It took Mattias EkstrÃÂöm mere minutes to prove he could handle a stock car. The #83 Red Bull Toyotas weight and horsepower quickly became non-issues after EkstrÃÂöm logged a few laps in a support role during testing at Virginia International Raceway. ‘We were worried about getting him up to speed in a day,’ said Jay Frye, Red Bull Racing Teams vice president and general manager. ‘He was up to speed in an hour ‘ less than an hour. Hes a phenomenal talent.’ For that, EkstrÃÂöms dream of driving in Americas premier form of motorsports has come true. With the blessing of Audi, Red Bull Racing Team announced Tuesday that the Red Bull driver and two-time DTM champion will pilot the #83 in the June 18-20 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series event at Infineon Raceway. Hell take over the seat from Casey Mears, who has been filling in for Brian Vickers while Vickers recovers from blood clots. ‘First of all, Id like to express my sincere thanks ‘ to Red Bull for inviting a Swede with zero NASCAR experience to compete in the United States and to Audi for the possibility and approval that enable me to fulfill this dream,’ said EkstrÃÂöm, 31, whose first name is pronounced Mat-tee-us. Its always nice to try something new. At the test I felt really at home. So now going to a race will be very nice. The biggest difficulty will be to race with 42 other cars. Here (in DTM), we have 18. Im sure it will be interesting and Im really looking forward to the experience.’ EkstrÃÂöm, a Red Bull-backed driver for the past nine years, claimed his first victory of 2010 in the second round of the DTM Championship on May 23 in Valencia, Spain. The Audi factory driver currently sits fourth in the DTM standings and has 14 career victories. In addition to his success in the Germany-based touring car series ‘ only twice in nine seasons has he finished outside the top five ‘ EkstrÃÂöm has proven his versatility and class in other motorsports disciplines. Hes an active rally racer and three times has won the individual title at the Race of Champions.(Red Bull Racing)(6-7-2010)
