Jenson Button is to contest three NASCAR Cup Series races this year, including the event at COTA later this month where he will be up against another F1 world champion, Kimi Raikkonen.

Following his debut at the Circuit of the Americas on March 26, he will compete in the inaugural Chicago Street Race on July 2 and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course on August 13.

The 2009 world champion will be at the wheel of the No. 15 Mobil 1 Ford Mustang of Rick Ware Racing.

"I won the world championship with Mobil 1, and 14 of my 15 wins in Formula One were with Mobil 1, as well as winning the Super GT championship with them," said Button in a statement about as corporate as one can get. "We've had a really close relationship over the years and I can't think of a better partner."

"Obviously, racing a Cup Series car is very different than what I'm used to," he added. "It's a lot heavier with a lot less power and basically no downforce. It's got a sequential gearbox where you need to blip the throttle, so there's lots of stuff to learn in a very short space of time.

"But I just get excited about that new challenge, and when I throw myself into something, I am 100 percent in.

"I'm not just doing it for fun in some one-off," he insisted. "I want to be competitive, and I know that to be competitive, it's going to take a bit of time. That's why doing these three races works very well this season."

Following his retirement from F1 in 2017, Button spent time in the Japanese Super GT Series' GT500 class, winning the 2018 championship, as well as contesting rounds of the World Endurance Championship, including the Le Mans 24 Hours.

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READERS COMMENTS

1. Posted by Tardis40, 13/03/2023 18:05

"I don't see Button's driving style as being what Nascar requires. Jensen is clean and tidy. In Nascar you get your elbows out and shove the other cars out of the way."

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2. Posted by kenji, 12/03/2023 0:58

"Haha...metaphorically speaking?"

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3. Posted by elsiebc, 11/03/2023 18:41

"@ Editor

I wasn't trying to infer that they (NASCAR) were looking to poach fans from their competition but rather just support their own numbers. It's what IMSA does with the Rolex 24, get's drivers from other disciplines and from the world of celebrity. They don't court them for the drivers, they court them for the drivers' fans. And that 8.17 would feel paltry when you were used to 10+. When you are used to steak but are eating hamburgers (from Angus, beef no less) all that concerns you is the steak, not the peanut butter and jelly somebody else is eating.

"

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4. Posted by Editor, 10/03/2023 16:28

"@ elsiebc

As we recently reported: "Where F1 might want to give IndyCar a run for its money is TV viewership, with the former averaging 1.21 million viewers per race last season in the US and the latter 1.3 million.

However, despite the constant proclamations that F1 is the big one and enjoying an unprecedented boom, both pale into insignificance compared to NASCAR.

The recent Daytona 500 saw 8.17 viewers tune in, broadcasters lamenting that though it peaked at 10.1 million, this was 8% down on 2022 and the third lowest audience in the event's TV history."

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5. Posted by elsiebc, 10/03/2023 15:13

"It's beginning to make sense. Ten or so years ago NASCAR was at it's record highs. Now it struggles to fill stands but F1 in the States has been "driven" to historic heights so NASCAR is banking on celebrity F1 drives to help sell a couple tickets."

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Button to contest three NASCAR races

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