Jenson Button: “The revenge is enjoyable.”
F1 champion Jenson Button has just completed his first NASCAR race. The driver raced at Circuit of the Americas, a track he’s familiar with from his days of F1 competition.
But, the car and the style of racing isn’t something he’s familiar with, at all. To the point that on the first day, Button needed help over the radio with how to start the car.
On Sunday, Button started the race in 24th. And on the first lap, he went backwards in a hurry. The driver was initially flustered with the style of racing even taking a door from fellow open-wheeler Kimi Raikkonen.
Having fenders means that when drivers get alongside, they stay there and claim the corner. If you turn in to defend, they have a front bumper (not a wing) to use as a told to push you off line. That’s the exact opposite of most road racing divisions, where the etiquette is typically to have the nose in the drivers view to claim the corner.
After Button figured that out, he began using the fenders himself. And of the road racing ringers, Button performed the best, finishing 18th.
COTA Race Results: March 26, 2023 (NASCAR Cup Series)
Jenson Button comments after his first NASCAR race
“It was an emotional roller-coaster,” Button said.
“The first stint was really bad. It was embarrassing for me. I was just like, ‘Everyone go. I just need to drive and find a rhythm.’ I’ve never gone through a corner too wide so often. And trying to place my car in the right place, I just got it wrong every time.”
“You get to turn one and everyone’s in the way and people are braking later than me and they just hit a car and use that to slow down,” Button told Bob Pockrass.
“I have to say I enjoyed about 60 percent of the race, 40 percent of it felt a bit silly, the amount we were hitting each other.”
“In turn one, I would have an inch overlap and get whacked, luckily it didn’t spin me around and on the exit I gave them a big whack back. The revenge is enjoyable but there’s points when it feels that we could do better. The action is amazing, don’t get me wrong.”
NASCAR racing etiquette
“And I have to give it to these guys, the first 10 laps they just destroyed me, left me standing. Every time I was in a corner I had someone overtaking me and I was like, ‘This just feels wrong’.”
“Normally when I race, if I go into a corner a little bit slower, nobody is going to drive on the outside of me because they won’t get there but in a Cup car you can.”
“So they’ll go on the outside, put a wheel inside for the next turn and then just push you off so you have to give them room.”
“I took a while to learn the racecraft, I haven’t raced for three years either and I’ve never hit a car, not intentionally.”
Daniel Suarez runs into Alex Bowman after COTA race (Video)
