Kamui Kobayashi to be 2nd Japanese driver to race in Cup Series

LE MANS, France — Kamui Kobayashi, one of the very best athletics car or truck motorists in the planet, will make his NASCAR debut on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road study course with Toyota in August.

Kobayashi will drive for 23XI Racing, the staff owned by Denny Hamlin and Michael Jordan that opened this period by fielding a Toyota for motion sports star Travis Pastrana in the Daytona 500.

Kobayashi will grow to be only the next Japanese driver to race in NASCAR’s best Cup Sequence and only the fifth to race in one of NASCAR’s prime three national series. He will be the initially Japanese driver to race in the Cup Series in a Toyota, which entered NASCAR’s major collection in 2007.

“It really is my aspiration, actually,” Kobayashi instructed The Associated Push. “It is this kind of a big sport in the United States, and racing in Europe, I never ever had the probability or opportunity to race NASCAR. I consider the opportunity will be challenging for myself simply because it is such a unique classification.

“But if I have success, I feel it will make additional prospects for Japanese motorists. Toyota has been in NASCAR a extensive time, but there has under no circumstances been any Japanese drivers for Toyota. Which is also why I say I enjoy this possibility for myself.”

Wednesday’s announcement had a number of leading NASCAR executives in attendance, like chairman Jim France, as Toyota found Le Mans to be the best backdrop to spotlight the one particular-race offer.

Kobayashi will generate the No. 67 Toyota in the Aug. 13 race.

“It really is truly an honor to have Kamui want to participate in our NASCAR Cup Series method, and we’re thrilled that we could perform with our companions at 23XI Racing to give him a aggressive Camry TRD for the Indianapolis Motor Speedway street system occasion,” stated David Wilson, president of TRD, U.S.A. “Kamui shares the passion for motorsports that all of us at Toyota and TRD, U.S.A. are living each individual working day, so it will be fascinating to present him our NASCAR system with him powering the wheel of one of our TRD Camrys.”

Kobayashi received the 24 Hrs of Le Mans for Toyota in 2021 and hasn’t concluded lessen than third given that 2018. He has six podium finishes in 8 appearances in the legendary endurance race, and his two-car Toyota Gazoo group has received the all round race title the past 5 decades.

In 2021, after profitable Le Mans and the Entire world Endurance Championship title driving for Toyota Gazoo, Kobayashi was named group principal. Toyota Gazoo has two autos entered in the race that starts Saturday as Kobayashi oversees the team’s attempt to win a sixth consecutive title.

Kobayashi started his racing occupation karting in Japan but was found out by Toyota while racing in Europe. He was named one of Toyota’s reserve System Just one drivers and created his debut throughout the 2009 time at the Brazilian Grand Prix. He raced in F1 as a result of 2014 with just one podium complete in 75 vocation starts off.

Next his F1 occupation, Kobayashi returned to Japan and switched to the Supra Formula Sequence, a class he however actively competes in. He has received the Rolex 24 at Daytona two times and was the anchor on an IMSA endurance athletics vehicle team in the United States for two seasons that was shaped by 7-time NASCAR champion Jimmie Johnson.

Kobayashi enjoys racing in the United States, but IMSA’s adoption of new polices to make its top rated class suitable to compete at Le Mans created a conflict of interest between Kobayashi’s Toyota responsibilities and continuing to race in IMSA, the place Toyota is not represented in the top rated class. Toyota does subject a Lexus in a decrease IMSA division, and Kobayashi raced for Vasser Sullivan Racing previous June in Canada to get a come to feel for the GT car or truck.

Lots of consider NASCAR’s Future Gen auto to be pretty equivalent to the GT Lexus sporting activities car or truck that Kobayashi drove in IMSA previous 12 months, and that is his closest practical experience to driving a stock automobile. He will be permitted to check with 23XI at a little monitor in Virginia in advance of the Indianapolis race and expects some time on the simulator.

Possibly way, he isn’t really worried about seat time.

“I believe I am a male who won’t will need substantially follow, to be honest,” the 36-calendar year-old Kobayashi explained to the AP. “I consider the moment we jump in the automobile, we will be Ok in a couple of laps. So I’m not genuinely involved about kind.”

Toyota experienced in the beginning felt jilted when NASCAR blindsided the marketplace very last year by announcing it would bring its new Subsequent Gen auto to centenary Le Mans in a specialized classification that showcases innovation, but the job was with Chevrolet and Hendrick Motorsports. Toyota was the 1st rival NASCAR producer to complain, and NASCAR has considering the fact that attempted to consist of all its associates in this weekend’s celebration and France signed off on keeping the Kobayashi announcement at Le Mans.