The Italian team is the most experienced in EuroNASCAR history – CAAL Racing started their 250th consecutive race in the 2024 NASCAR GP Spain
CAAL Racing achieved a new historic feat during the 2024 NASCAR Whelen Euro Series season’s opening round at Circuit Ricardo Tormo in Spain. The team owned by Luca and Corrado Canneori became the first team in history to take part in 250 races across both EuroNASCAR PRO and EuroNASCAR 2 when their cars hit the track for the NASCAR GP Spain. The Italian team is also one of the most decorated thanks to over 50 total race wins and three championship titles in EuroNASCAR’s top division, the most recent being in 2023 when they regained the crown with Gianmarco Ercoli.
“250 races is a truly impressive number,” said Luca Canneori on his team’s achievement. “The series has grown more and more over the years and it also became a point of reference on the European scene for the level of competitiveness. We achieved great goals and are very proud to be the reigning champions. A special thank you goes to the over 40 drivers who took turns driving our cars in this decade.”
CAAL Racing joined Europe’s official NASCAR championship at Monza in the 2013 season and immediately loved the 400 hp Pure Racing machines. Having taken part in the final two rounds of their debut year as a first approach, the team expanded into a full-time effort in 2014 and quickly established themselves as one of the fastest competitors, securing their first taste of victory with Eddie Cheever III during the American SpeedFest in Brands Hatch.
They achieved their first championship glory in 2017 with the driver that would become the most successful one in EuroNASCAR history: Alon Day. The Israeli joined CAAL in 2015 and rose to the very top in just three seasons. Day retained his title in 2018 and when he left the team in 2020, he was replaced by the driver that would become CAAL’s next champion: Gianmarco Ercoli. Fittingly, the first Italian driver to win the top prize in EuroNASCAR made his debut with the team in 2014.
Nicolo Rocca, Salvador Tineo Arroyo, Felipe Rabello, Thomas Ferrando, Advait Deodhar and Alberto Naska contributed to CAAL’s success through their victories with the Italian outfit. The organization based in Todi has also won numerous special classifications: Cheever III and Day won the Junior Trophy from 2014 to 2016. Fabrizio Armetta was crowned as the Challenger Trophy winner in 2014. Max Lanza took home the overall Legend Trophy in 2021 while Arianna Casolli and Luli del Castello brought home the Lady Trophy honors with CAAL.
CAAL Racing currently fields the #54 Chevrolet Camaro for reigning champion Ercoli and Sven van Laere as well as the #88 Chevrolet Camaro for Lanza and Roberto Benedetti. Their next race will be the team’s home round: the NASCAR GP Italy at the Autodromo di Vallelunga near Rome, scheduled to be held on May 18-19. Follow CAAL’s story in the 2024 season on EuroNASCAR’s YouTube channel and on numerous television networks around the world, which will broadcast qualifying and all races live.