This weekend at the Japanese Grand Prix, eight-time Formula 1 grand prix winner Daniel Ricciardo said that he does not believe that he will have a ride in Formula 1 in 2023. Ricciardo has been at the top of NASCAR fans' wish list for Project 91 since Trackhouse owner Justin Marks first announced the program, which debuted with former Formula 1 World Champion Kimi Raikkonen at Watkins Glen. But what about an outright move to NASCAR for Ricciardo, a lifetime admirer of Dale Earnhardt? It has been done before. In 2007, Juan Pablo Montoya left F1 for NASCAR and called the American series home for seven years driving for Chip Ganassi Racing. Montoya was, in my opinion, more successful than many people give him credit for in a time when NASCAR only had two road courses on its schedule. Today, Ricciardo would benefit from increased amount of road courses NASCAR visits. So, does a move make sense? Could it actually happen? Those two questions may have different answers.

Ricciardo would likely be successful in NASCAR, Toyota needs to make a statement move to make up for the recent losses of Kyle Busch, KBM, Chandler Smith and Brandon Jones, and Joe Gibbs Racing likely has open Xfinity Series seats to let Ricciardo get acclimated to stockcars for a year before an eventual move to the Cup Series. However, Ricciardo does not seem very comfortable with the idea of racing on ovals. Meanwhile, Romain Grosjean has expressed his belief that Ricciardo should join himself and fellow F1 alums Marcus Ericsson, Alexander Rossi, and Takuma Sato in IndyCar, where there are fewer ovals and likely a shorter learning curve with the cars.

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