Formula 1 champion Jenson Button will run in three NASCAR Cup Series in 2023
Another Formula 1 champion will soon be entering the NASCAR Cup Series.
Jenson Button, who took home the 2009 Formula 1 world championship and has myriad other successful experiences in motorsports to his name, will run in three NASCAR Cup Series races in 2023.
He’ll make his debut at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, on March 26. He’ll then race in the inaugural and historic Chicago Street Race on July 2, and then finish up the three-race slate on Aug. 13 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course.
The news comes a day after TrackHouse Racing announced it would have Kimi Räikkönen run in its 91 Chevy Camaro at COTA. Räikkönen won a Formula 1 championship in 2007 and made his NASCAR Cup Series debut last season.
Button will be driving in the No. 15 Ford Mustang for Rick Ware Racing in those three races. Mobil 1 will be his primary sponsor.
“Obviously, racing a Cup car is very different than what I’m used to,” Button said in a release. He added, “But I just get excited about that new challenge, and when I throw myself into something, I am 100% in.”
Button made quite the name for himself in the F1 ranks. The 43-year-old driver has notched 15 grands prix in 306 career starts. His final start came in 2017, and his last full-time F1 season was 2016.
He’s since raced in a variety of series. Among them: the Super GT Series and the FIA World Endurance Championship.
Button is also part of the Garage 56 three-driver lineup, which is taking a slightly modified Cup Series car to this year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans on June 10-11 at Circuit de la Sarthe. The car was unveiled the weekend of the Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway.
