Rockenfeller To Contest NASCAR Cup Races At Watkins Glen & Charlotte

Le Mans and Rolex 24 Hours overall winner and 2013 DTM Champion Mike Rockenfeller is looking to be the first European-born winner of a NASCAR Cup race since Mario Andretti in 1967 as he joins Spire Motorsports to campaign the team’s #77 NationsGuard Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 in the August 21 Go Bowling at the Glen at Watkins Glen International and the October 9 Bank of America ROVAL 400 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

“Since starting my professional racing career back in the early 2000s, I’ve always kept a close eye on NASCAR,” said Rockenfeller. “What’s more, after teaming up with Jimmie Johnson – 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 centimeters 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.

“I’ve been fortunate to race LMP prototypes, DTM, and GTs, but now I’m ready to get my name out there in NASCAR. This is a huge honor for me to be racing the #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.”

Rockenfeller underscored his versatility by recording consecutive top-three finishes for Chevrolet at the Rolex 24 of Daytona and the 12 Hours of Sebring from 2015 to 2019 in IMSA Sportscar aboard a legendary C7.R.

While Rockenfeller has yet to make laps at the ROVAL, his accomplishments at Watkins Glen include a third-place overall effort in the 2006 Sahlen’s Six Hours at the Glen and a sixth-place finish in 2022 for Ally/Action Express Racing where he shared the cockpit with Johnson and Japanese driver Kamui Kobayashi.

“Attracting world-class talent like Mike Rockenfeller is such an honor for Spire Motorsports,” said Spire Motorsports President Bill Anthony. “Mike is a talented, globally-accomplished driver and we’re thrilled to introduce him to NASCAR. We’ve invested in getting Mike up to speed quickly through the Driver Familiarization Test and our partners at Chevrolet have generously offered simulation time for him. Everyone at Spire Motorsports is motivated and committed to providing Mike with a great effort for Watkins Glen and the Charlotte ROVAL.”