Jenson Button wants to lure Daniel Ricciardo to NASCAR

This past weekend, Jenson Button had the second NASCAR race of his career, held at the new city circuit in Chicago. Everything started quite well, in qualifying he showed an 8th place among 37 participants, but the race, which took place in difficult conditions on a drying track after rain, was less successful for him.

In the first stage, Button remained confident in the top ten and battled on par with the top NASCAR masters, but when it was necessary to switch to slicks, Jenson’s Ford Mustang flipped as it entered the pit lane on lap 23 . . This rolled him back to 24th position and it was already difficult to break into the front.

As a result, the 2009 world champion finished 21st and victory went to New Zealander Shane Van Gisbergen, although this was his debut in the US series. But he is a seasoned professional who has won the Australian Supercars Touring Car Championship three times.

“The 8th time in qualifying is a good result, I’m quite happy,” said Jenson of the most successful part of the weekend. “Had my attempt in the second qualifying session gone smoothly, I could have climbed a few more positions, even if I barely made it into the top three.”

When Jenson started from the top ten, he was naturally hoping for a better result, especially on the city circuit, where he is more used to drivers than many of his rivals, and understands there is a chance of success. Van Gisbergen’s victory also proves this – by the way, this is the first such success by a NASCAR debutant in six decades!

“I think Shane has done a really good job,” said Button. “He was the first driver of such a car, but he has a lot of experience racing on street circuits behind the wheel of such a heavy equipment. I think he clearly had to show good speed.

However, after his first NASCAR race at the COTA circuit in Austin and the Le Mans marathon, which he spent behind the wheel of a Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 stock car, Button looked pretty good in Chicago as well and gained useful experience . In August he has another race, this time at the Indianapolis autodrome road circuit.

Now he has an idea to lure Daniel Ricciardo to NASCAR as well: “My former rival friends cheer for me when I compete in NASCAR. Looks like they want to try out this series as well. As we all know, Daniel Ricciardo is a big fan of hers. Maybe we can put him behind the wheel of such a car for the next two years.

This is a very interesting challenge, because I never thought I would get such an opportunity. I think all drivers competing in the highest categories of motorsport would like to take the opportunity to try out other championships.

This also applies to Formula 1 drivers. They are all ready to race in Le Mans, IndyCar or NASCAR. And I have already had such an honor.