After a spectacular start in Valencia, the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series heads now to Raceway Venray for its first oval racing weekend of the 2016 season. This 23-degree high banked half-mile oval, located on the Dutch-German border, offers a great challenge to European drivers who quickly discovered how challenging and compelling is grasping for perfection in a 28-car fully crowded 800-meter track at an average speed of more than 150 Km/h.
Once only associated with American racing, oval racing rapidly became one of the strongest points in the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series winning formula since the first ever NASCAR race held at Tours Speedway in 2012 and won by Bill France Sr.’s descendant Ben Kennedy in an historic afternoon in France. Since then, oval racing is quickly finding its way to the hearts and souls of racers and fans all over Europe, providing an exciting different track experience and consolidating event after event the strong bond between EuroNASCAR and NASCAR in the US.
“As a European driver, once you have been on an oval, you have a very different opinion. You have to put so much attention in the details and in finding your feeling with the car. It is a lot more exciting for the driver than it seems,” said 2014 NASCAR Whelen Euro Series Champion Anthony Kumpen, who made his oval debut at Tours Speedway in 2014, won at Venray in 2015 and progressed all the way to race NASCAR Xfinity Series at the world famous Daytona International Speedway. “It is a lot closer than we are used to on road-courses, it is more of a contact sport. But you have to really master it to win: you can touch, but you definitely don’t want to push too much and cause an accident. It is something you have to learn and it gives you an incredible feeling when you can do it the proper way.”
The true challenge is to constantly fight your opponents for position in a matter of centimeters, when everything around changes lap after lap: grip level, track and air temperature, rubber on track, tire wear, brake wear and most of all your competitors. Door-to-door battles, continuous overtakes throughout the field and the absolute respect between the drivers make oval racing a unique experience for the fans and the whole NASCAR Whelen Euro Series garage.
Winning requires a perfect mix of speed, talent, strategy, experience and luck that turns every race into the most exciting and unpredictable form of motorsports for drivers and fans. 28 cars will take on the 800-meter long Raceway Venray, roaring on the track’s fast turns, progressively banked up to 23 degrees for the delight of the Dutch motorsports enthusiasts.
“It took me some time to get used to it, but now ovals are a lot more attractive to me and I have been strong on both the tracks in the NWES calendar. They are really challenging, especially on the mental side: everybody is near and you can’t make the slightest mistake or you lose a lot of positions and restarts are also very intense,” said Nicolò Rocca, who scored two of his four pole positions on ovals and won one race in Venray and one in Tours in 2015. “Last year’s races at Tours were the hardest of my career for sure, but also extremely satisfying. Venray is going to be really demanding and if it rains, it will be extremely important to qualify well and start up front.”
Weather may add a further twist to the Raceway Venray weekend, since the forecast includes a chance of rain and the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series is the only NASCAR sanctioned series racing on ovals in the wet. The first ever wet oval NWES race was won by Mathias Lauda in 2014 and since 2012, Frederic Gabillon has been one of the most consistent drivers on ovals:
“I really grew fond of oval races. They bring you closer and closer to what NASCAR is in the US and they are fantastic for the fans. You never know how it is going to play out and you have to be ready to face any situation. It is going to be even more interesting if the weather turns for worse during the weekend: it adds a further layer of strategy and puts the race further in the hands of the driver,” said the Frenchman.
The second edition of the Autospeedway American Style at Raceway Venray will take place on May 15-16, encompassing the Pentecost national holiday. All the races will be broadcasted live on Fanschoice.TV with english commentary (http://bit.ly/nweslive), while live updates will be available on the NASCAR Home Tracks Race Central Live page .
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