Nearly two years after stating his intentions to compete in a NASCAR event as a part of his bucket list, Daniil Kvyat’s dream is set to become a reality as he will be joining Team Hezeberg to pilot the No. 26 Toyota TRD Camry for his first Cup Series career start at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course scheduled for Sunday, July 31.
The 28-year-old Kvyat from Ufa, Russia, comes into NASCAR with an extensive resume in motorsports competition that includes 110 career starts in Formula One and winning the 2013 GP3 Series championship. He is set to become third competitor to compete for Team Hezeberg, a newly formed NASCAR Cup Series that debuted this season and was formed by former NASCAR Whelen Euro Series champion Loris Hezemans and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series owner/driver Josh Reaume. Former F1 driver Jacques Villeneuve and reigning two-time Whelen Euro Series champion Loris Hezemans have made starts for the part-time team this season.
“I’m looking forward to being successful in this form of motorsport and I hope to contend for wins and championships in the future,” Kvyat said in a released statement. “I can’t thank NASCAR, Josh Reaume, Toine Hezemans, Ernst Berg, and everybody at Team Hezeberg enough for the opportunity. The guys at the shop have been working tirelessly to prepare machine and myself for this experience. It will be my first time at Indianapolis, and I am looking forward to seeing it in person. From what I have seen on video, Indianapolis is a challenging circuit, but I’m looking forward to that challenge, along with competing in the NASCAR Cup Series.”
I’m very happy to be able to make my NASCAR Cup Series debut at Indianapolis,” Kvyat added. “I have always been passionate about racing in NASCAR, the top form of motorsport in the United States. NASCAR has always been intriguing to me, as it is a pure form of motorsport to me.”
Winning in his professional debut in 2005 and competing in local events in Russia before relocating to Italy two years later to pursue a racing career, Kvyat began to ascend towards the European racing ladder as he campaigned in Formula BMW, Toyota Racing Series and Formula Renault before competing in the GP3 Championship region in 2013, where he went on to win the championship.
In 2014, Kvyat embarked in his first full-time campaign in Formula One for Scuderia Toro Rosso. He finished ninth in his debut during the season-opening Australian Grand Prix at Albert Park Grand Prix Circuit and became the youngest-points scorer in F1 competition at age 19. He went on to record four additional top-10 points-paying results before finishing in 15th place in the drivers’ standings with eight points. The 2015 season marked Kvyat’s career-best season in F1 competition as he was promoted to drive for Infiniti Red Bull Racing. He earned his first podium result after finishing in second place in the Hungarian Grand Prix at Hungaroring along with a total of 14 top-10 results throughout the 19-race schedule before finishing in seventh place in the final standings with 95 points.
From 2016 to 2020, except for 2018, Kvyat remained in Formula One as he competed for Red Bull Racing and Toro Rosso that was rebranded to AlphaTauri in 2020. During the five-year span, he earned two additional podiums in F1: a third-place finish during the 2016 Chinese Grand Prix and another third-place result during the 2019 German Grand Prix. Following his release from AlphaTauri at the conclusion of the 2020 season, Kvyat spend the 2021 F1 season as a reserve driver for the Alpine F1 Team. He was initially scheduled to compete in the FIA World Endurance Championship for G-Drive Racing in the LMP2 class, but the team withdrew in response to conditions introduced by the FIA amid the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Kvyat is set to compete alongside Loris Hezemans, who will be piloting the No. 27 Team Hezeberg entry, this weekend at Indy.
“Daniil is a very talented driver with an amazing amount of open wheel experience,” Josh Reaume, co-owner of Team Hezeberg, said. “In my opinion, NASCAR is a great spot for Daniil to end up at, especially with the Next-Gen’s capabilities throughout many styles of racing. I’m looking forward to being a part of Daniil’s transition to NASCAR, and helping him however I possibly can.”
Kvyat’s debut in the NASCAR Cup Series at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course is scheduled to occur on Sunday, July 31, with the event’s coverage to commence at 2:30 p.m. ET on NBC.
