Le Mans Winner Kamui Kobayashi to Make NASCAR Cup Debut With 23XI

Over the last few years, NASCAR's Cup Series has attracted a lot interest from the best drivers of other disciplines. Kimi Raikkonen, Jenson Button, Travis Pastrana, and Jordan Taylor have all very recently made Cup Series debuts, and now, Kamui Kobayashi is joining the list. The Le Mans-victor and two-time World Endurance Championship (WEC) title-winner will run the August 13 Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course race in a one-off entry with 23XI racing.

Kobayashi will be just the second Japanese driver to start a Cup Series race after Hideo Fukuyama, and the first to do so in a Toyota. This also marks unusually large involvement in NASCAR from Toyota corporate in Japan, as the brand's current stock-car program is very much a TRD U.S.A. project.

"I think NASCAR is kind of like baseball. It's something different in the culture of motorsports compared to Japan and Europe, and it's NASCAR, and as a driver, it's an American dream," Kobayashi said in a statement. "I was lucky as I was able to race in IMSA the last couple of years. It's a different way of racing, but I think as racing technology, it's really at a high level. I really appreciate this opportunity from TRD, U.S.A., and of course, Toyota Motor North America and Toyota Gazoo Racing."

Kobayashi is currently part of the Toyota Gazoo Racing WEC both as team principal and driver of the #7 GR010 Hypercar. He's ran with Toyota in WEC since 2016, notching up 14 wins in that period, setting the lap record at Le Mans with a stunning 3:14.791 in 2017. Kobayashi has also become something of a racing ambassador for Toyota, making an appearance in the AIM Vasser-Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3 in the GTD Pro class for IMSA's visit to Mosport last year.

"I like this type of racing because you bump each other all the time, and you have to be very sharp on the start, otherwise, you lose all the momentum, and you’re going backwards, and you have no chance," he added. "I think the way they race is different, but I like it because I think this is something the driver brings instead of the car bringing something."

Right now, he's got two days of simulator work planned, and hopes to get some time in a real Next-Gen car before arriving at Indy in August. Kobayashi is a fast driver, and with a good 23XI car, don't be surprised to see him give some of the Cup Series regulars a hard time.

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