A former Formula One world champion and a young driver who many expect to be winning for a long time in the NASCAR ranks shared common ground Saturday afternoon at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Each made his Charlotte debut in the NASCAR Nationwide Series. And each experienced a little of the frustration that battling an ill-handling car can offer a driver.

For Kimi Raikkonen, an F1 champ testing the NASCAR waters, and Cole Whitt, at 19 the youngest to ever lead the Camping World Truck Series standings, Saturday was a lengthy, hot day. It was also a learning experience and a race in which they both gained knowledge about handling the cars in this series.

Whitt is just trying to gain some ground and experience, to methodically work his way through the ranks. In his third career Nationwide Series race Saturday he ran in the top 10 at times before finishing 15th, a solid and respectable run in his debut.

Raikkonen’s exact plans are a subject of speculation, but he raced through setbacks — he brushed the wall, he ran over someone else’s front splitter that was laying on the track, he was penalized for speeding on exit to pit road — and finished 27th.

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Raikkonen drove a Nemco Motorsports entry that was prepared by Kyle Busch Motorsports. After the race, KBM general manager Rick Ren also addressed Raikkonen’s outing. The driver made his NASCAR debut a week ago, driving a KBM entry in the Truck race at Charlotte Motor Speedway.