ELITE 2 Champion Ferrando set for K&N Pro Series East debut

The NASCAR Whelen Euro Series keeps developing opportunities for its drivers to race in NASCAR and in the United States. Thomas Ferrando will collect his prize for winning the 2017 ELITE 2 championship on Saturday, September 22nd when he will make his debut in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

The 21-year-old French driver will drive for Nextgen Motorsports in the Apple Barrell 125. Ferrando’s start will be part of a new driver exchange Euro NASCAR is introducing after the one that brought Frederic Gabillon to debut in Canada in the NASCAR Pinty’s Series in August.

“I want to get a good result,” Ferrando said. “I’m a competitor so I want to be at the front. We are there to show that the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series is the perfect place to begin your NASCAR career and find opportunities to race in the US. We want to have a good race and learn a lot and finish as high as we can. It’s also great to race at a special track like the Magic Mile. I can’t wait to get started!”

“Creating this kind of opportunities is one of the missions we established for the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series and we are proud to see European drivers crossing the ocean to battle with the best NASCAR drivers in North America,” said NWES President / CEO Jerome Galpin. “As Euro NASCAR keeps growing together with NASCAR’s international presence, we are sure there will be more and more opportunities like this for the NASCAR drivers around the world. This will be a great learning experience for Thomas as Loudon is probably one of the most challenging oval track with high speed and low banking.”

One of the brightest talents in the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series, Ferrando went straight from karting to NASCAR thanks to the NWES drivers development program, debuting at Bowman Gray Stadium in 2012 when he was only 14 years old. He entered Euro NASCAR in the ELITE 2 Division at 16 and won two races as a rookie in 2014. After finishing third in points in his debut season, the Frenchman joined the Knauf Racing Team as professional driver and went on to win ten more races and the 2017 title in ELITE 2. Ferrando then moved to the ultra-competitive ELITE 1 Division, where he sits seventh in points in 2018 after the Semi Finals. 

The second part of this driver exchange will see American driver Dale Quarterley cross the Atlantic to make his Euro NASCAR debut on October 20-21 in Belgium in the Circuit Zolder Finals. 

The Full Throttle Fall Weekend at New Hampshire Motor Speedway will be a unique event: in addition to the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East, the NASCAR Whelen Modified Series and the Canadian NASCAR Pinty’s Series will also hit the track combining three of the most exciting regional and international NASCAR series.

The  Apple Barrell 125 will go green at 7:45 p.m. CET on Saturday September 22 and the race will be streamed live on Fanschoice.tv. The oval at Loudon is 1,058 miles (1,703 kilometres) long and has a very special character due to the low banking. The track, nicknamed “The Magic Mile” is part of the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series schedule since 1993.

NASCAR Euro Series PR