LE MANS – Kamui Kobayashi, one of the best sports car drivers in the world, will make his NASCAR debut with Toyota on the street circuit of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in August.
Kobayashi will drive for 23XI Racing, the team of Denny Hamlin and Michael Jordan that opened this season by fielding a Toyota for action sports star Travis Pastrana at the Daytona 500.
With the announcement made at Wednesday’s Le Mans 24 Hours, Kobayashi becomes only the second Japanese driver to compete in NASCAR’s top cup series and only the fifth to compete in one of NASCAR’s top three national series starts. Kobayashi will be the first Japanese driver to compete in a Toyota in the Cup Series, which entered NASCAR’s premier series in 2007.
“Actually, it’s my dream,” Kobayashi told The Associated Press. “It’s such a big sport in the United States and racing in Europe, I’ve never had a chance or opportunity to compete in NASCAR races. I think the opportunity will be challenging for me because it’s such a different category.”
“But if I succeed, I think it will open up more opportunities for Japanese riders. Toyota has been in NASCAR racing for a long time, but there have never been Japanese drivers for Toyota. That’s why I say that I value this opportunity for myself.”
Kobayashi will drive the #67 Toyota in the August 13 race.
“It is truly an honor that Kamui has chosen to participate in our NASCAR Cup Series program and we are pleased that we were able to work with our partners at 23XI Racing to provide him with a competitive Camry TRD for the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road race said David Wilson, President of TRD, USA
“Kamui shares the passion for motorsport that we all live every day at Toyota and TRD, USA, so it will be exciting to show him our NASCAR program with him at the wheel of one of our TRD Camrys.”
Kobayashi won the Le Mans 24 Hours for Toyota in 2021 and has not finished third since 2018. He has taken six podiums in eight outings at the legendary endurance race and his two-car Toyota Gazoo team has won the overall racing title for the past five years.
In most Le Mans victories, Toyota trails only Bentley, Jaguar, Ferrari, Audi and Porsche. Porsche holds the record with 19 victories.
Kobayashi was appointed team principal in 2021 after winning Le Mans and the World Endurance Championship title for Toyota Gazoo. Toyota Gazoo has two cars for the race, which starts on Saturday, while Kobayashi oversees the team’s attempt to win a sixth consecutive title.
Kobayashi started his karting racing career in Japan but was spotted by Toyota while racing in Europe. He was named one of Toyota’s reserve Formula One drivers and made his debut in the 2009 season at the Brazilian Grand Prix. He drove in Formula 1 until 2014 and achieved a podium finish in 75 career starts.
After his F1 career, Kobayashi returned to Japan and switched to the Supra Formula Series, a class in which he still actively competes. He has since won the Rolex 24 at Daytona twice and was the moderator of an IMSA endurance sportscar team in the USA for two seasons founded by seven-time NASCAR champion Jimmie Johnson.
Kobayashi loves racing in the United States, however the passage of new regulations by IMSA to make the top class eligible to compete at Le Mans created a conflict of interest between Kobayashi’s Toyota responsibilities and continuing to compete in IMSA racing where Toyota is not represented in the top class. Toyota runs a Lexus in a lower IMSA class and Kobayashi drove for Vasser Sullivan Racing in Canada last June to get a feel for the GT car.
Many think NASCAR’s next-gen car is very similar to the GT Lexus sportscar Kobayashi drove in IMSA last year, and that’s his closest experience to driving a production car. Before the Indianapolis race he gets to test 23XI at a small track in Virginia and expects to spend some time in the simulator.
Anyway, he’s not worried about seat time.
“To be honest, I think I’m a guy who doesn’t need a lot of exercise,” 36-year-old Kobayashi told the AP. “I think once we get in the car we’ll be fine in a few laps. So I’m not too worried about the form.”
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