Daniel Ricciardo 'Would Love to Experience' NASCAR After F1 Career
When the checkered flag is displayed on Daniel Ricciardo’s Formula 1 journey, where is the Australian superstar’s career going to take him next? As it turns out, the answer to that question may be to the United States and NASCAR.
In an interview with Tourism Western Australia, the VCARB (Visa Cash App Racing Bulls) pilot spoke about the future state of his racing career, once the Formula 1 opportunities he’s maintained for the last decade and a half are no longer.
"There's things I would like to try and experience, I don't know, let's say on a competitive level," Ricciardo said in the interview. "It's, you know, I grew up a fan of NASCAR, I'd love to drive a NASCAR [car]. I'd love to drive around Daytona [International Speedway] for example.”
Ex-Formula 1 drivers competing in NASCAR wouldn’t be a new concept, as several drivers throughout the years have traveled to the United States to compete in the NASCAR Cup Series, including Juan Pablo Montoya, Kamui Kobayashi, Kimi Raikkonen, and Jacques Villeneuve, just to name a recent few.
In 2022, when Trackhouse Racing, a NASCAR Cup Series team co-owned by Justin Marks and Grammy-winning recording artist Pitbull, opened its PROJECT91 entry, first for retired Formula 1 pilot Kimi Raikkonen, Marks said Ricciardo was “aware of PROJECT91” and the team’s interest in him, but at the time, the 35-year-old driver was working on securing his future in Formula 1.
A couple of months later, Adam Stern of Sports Business Journal reported that Ricciardo would not be doing a one-off in NASCAR for 2023, but remained focused on growing his brand in the United States, a portion of the world that Formula 1 has zeroed in on in recent seasons.
“Would I like to compete? Yes and no,” said Ricciardo. “But I also know that it’s not what I grew up doing, and I would probably get smoked so like, I don’t know if I need that, but I would love to experience it.”
When this fabled ‘retirement’ comes around for Ricciardo is still pretty much unknown. At this point in time, the Perth, West Australia native doesn’t have a contract attaching him to a spot on the Formula 1 grid in 2025, with his VCARB seat being highly contested between himself and long-time Red Bull Racing reserve driver Liam Lawson.
Whether or not Ricciardo makes it to NASCAR is yet to be seen, but his presence would match a surge of fans from Australia and New Zealand, which have come as a result of Shane Van Gisbergen’s across-the-globe move to pursue NASCAR full-time, bringing along some Australian buddies for various one-off appearances.
JOSEPH SRIGLEY