Kimi Raikkonen’s odds to win first NASCAR race may surprise you

It’s finally Kimi Week; Kimi Raikkonen is set to make his NASCAR Cup Series debut this Sunday afternoon at Watkins Glen International.

After second-year NASCAR Cup Series organization Trackhouse Racing Team promised an exciting announcement back in late May, the announcement itself did not disappoint, with the team confirming the Cup debut of Kimi Raikkonen.

The Justin Marks and Pitbull-owned team announced PROJECT91, which is essentially the addition of a third car used to give international motorsports stars the opportunity to shine at the Cup level.

While they only confirmed this car, the #91 Chevrolet, for one race this year, they did so for this coming Sunday afternoon’s Go Bowling at The Glen at Watkins Glen International, and they confirmed the 2007 Formula 1 world champion as its first driver.

“Kimi Week”, as it has been referred to by many within the NASCAR community, is finally here, and the 21-time Grand Prix winner is seriously about to make his Cup Series debut.

NASCAR is nothing new for Raikkonen, however, as he did compete in both a Truck Series race and an Xfinity Series race at Charlotte Motor Speedway during his two-year hiatus from Formula 1 back in 2011.

And of course, road course racing is nothing new for the Iceman either. In fact, his final Formula 1 win came at Circuit of the Americas, which now hosts an annual Cup Series race — and that race was won this year by one of his new teammates, Ross Chastain.

Here is a full list of the odds for Sunday’s 90-lap race around the eight-turn, 2.454-mile (3.949-kilometer) Watkins Glen, New York road course, courtesy of WynnBET.

NOTE: +425 means a successful $100 bet wins $425 ($525 payout).

• Chase Elliott: +425
• Tyler Reddick: +500
• Kyle Larson: +700
• Ross Chastain: +750
• Austin Cindric: +750
• A.J. Allmendinger: +800
• Daniel Suarez: +900
• Ryan Blaney: +1000
• Chase Briscoe: +1100
• Christopher Bell: +1200
• Martin Truex Jr.: +1200
• Chris(topher) Buescher: +1500
• Denny Hamlin: +1500
• Kyle Busch: +1750
• Kevin Harvick: +1750
• William Byron: +2000
• Joey Logano: +2000
• Alex Bowman: +2250
• Michael McDowell: +2250
• Brad Keselowski: +2500
• Kimi Raikkonen: +3000
• Cole Custer: +7500
• Austin Dillon: +7500
• Erik Jones: +7500
• Bubba Wallace: +7500
• Aric Almirola: +10000
• Harrison Burton: +10000
• Todd Gilliland: +10000
• Justin Haley: +10000
• Ty Dillon: +15000
• Joey Hand: +15000
• Loris Hezemans: +1500
• Daniil Kvyat: +15000
• Corey LaJoie: +15000
• Mike Rockenfeller: +15000
• Ricky Stenhouse Jr.: +15000
• Kyle Tilley: +15000
• Cody Ware: +15000

The one driver omitted from these odds is the driver of the #45 Toyota for 23XI Racing, as Kurt Busch hasn’t announced whether he will return yet. Ty Gibbs has filled in for him the last four weeks as he continues to recover from concussion-like symptoms he suffered following his qualifying crash at Pocono Raceway last month.

Considering the fact that three of the top five finishers from the most recent road course race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway are listed at +7500 or +10000, oddsmakers believe that Raikkonen does have somewhat of a shot at challenging for the victory, even if not it’s nearly as good of a chance as perennial road course contenders such as Chase Elliott, Tyler Reddick, and Kyle Larson have.

While racing a stock car is a lot different than racing an open-wheel Formula 1 car, Raikkonen is set to drive a car for a team more than capable of getting the job done, and he certainly knows how to compete at a high level as well.

As mentioned above, teammate Chastain won the race at Circuit of the Americas back in March. Interestingly, this win was the first of his Cup Series career. Daniel Suarez, his other teammate for this weekend, then earned his first Cup Series win in the next road course race at Sonoma Raceway.

Reddick, whose Richard Childress Racing team has a technical alliance with Trackhouse Racing Team, then earned the first two victories of his career in the next two road course races at Road America and Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Could Kimi Raikkonen keep the trend alive?

You almost have to question if perhaps he should be listed a little bit higher, considering the dropoff from him (+3000) to the drivers right below him (+7500). It’s almost like he’s at the bottom of the top tier.

Does he really have a worse chance of winning than the 20 drivers listed ahead of him, many of whom haven’t exactly shown a ton of strength at tracks with both left and right turns in the past?

The Go Bowling at The Glen is set to be broadcast live on USA Network beginning at 3:00 p.m. ET this Sunday, August 21, so begin a free trial of FuboTV now!