Kamui Kobayashi in the spotlight, ready for Cup Series debut with 23XI at Indy

Kamui Kobayashi hasn't turned a lap yet in NASCAR Cup Series competition, but he's already found a home with 23XI Racing. The Japanese endurance-racing star shadowed the team for the inaugural Chicago Street Race weekend and has already made multiple visits to the Mooresville, North Carolina, shop to become better acquainted with the stock-car operations. But there was one finishing touch needed to help make him look the part. When asked in a video teleconference earlier this week how the team co-owned by NBA legend Michael Jordan and NASCAR veteran Denny Hamlin had made him feel welcome, Kobayashi turned the screen and lifted his feet into view, revealing a new release -- the Air Jordan 1 Retro High OG in neutral 'washed black' hues. Now properly shoed, Kobayashi is gearing up for his Cup Series debut in Sunday's Verizon 200 at the Brickyard at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course (2:30 p.m. ET, NBC, IMS Radio, SiriusXM, NBC Sports App). Drivers from seven countries will compete in this weekend's event, and Kobayashi will be the first Japanese driver to wheel a Toyota in Cup Series competition, taking the reins of 23XI's No. 67 TRD Camry. RELATED: Weekend schedule | Indianapolis 101 The deal was announced in June at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, where NASCAR and Hendrick Motorsports raced as the Garage 56 entrant, and where Kobayashi competed for the overall crown for Toyota Gazoo Racing in the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) Hypercar class. The 36-year-old driver has experience in formula cars and is a WEC champion twice over, but the chance to drive in NASCAR's top series has been a long-sought wish. "I was asking so many times, like back three, four years ago," Kobayashi said. "I asked to drive the simulator with NASCAR, and many times asked to get an opportunity. It was never really happening, but somehow this time, it's now an opportunity. As you know, I think now many global drivers are trying NASCAR and they've been quite successful." Shane van Gisbergen showed how well standouts from international motorsports disciplines could fare, and the New Zealander dazzled the stock-car crowd in winning the Chicago race with Trackhouse Racing his first time out. SVG's return for Indy to join the likes of Jenson Button, Brodie Kostecki, Mike Rockenfeller and Kobayashi in the field has made this weekend's event feel like a showcase. 23XI Racing team president Steve Lauletta said his organization is happy to contribute to the world-class feel, adding Kobayashi to its roster for the event alongside Tyler Reddick and Bubba Wallace. "Well, it is the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, right? One of, if not the most iconic race tracks in the world, certainly on that short list, so you would expect it to have that level of interest," Lauletta told NASCAR.com. "Then when you throw some of these global motorsports stars into the mix, it definitely adds more interest, shines a brighter light on the sport, which we all want to see happen, and I think it's great that we could be part of that." [caption id="attachment_403026" align="aligncenter" width="719"] Chris Graythen | Getty Images[/caption] *** Recent months have been busy for Kobayashi, ever since Toyota placed its first calls to 23XI to gauge the team's interest. His participation in team activities in July at Chicago was in-depth -- walking the track, sitting in on debriefs, adding his insights based on his experience with wet-weather driving and how to apply it to Cup Series cars. The weekend after Chicago, Kobayashi made his way to Italy to lead the No. 7 Toyota team to victory in the WEC's 6 Hours of Monza. He was back stateside soon thereafter to resume his NASCAR immersion. "That's just been his dedication to do it the right way," Lauletta says. "It's been really fun to watch." MORE: Paint Scheme Preview: Indianapolis The preparation included a trip to Virginia International Raceway on July 19, when Kobayashi made his first Next Gen laps in a special test. Reddick, the defending Indy Road Course winner and his 23XI teammate, accompanied the team to provide feedback and pointers. For Reddick, it was light-duty work. "It didn't take long at all," Reddick told NASCAR.com, noting how soon Kobayashi found speed. "I was really impressed, just by how quickly he took to adjusting to the car. I mean, it was Lap 3 running pretty much what we thought the pace was going to be for the weekend, and then he just continued to shave seconds off that as we went. So just really impressed by his car control, his feel for the limit of this car, of the tire." Finding a rhythm with a heavier car is one aspect of Kobayashi's learning curve, but another is the full-contact driving style that he can expect -- especially on late-race restarts, and especially as the field funnels into the tight first turn with momentum from the main straightaway. Visiting drivers experienced that in March at Circuit of The Americas, and IMSA champion Jordan Taylor was among those who said "The aggression definitely caught me off guard. I think I had more contact today in one race than probably my entire career combined." Reddick was able to steer clear of the late-race chaos at COTA to score the win. Part of his work with Kobayashi has been to prepare him for the sometimes-bruising nature of NASCAR road-course racing. Kobayashi seems to grasp it, saying, "It's big drama every time." "We've been going over that some, and that will continue to be a topic as we get closer," Reddick said. "Certainly it's a little bit more chaotic, drivers are just more aggressive, and there's less penalty for contact over here in comparison to what he's used to doing. These cars just don't really take a lot of damage, when you have door-to-door, bumper-to-bumper contact. So just kind of walking him through that, getting him an understanding of that, will be important, but he kind of got to get a taste of how chaotic it can be in Chicago." The rest of the prep, Kobayashi says, boils down to studying the procedurals. "Just, I need to do the best I can do," he said. "It's just small details which are different, like pit-lane speeds, obviously, the restarts -- every little detail that might be a problem for me, but apart from that, I'm pretty confident." *** 23XI Racing has fielded the No. 67 car in just one other race, placing action-sports dynamo Travis Pastrana in the seat for his year's Daytona 500. Pastrana had just one full season of Xfinity Series competition 10 years ago but found his way to an 11th-place finish in his Cup Series debut. The result was one positive aspect, but Lauletta said Pastrana's participation brought a new audience to the NASCAR world. A similar expectation stems from Kobayashi's first start, which he said has stirred up interest back in his home country. WATCH: The Preview Show: Predicting Indy outcomes David Wilson, Toyota Racing Development (TRD) USA president, said at the unveiling of the No. 67 effort at Le Mans that "we are absolutely open to using this as a platform to bring in other drivers on occasion." He cautioned, however, that the challenge remained in doing it the right way. Trackhouse Racing's Project 91 initiative has taken a measured approach to highlighting international stars, and Sunday's race will mark just its fourth start in two seasons -- two for van Gisbergen and two for former F1 star Kimi Räikkönen. Lauletta said 23XI will also pick its spots where it makes the most sense. "We think not only does it help us on the track because we're learning things, particularly the races that we're picking that will help our core programs of the 23 and the 45, it's also helping us as a brand to kind of build our fan base and build our reach," Lauletta says. "And so, when opportunities come up in the future, we don't want to do it too often where we do start to take our eye off the ball of our two full-time championship-fighting efforts and race-winning efforts, but when an opportunity for those two things of on-track competition and learning and building our brand come about, we certainly now we're comfortable enough that we have the infrastructure and the people that we can react." Having that support system in place is one matter; another is having the latest re-issue Air Jordan high-tops at the ready as a finishing touch. "Just having gifts to welcome him to our team and have him feel like this is an important endeavor for us, we want them to feel like they're part of the family," Lauletta says. "So he's been a joy, great to have around and just a professional in every way." That footwear bears Jordan's name, but not his autograph. Not yet, anyway. "I'm waiting for him to sign my shoes," says Kobayashi, ready for his first meeting with his team co-owner and his first Cup Series start. [caption id="attachment_403027" align="aligncenter" width="1300"] Chris Graythen | Getty Images[/caption]