Raikkonen to Pay $100,000 Per Race in NASCAR

Until now, Finnish driver Kimi Raikkonen was used to being paid big money to drive a car, either in Formula 1 or in the World Rally Championship. When it comes to NASCAR however, or at least his first steps in his new career in stock car racing on American soil, the 2007 F1 champion will have to take money out of his own pocket to make the grid.

According to Canada's Rue Frontenac, cited by the GMM news agency, Raikkonen will pay a reportedly $100,000 per race in the Truck Series this year.

The same report shows that Kyle Busch, the Truck Series team owner that agreed to work with Raikkonen for selected races in 2011, has actually never met the Finnish driver in person, but will “entrust one of his excellent trucks” to him “in exchange for a $100,000 cheque at every race.”

Although Raikkonen was initially believed to make his Truck debut this year with his own ICE1 Racing entry, backed by a private investor, the 31-year old announced last weekend that he has reached a deal with Kyle Busch to drive one of his cars for 3 to 5 Truck races this season. The first of his races in the series will take place on May 20, at Charlotte.

Rue Frontenac also reports that this “let me bring money to race” scheme agreed upon by Raikkonen has the aim of “raising interest and get a sponsorship budget for Nationwide and possibly the (premier) Sprint Cup.” The Finn has already started testing for Kyle Busch's team at the Gresham half-mile track on Monday.

“Raikkonen shopped around for a drive with a number of teams and we won the war,” explained Busch the way Raikkonen's screening process happened in recent weeks.