Where will Kevin Magnussen rank among the Project 91 NASCAR drivers?

This weekend, Kevin Magnussen will get his first taste of competition in the NASCAR Cup Series, making his debut at the newly constructed 3.4-mile street course on Naval Base Coronado.

He will drive the No. 91 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet, a part-time fourth entry that the organization brings to the track for rare occasions, and only to feature world-class racing drivers.

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2007 Formula 1 World Champion Kimi Raikkonen, 4x Indy 500 winner Helio Castroneves, and of course, three-time Supercars champion Shane van Gisbergen all drove the car at some point over the past four years. SVG used it as a springboard into a full-time career as a NASCAR driver, and is still toppling records on road and street courses to this day.

But how will Magnussen perform on Sunday, and where will it rank among past performances? His father Jan made one Cup start during the 2010 season at Sonoma Raceway, starting 32nd and finishing tenth. So, that’s something to shoot for, but a better benchmark are his fellow Project 91 alumni.

He is the fourth different driver to pilot this special entry, and it will be the sixth Cup race featuring the Project 91 car. Below is the compiled history on how Magnussen’s predecessors handled NASCAR in the Trackhouse No. 91 machine. Just like Magnussen, none of these drivers had ever run a Cup race before joining Trackhouse, but Raikkonen did have some limited NASCAR experience in the lower divisions.

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Kimi Raikkonen — Project 91’s first driver

Watkins Glen 2022: Finished 37th / COTA 2023: Finished 29th

Kimi Raikkonen, No. 91 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet

The 2007 F1 World Champion entered the 2022 NASCAR Cup race at Watkins Glen, qualifying 27th and stating that his main goal was to have fun. He brought his family out for the event, which started in wet conditions. As the track dried, Raikkonen ended up on the preferred strategy and jumped up inside the top ten, reaching as high as eighth before a green-flag pit stop. However, it all went wrong on Lap 44, right before the halfway point of the race. Going through the bus stop chicane while battling in the middle of the pack, he tried to avoid a spinning car, but ended up colliding with another that was taking evasive action as well, sending Raikkonen into the barrier and ending his day with a 37th-place finish.

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Raikkonen came back for more the next spring at COTA — the site of his final win as a Formula 1 driver. He qualified five positions better than his previous start, and thankfully got to run every lap this time. He ran in the midfield for most of the day, but a late-race yellow presented him with an opportunity to roll the dice. He had pitted just before the caution, and so the team kept him out on track, pushing Raikkonen up to fourth place for the restart. What followed was essentially pure chaos, with multiple restarts and lots of contact throughout the pack. Raikkonen faded as the NASCAR regulars pounced on him and everyone else who stayed out, and he ultimately got spun out, but carried on to finish 29th.

Watch: Kimi Räikkönen’s race ends early after crash at Watkins Glen

Shane van Gisbergen — The Kiwi ace who rattled the NASCAR world

Chicago 2023: Finished 1st / Indianapolis RC 2023: Finished 10th

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Shane van Gisbergen, Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet

The undisputed face of Project 91. Those who were aware of SVG from his career in Supercars knew what was likely to unfold when he entered the rain-marred Chicago Street Course race in 2023 — a brand-new track for NASCAR at the time. He qualified third, and stayed near the front. However, SVG actually ended up on the wrong strategy, and was shuffled back to 18th place with about 30 laps to go in the shortened race (due to darkness). Undeterred, he methodically sliced his way through the pack, snatching the lead away from Justin Haley with just a few laps to go. Haley immediately took it back, only for SVG to fire it back up the inside of Haley on entry into Turn 4 in a daring pass at one of the trickier sections of the course. He led just nine laps, but became the first driver in over 60 years to win a NASCAR Cup race on debut.

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That incredible victory had SVG hungry for more, and Trackhouse happily brought him back later that same summer at the Indianapolis Road Course. This was a much more straightforward race, but he was still super solid despite his limited experience. SVG qualified eighth, and finished tenth. He then gave up his career in Supercars to pursue NASCAR full-time with Trackhouse, and has since won a total of seven Cup races — including six of the last seven on road/street courses. He also recently earned his first top five on an oval.

Watch: Kiwi class of the field: Shane van Gisbergen wins at Chicago | Race Rewind

Helio Castroneves — A difficult Daytona 500 debut

2025 Daytona 500: Finished 39th

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Helio Castroneves, Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet

Just before turning 50, the four-time Indianapolis 500 winner decided to take on the other crown jewel of US oval racing, driving a NASCAR stock car for the first time. To be blunt, it was a nightmarish week on track for Helio, mostly due to to just how chaotic modern superspeedway racing can be in NASCAR. He is also the only Project 91 driver to take the car to an oval race, making his debut in NASCAR’s crown jewel event. He was already locked into the 500 due to a new provisional, so he didn’t have to sweat through qualifying. Therefore, he was hoping to use the Duel qualifying race as a race-practice of sorts, but only made it 14 laps before being collected in a crash not of his own making. He then wrecked again while trying to get the wounded car back to the pits.

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He started 41st — last — for the 66th running of the Daytona 500. Unfortunately, he only made it 70 laps into the 200-lap event. Helio had worked his way up to 21st when the field started to stack-up on a restart due to a car near the front that struggled to get going. The No. 91 was one of several cars that got collected, and Helio actually crashed after his Trackhouse teammate Ross Chastain got turned up into his door, ending both of their races. I think it’s safe to say that Helio had the roughest experience of the Project 91 drivers, but he was also the only one who decided to take on NASCAR’s biggest oval race instead of a road/street course event.

Helio Castroneves, Trackhouse Racing Cherolet

Expectations for Kevin Magnussen

#15 BMW M Team WRT BMW M Hybrid V8: Kevin Magnussen

Fresh off an appearance in the 24 Hours of Le Mans with the BMW Hypercar team, the Dane is heading to California for his NASCAR Cup debut. While a win on debut seems unlikely, especially with Van Gisbergen himself in the field, Magnussen is fully capable of out-performing Castroneves and even Raikkonen, due to a few variables. A very big advantage for Magnussen is the fact that this is a new track, much like Chicago was in 2023. That will help level the playing the field immensely as Magnussen and the rest of the field see this track for the very first time. His sports car racing experience could be even more valuable here than his decade of racing in F1 in adjusting to NASCAR. Additionally, as Van Gisbergen’s teammate, he will have complete access to his tools and setup, as well as the man himself for advice.

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Honestly, his father’s 2010 result at Sonoma likely isn’t too far off the mark, and a top ten finish seems doable for the 33-year-old Magnussen. But of course, this is NASCAR, so expect full-contact racing where he’ll have to be vigilant if he wants to stay out of trouble.

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