The newly introduced Endurance Teams Championship is featuring one of the tightest battles in the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series season. Dutch powerhouse Hendriks Motorsport is leading the standings after three championship events and the special oval racing GP at Raceway Venray, but the competition is exceptionally close with the top seven teams separated by a mere nine points and four different teams climbing on the top step of the podium so far.
The #50 Toyota Camry sits atop the standings thanks to the outstanding performances Liam Hezemans and Gil Linster are producing in 2024, which resulted in an overall win at Brands Hatch. The two drivers amassed a total of four wins and eight top-5s and they proved to deliver the best combination between consistency and performance.
The #3 RDV Competition Mustang of Paul Jouffreau and Patrick Schober and the #72 Toyota Camry of Marc Goossens and Michael Bleekemolen sit tied for second place, just six points behind the leaders. Both teams are still looking for their first individual race win of the season, but consistency was their best weapon to hunt for the Teams title. Just one point out of the provisional podium sits the #46 Marko Stipp Motorsport Chevrolet Camaro driven by Thomas Krasonis, who is definitely delivering the best season since joining the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series and looking for further improvement in the second part of 2024.
Three different teams are tied nine points away from the leaders: Thomas Toffel’s #34 Race Art Technology Chevrolet Camaro, the #54 CAAL Racing Chevrolet Camaro driven by Gianmarco Ercoli and Sven van Laere and the #69 Team Bleekemolen Toyota Camry of Sebastian Bleekemolen and Melvin de Groot. Two Speedhouse teams, the #14 Ford Mustang and the #33 Ford Mustang, and the #99 Bremotion Chevrolet Camaro are also tied in points in positions eighth through tenth, 17 markers adrift from the Hendriks Motorsport leaders.
In their first full time season in the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series, 3F Racing clinched their first victory in the teams classification thanks to a strong performance from Ryan Vargas, who put his oval racing experience to good use in the special event in the Netherlands. With Vargas behind the wheel of the #30 Chevrolet Camaro in both EuroNASCAR PRO and EuroNASCAR 2, 3F was unstoppable and two top-5 finishes from the American driver allowed the team led by Dennis Hirtz to claim the top spot in the combined results. Only 3F and RDV Competition were able to complete all 174 laps held at Raceway Venray.
EuroNASCAR competitors will get their chance to catch their breath with a nine-week summer break. The 2024 NASCAR Whelen Euro Series season will return on 31 August-1 September for the final round of the regular season at Autodrom Most in the Czech Republic. While drivers will drop their worst points score of the regular season after Most, all the teams results will be carried into the double points playoff events in Germany and Belgium. Be sure to tune in because all qualifying and races will be broadcast live on EuroNASCAR’s YouTube channel and on several TV channels around the world.
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