Mike Rockenfeller labels NASCAR debut a “race of pretty much everything”

Kimi Räikkönen might have been the high-profile NASCAR Cup Series newcomer in Sunday’s race at Watkins Glen International, but Mike Rockenfeller held his own as well. The endurance racing star and 2013 DTM champion finished thirtieth in the #77 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Spire Motorsports, running as high as third in a tumultuous maiden NASCAR race.

After qualifying thirty-third, problems arrived almost immediately when his windshield wiper to combat the rain needed to be switched, though the severe weather led to a delay that gave his team time to address the matter. It only took ten laps for Rockenfeller to enter the top twenty, even passing Räikkönen at one point, and he finished Stage #1 in twenty-fifth.

Rockenfeller spent much of the second stage in the top twenty before spinning on lap 33 while racing Tyler Reddick. Forced to recover after ending the segment in thirty-fourth, he eventually climbed as high as third as teams experimented with different pit strategies. A pit stop on lap 68 would drop him back down the order and place him thirtieth but he was able to finish on the lead lap.

“In all my years of racing, my NASCAR Cup Series début was up there when it comes to being a wild experience,” said Rockenfeller. “However, all of the challenges we faced really helped me get up to speed much quicker than expected with the car and the team. When the race started after the delayed start, the track was incredibly slippery, and the racing in NASCAR is so intense and close. I also had a collision with Tyler and was running with the leaders at one stage; it was a race of pretty much everything.”

Rockenfeller was the first German to compete in the Cup Series since fellow sports car veteran Klaus Graf was a road course ringer in 2004. Three other Germans raced in NASCAR’s highest level in the 1970s with Lothar Motschenbacher, Rolf Stommelen, and Fritz Schultz. Of the five foreign-born road course ringers in the race, Rockenfeller was the highest finisher; the Finnish Räikkönen crashed out and finished thirty-seventh, one spot behind Russia’s Daniil Kvyat but ahead of Britain’s Kyle Tilley‘s thirty-ninth, while the Dutchman Loris Hezemans was thirty-third.

“If you’d have told me ahead of Watkins Glen that I would have run as high as fourth today, then I’d have not believed you,” he continued. “You’ll never win a race in your first time out in the NASCAR Cup Series, but I really think Spire Motorsports and myself exceeded the targets we set ourselves. I’m genuinely excited for next time out, because that was some of the most fun I’ve had in a race car for a long time.”

The two-time 24 Hours of Le Mans and Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona winner is scheduled to race again for Spire at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval on 9 October.