Dale Earnhardt Jr. was recently spotted at an F1 race in Miami. But even the glamour of F1 couldn’t melt his heart away from the rumble of NASCAR engines. And so does another racer who might be breaking records in F1 but still has his heart set on NASCAR. And no, we are not talking about Kyle Larson showing interest in the open-wheel series. It’s an open-wheel racer at the highest level, expressing his desire to jump into a stock car. While he has never been a part of the sport, his team has been.

Pietro Fittipaldi’s life is a love letter to racing. At 28, the Brazilian-American driver, grandson of Formula 1 legend Emerson Fittipaldi, carries a passion that spans continents and car types. As a Haas F1 reserve driver, he’s no stranger to the pinnacle of motorsport, but his heart also thumps for the raw, roaring world of NASCAR. Four years ago, a tantalizing chance to debut in stock car racing slipped through his fingers. Now, with his career at a crossroads, that dream feels closer than ever. Fittipaldi’s racing roots trace back to his childhood in Miami, Florida.

Pietro Fittipaldi is itching to get into NASCAR

At nine, he was already tearing up karting tracks, his talent undeniable. By 2011, he was competing in the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series, a proving ground for young drivers. Fittipaldi’s early success came fast—third in the 2011 Limited Late Models at Hickory Motor Speedway and a Limited Late Models track championship at Hickory in 2012. These formative years shaped his love for stock cars. “I learned so much from car racing through NASCAR,” he later reflected, a nod to the gritty lessons of his youth. His journey took him to Europe, where he dominated junior formulas. In 2021, Fittipaldi’s IndyCar stint with Dale Coyne Racing, partnered with Rick Ware Racing, brought him tantalizingly close to NASCAR. Rick Ware, a NASCAR Cup Series team owner, saw potential in the young driver.

A road course race seat was nearly his. “Of course, it would be amazing. I got it. It would be really really cool,” Fittipaldi revealed to Frontstretch, “Um, it was a time when I did my first Indy 500 in 2021. Um, it was a Dale Coyne, but with Rick Ware Racing and Rick at the time, uh, had the Cup car. He still has the cup cars. Then he was, there was a small chance of me running. Uh, they needed a driver for like one of the road course races. And he was almost going to put me at the end.” That missed opportunity stung, but it didn’t dim his passion.

“It didn’t happen, but I was super excited to do it, you know, because like, I feel like my roots are NASCAR racing. I learned so much, uh, from car racing through NASCAR. And I’ve always loved not only just doing it in road course, but oval racing too. I absolutely love it.” Fittipaldi’s love for NASCAR, especially oval racing, is rare among F1 drivers. Rick Ware agreed in 2021, “He’s got the talent to compete in NASCAR. His background makes him a natural fit.”

In 2014, he clinched the Protyre Formula Renault Championship, and in 2017, he won the World Series Formula V8 3.5 title, cementing his open-wheel credentials. But Fittipaldi’s versatility set him apart. He raced in the World Endurance Championship, tackled Brazilian stock car racing, and joined IndyCar, debuting at the 2018 Indy 500. A horrific crash that same year at Spa-Francorchamps, where he broke both legs, tested his resolve. Yet he returned, undeterred, proving his resilience.

Now, in 2025, Fittipaldi’s career is buzzing with possibility. He’s eyeing a full-time IndyCar seat, potentially alongside his brother Enzo. But NASCAR remains a burning ambition. With Rick Ware Racing still a player in the Cup Series, a debut feels within reach. The road to NASCAR won’t be easy. Balancing F1 duties and IndyCar commitments is a logistical maze. He ain’t no Kyle Larson, who himself is looking to fulfill his own F1 ambitions.

Yet, Fittipaldi’s heart is set. Four years after his near-miss, the chance to roar onto a NASCAR track, road course, or oval—feels like destiny. If it happens, he’ll race not just for victory, but for the kid in Miami who fell in love with stock cars and never looked back. However, there is a secret that one of the most legendary drivers hid from the world. But now, we all know what could have revolutionized motorsports forever!

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Jeff Gordon could’ve paved the F1 route easily for NASCAR drivers

Jeff Gordon, the NASCAR legend, with four championships and a smile that won millions of fans, came so close to rewriting racing history by jumping to Formula 1. Fresh off three Cup Series titles by 1999, he was on the verge of joining the “best drivers in the world.” On Kevin Harvick’s Happy Hour podcast, F1 journalist Will Buxton dropped a bombshell about a plan that could’ve changed racing forever.

“Jeff was going to come over to Team Cool Green in IndyCar and run a season or two in IndyCar, and Dario [Franchitti] was going to go over to BAR in Formula 1,” Buxton revealed. “The long-term plan was that the lineup for BAR in Formula 1 was going to be Jeff and Dario.” Can you imagine? Gordon, NASCAR’s golden boy, and Franchitti, a three-time Indy 500 champ, as F1 teammates?

Buxton called it “box office,” saying, “That would have broken F1 in America 20, 30 years before it finally broke through with Drive to Survive. You get Jeff Gordon racing in Formula 1 alongside Dario Franchitti—these two great all-time champions out of American open-wheel and stock car racing. And they’re racing as teammates in Formula 1? Boom. Job done. It would have been huge.”  Though Gordon never raced in F1, he got a taste in 2003, swapping rides with Juan Pablo Montoya and driving a Williams FW24 at Indianapolis.

He was so fast that engineers were stunned. But the BAR dream around 1999, when Gordon was at his peak, fell apart. One can’t help but feel the sting of what could’ve been—Gordon and Franchitti taking F1 by storm, sparking an American love affair with the sport decades early. It’s a missed chance that hurts.