’s first race at Watkins Glen International came with much fanfare as Räikkönen is one of the most popular drivers in racing today. Although the race ended in a crash, the 2007 Formula One World Champion did not rule out a return in the future, and Marks backed him up in November by saying he “operate(s) under the assumption that it’s kind of [Kimi’s] ride until he tells me otherwise.”
While Räikkönen has not confirmed any starts for 2023, three-time and reigning Supercars Champion Shane van Gisbergen revealed in September that he had talked with Marks about potentially racing the #91 if there is no schedule clash. There are six road races on the upcoming Cup schedule: Circuit of the Americas on 26 March, Sonoma Raceway on 11 June, the Chicago Street Race on 2 July, Indianapolis Motor Speedway on 13 August, Watkins Glen on 20 August, and the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval on 8 October.