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Jenson Button's recent involvement in the NASCAR world has certainly stirred up interest in the sport among people who did not necessarily have it on their radars. The former Brawn GP driver and 2009 F1 World Champion has had a few different tastes in NASCAR in his short time within the sport.
The 43-year-old made his debut in stock car racing at the Circuit of the Americas earlier this season. Driving in a race that also featured another F1 World Champion in the form of Kimi Raikkonen, both drivers brought a lot of eyeballs to the race.
While the actual racing product in Austin, Texas, on Sunday might not have been the best, reactions from the global motorsports community were enough to catapult NASCAR into the limelight.
Part-time Xfinity Series driver and NBC Sports pit reporter Parker Kligerman embodied the feelings of motorsport fans from around the world as he met Jenson Button for the first time in Austin.
He said (via givemesport.com):
"When I saw Jenson at COTA, I walked up and shook his hand and said, 'Man, just so cool. I can't believe this.'"
Jenson Button is due to race in the highest echelon of stock car racing once again this season at the Indianapolis Road Course in August, along with another former F1 driver, Kamui Kobayashi, also in the field.
Shane van Gisbergen's fellow V8 Supercar driver, Brodie Kostecki, will also be seen in his debut in a few weeks' time.
NASCAR Xfinity Series driver Parker Kligerman on the challenges Jenson Button would've faced transitioning from F1 to NASCAR
Part-time Xfinity Series driver and NBC Sports pit reporter Parker Kligerman also touched upon how Jenson Button might have found the switch from lightweight open-wheeled F1 cars to heavy, full-bodied stock cars.
The 32-year-old elaborated on the same and said:
"It is not an easy thing, despite everything Jenson has known in driving, like Formula One and being an F1 world champion. I love that it's on his radar, I think he's done a great job. I think the speed he showed was immense and I know he had a little extra time in that Garage 56 car but that was such a different vehicle from what he's doing in the Cup Series on a race weekend."
With Kligerman's own experience behind the wheel of a stock car, he is certainly one person who can explain the nuances of the sport better than someone who is not behind the wheel.
