NASCAR Whelen Euro Series – Kuchelbacher Wins Inaugural ELITE Club Season

The inagural season of the ELITE Club division ended on a high note at Circuit Zolder with Andreas Kuchelbacher (#5 Renauer Motorsport Toyota Camry) winning the title of Euro NASCAR’s regularity-based division by five points in a tight battle with Yann Schar (#28 Compétition Ford Mustang), who brought home the win in the final event.

“I never thought about winning the championship at the beginning of the season. After a third place in Valencia and a second place in Hockenheim I was hoping to get into a sweet spot to have a chance to grab the title. I was second here today in Zolder and I am really happy that it was enough to get the big trophy. It was so amazing winning the first ever Elite Club championship. I am really proud of the my Team Renauer Motorsport who did a great job working on the car,” said the Austrian at the prizegiving ceremony held in the Martkplein square at Zolder after a parade that brought the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series on the Belgian streets. “Today it was a very hard race. I have never been on this track before and it is very challenging. I was very comfortable in the second session where I set some really good times. I would really like to to race in the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series again and I hope I can move up to the Elite 2 Division.”

The final race of the season went to Swiss driver Yann Schar, who combined a total of 5.668 seconds of penalty time dominating both timed sessions to score his first overall win of the season. Kuchelbacher was second and Clemens Sparowitz (#31 RDV Compétition Ford Mustang) completed the podium.

“I am very happy to grab that first place today here at Zolder. My race in Hockenheim was not really good and I think this is why I came short in the championship today, but it’s a great feeling anyway to be the winner here! In 2018 I want to race in the Elite 2 and for that I need to find a sponsor to support me. The NASCAR Whelen Euro Serie is amazing, I really like the tracks here in Europe and I want to thank to thank the organizers for making this series so special. I really want to come back next year,” said Schar.

The ELITE Club Division will be back in 2018 after proving to be the ideal first step towards the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series for all drivers willing to discover the NASCAR world and enjoy the unique feeling of driving a Euro NASCAR car in a friendly competition on the best tracks in Europe in the context of unique American-themed events.