NASCAR COTA results: Raikkonen and Button return as Reddick roars

Graham Shaw
Saturday 25 March 2023 07:00 - Updated: 10:16

F1 world champions Kimi Raikkonen and Jenson Button returned to competitive action on track at NASCAR’s Cup series race at Circuit of the Americas (COTA) on Friday.

The pair were out on track in Austin in practice for Sunday’s EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix, taking on some of the greats of the iconic Stateside series.

Button will take in three NASCAR races this year (Chicago and Indianapolis still to come) and he was P28 in his first practice effort. He was 1.770 seconds off the pace set by Tyler Reddick at the front of the field.

Button of course is also part of NASCAR's Garage 56 entry for this year's Le Mans classic in June.

This is not the first dance meanwhile for Raikkonen in NASCAR with the Finn having made his debut at Watkins Glen in 2022. He was behind Button on Friday as he finished P32 - just over 2 seconds behind Reddick.

The pair though were still ahead of Cup Series legend and seven-time champion Jimmie Johnson, who was P36 on Friday as he made his eagerly-awaited return.

Qualifying for Sunday’s 68-lap race will take place on Saturday at 11.30am Eastern Time (1530 UK, 1630 CET).

There is also further F1 interest in Sunday's race, with Haas team principal and 'Drive to Survive' legend Guenther Steiner joining the FOX commentary booth.

NASCAR Cup Series COTA Results - Practice, Friday March 24

1. Tyler Reddick - 132.016

2. Kyle Larson - 132.544

3. Ross Chastain -132.685

4. Kyle Busch - 132.717

5. Daniel Suarez - 132.770

6. Michael McDowell - 132.774

7. Austin Cindric - 132.798

8. Bubba Wallace - 132.809

9. Joey Logano - 132.847

10. Jordan Taylor - 132.851

11. Ty Gibbs - 132.852

12. Ryan Blaney - 132.924

13. Ricky Stenhouse Jr - 132.962

14. Erik Jones - 132.995

15. Harrison Burton - 133.021

16. William Byron - 133.029

17. Christopher Bell - 133.079

18. AJ Allmendinger - 133.102

19. Denny Hamlin - 133.131

20. Alex Bowman - 133.265

21. Martin Truex Jr - 133.312

22. Kevin Harvick - 133.377

23. Ryan Preece - 133.449

24. Brad Keselowski - 133.584

25. Noah Gragson - 133.636

26. Chase Briscoe - 133.684

27. Todd Gilliland - 133.694

28. Jenson Button - 133.786

29. Ty Dillon - 133.795

30. Austin Dillon - 134.045

31. Chris Buescher - 134.168

32. Kimi Raikkonen - 134.291

33. Corey LaJoie - 134.328

34. Justin Haley - 134.365

35. Aric Almirola - 134.512

36. Jimmie Johnson - 134.794

37. Josh Bilicki - 135.473

38. Cody Ware - 136.253

39. Conor Daly - 136.257