“Since starting my professional racing career back in the early 2000s, I’ve always kept a close eye on NASCAR,” said the 2010 Le Mans winner. “What’s more, after teaming up with Jimmie Johnson [at Daytona last year] – one of the heroes of the sport – my respect and appreciation for NASCAR has grown.
“It’s an immensely competitive series with some of the world’s greatest drivers racing wheel-to-wheel, merely centimetres apart. Room for error is minimal, at best. Watkins Glen is a difficult track in any car but given how sensitive and big a NASCAR Cup Series car is, I think this will be an even bigger challenge.”
Rockenfeller has competed in a wide variety of machinery through his successful career, but stockcar racing is set to be the biggest departure of all.
“I’ve been fortunate to race LMP prototypes, DTM, and GTs, but now I’m ready to get my name out there in NASCAR,” he added.
“This is a huge honour for me to be racing the No.77 NationsGuard Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, and I want to say thank you to Spire Motorsports for giving me this opportunity to start a new chapter in my career.”