Mattias Ekström leaves strong impression

Mattias Ekström learned that if you are a foreigner and taking the NASCAR regulars to school they will just crash you out

Bob Heathcote/AR1.com

Mattias Ekström left a strong impression in his first race of the NASCAR series at Sonoma (U.S. state of California). After a problem in qualifying the Audi "factory" driver in the race pushed forward into the group of front runners from grid position 38 with fast lap times and a good strategy of the Red Bull Racing USA team.

The Swede even led the race some of the time. With a place among the top ten in sight, Ekström was turned around by a rival just before the end of the race (which happens to all foreigners unless you are Danica Patrick where the orders come down from on high to treat her with kid gloves), though. A recovery on the last laps enabled him to move forward again from 34th to 21st place.