If you’ve watched ‘NASCAR: Full Speed’ on Netflix and are now hooked on stock car racing, but live on the wrong side of the Atlantic to enjoy the Cup Series live, the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series (NWES) will solve your problems.
The NASCAR Cup Series has long been the most-watched motorsport in the United States of America, but its reach hasn’t fully transcended internationally. That interest is starting to grow, buoyed by the impressive Garage 56 NASCAR entry in last year’s centenary 24 Hours of Le Mans and a horde of international superstars who have made special appearances in cup series races. Formula 1 Champions Jenson Button and Kimi Raikkonen have multiple NASCAR race appearances under their belts and FIA WEC title winner Kamui Kobayashi has also had a go. Remarkably, Aussie V8 Supercars legend Shane van Gisbergen won on his NASCAR Cup Series debut in the Chicago Street Race last year, bringing further attention to the USA’s favourite motorsport.
The entertaining, insightful and character-driven ‘Full Speed’ docuseries, charting the 2023 Cup Series playoffs over five episodes is NASCAR’s latest step in broadening its international appeal. There’s no doubt it will attract new and existing fans alike, particularly those in Europe who may be green to the sport, but hooked in as there’s no denying there’s a passion, noise and heightened drama to the raucous V8 circus of stock car racing that is hard to avoid. However, getting across the Atlantic for European fans to watch NASCAR isn’t exactly easy, but EuroNASCAR can quench your stock car thirst.
“The Garage 56 project in 2023 and the new docuseries on Netflix clearly indicate that there is an ever-growing appetite for NASCAR content – and for pure, unfiltered racing – in Europe,” NWES President and CEO Jerome Galpin told Motorsport Week. “Full Speed will definitely further boost the interest towards EuroNASCAR and we expect plenty of new eyes turning towards us. We are hard at work on the plan to develop the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series for the next 5 to 10 years and the potential is huge. I think we are not even halfway to fully realize it, we want to make NWES the absolute best racing show in Europe.”
The European racing show that is EuroNASCAR was established in 2008 and it is the only officially sanctioned NASCAR series outside of the Americas. The 2024 season will be contested across seven venues with multiple races at each venue (excluding the Dutch oval circuit Raceway Venray) for both the Pro EuroNASCAR class and amateur EuroNASCAR 2 class. Both categories compete in V8 stock car monsters, with over 400 horsepower and in 2024, the machines have undergone a subtle evolution. Refinements to the cars for this year will see improved handling through modified front spindles and new three-point front brake calliper brackets and better-performing engines and drivers through new engine oil and cockpit cooling measures.
Drivers can also use the series as a platform to help launch a NASCAR career stateside. Gil Linster, a top talent in the Euro series is aiming to qualify for the ARCA Menards Daytona 200. The ARCA-sanctioned series is a proving ground for drivers looking to progress to NASCAR Xfinity, Trucks and Cup Series and the Daytona 200 race meet takes place at the World Centre of Racing on February 17, a day prior to the Cup Series marquee event, the Daytona 500.
The championship covers plenty of ground for European fans, with the opening round in Valencia, Spain and other visits seeing the series stop off at Vallelunga, Autodrom Most, Oschersleben and Zolder, but the highlight of the year is the American Speedfest round at Brands Hatch. Accompanied by a supporting cast of other American race vehicles from the ages, American Speedfest is a key date not only in the EuroNASCAR calendar but for the circuit itself. Scheduled in the summer month of June, American Speedfest typifies the party atmosphere that Euro NASCAR has become known for and draws one of the largest crowds in Brands Hatch’s year of events. 46,900 spectators turned up for the 2022 event and that figure grew to 50,500 for 2023 – the 10th running of American Speedfest.
Across the 2023 season, attendances averaged 25,000 per venue and not to be outdone by Brand Hatch, Zolder, host of the season finale set series records across digital media. The 2023 EuroNASCAR Finals in Belgium attracted over 1.75 million social impressions and 96,000 interactions – the largest numbers seen since the series was devised. On YouTube, where EuroNASCAR’s free-to-air race broadcasts give fans at home easy access, the Zolder Finals achieved 1.85 million minutes watched and 197,000 live-streaming views.
Galpin believes the successes of 2023 are just a taste of what is to come for EuroNASCAR in 2024 and the series’ President and CEO is keen to maintain upward momentum for the championship. “We always strive to improve at all levels and there will be plenty of new highlights in 2024 for EuroNASCAR,” Galpin said. “We will expand the calendar to seven events, bringing back NASCAR oval racing in Europe at Raceway Venray in the Netherlands. We will have expanded double-points playoffs involving the last two events of the season, there is a brand new evolution package for the EuroNASCAR car and there will also be some new highlights on the competition side. Communication will also receive particular attention in 2024. We want more and more people to engage with the series and become EuroNASCAR fans.”
EuroNASCAR’s free-to-air broadcasting via YouTube is wrapped in the series’ ethos of putting fans first. The series is proud of its product, full of noise and motorsport theatre and it encourages the fans to connect with it. That’s why a ticket will get you behind the scenes via pit and paddock access and the chance to soak up the pre-race atmosphere on grid walks. We are in an age where new fans are engaging with motorsport like never before, predominantly following elite series such as Formula 1 where social activity is high but access to actual events is ringfenced with high ticket prices and extra access resigned to VIPs only. Series like EuroNASCAR, like so many others on U.S shores, Great Britain and Europe are there to welcome fans with open arms.
“We are a people’s sport,” Galpin said. “We are arguably the only series in Europe providing a real racing show for the fans, focusing on pure racing and putting the spotlight on the driver. Our cars have no electronic aids, they are fun to drive and fun to watch. Our events across Europe are all American-themed festivals and we provide full access to the fans: they can meet the drivers at our parades and at the track, touch the cars, join us on the starting grid and really enjoy a weekend of family entertainment, feeling part of the show. For us it’s all about sharing our passion with the fans.”
The time is right for EuroNASCAR to grab fans’ attention in the wake of ‘Full Speed’ on Netflix and the 2024 action begins at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo in Valencia on April 13.
