Kimi Raikkonen is testing a Sprint Cup Series car for the first time on Tuesday at Virginia International Raceway as he continues to immerse into his stock car foray.
The Finn is driving Robby Gordon's No. 7 Dodge at one of the preferred venues for NASCAR teams to test ahead of road course events, as preparations are already under way for next month's race at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, Calif. Via Twitter, Gordon confirmed the 2007 Formula 1 World Champion is running his car on a first day of testing, while he plans to be behind the wheel on Wednesday.
"Just left for Mexico City! Big meetings for speed energy," wrote Gordon referring to his energy drink business. "Testing at ViR tomorrow, Iceman in car today. Trying to give him some speed!"
Although no official announcement has been made yet by Raikkonen or his team, the Finn is on the preliminary entry list issued Monday by NASCAR for next Saturday's Nationwide Series event at Charlotte Motor Speedway, where he is named as the driver for the No. 87 NEMCO Motorsports Toyota, which is being prepared by Kyle Busch Motorsports.
Last Friday the Finn was non-committal when asked by reporters about his future plans in NASCAR, although moves for his next step were well under way already.