At the end of an eventful ELITE 1 Saturday Race in which the fortunes of the five title contenders rapidly swinged in different directions, Anthony Kumpen (#24 PK Carsport Chevrolet SS) was the big winner. Kumpen crossed the line in second position behind Eddie Cheever III (#51 CAAL Racing Chevrolet SS). The Italian, however, was penalized with a 30-seconds addition to his race time for gaining positions while not respecting track limits, and the Belgian inherited the win. Vilarino, the two-time series champion, finished third.
But it was the final race of the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series season that crowned Anthony Kumpen as the 2014 ELITE 1 Division champion by just one point on Ander Vilarino (#2 TFT-Banco Santander Chevrolet SS). Kumpen conquered the title in his first NASCAR season by finishing second in the ELITE 1 Sunday Race, two positions ahead of Vilarino, and overturning the gap he had before the green flag. Eddie Cheever III conquered his third win of the season.
“It’s fantastic to win the Championship in our first year with a new project. I looked at NASCAR for all my life and now that NASCAR is in Europe, to be the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series Champion is a dream come true,” said Kumpen, who never finished outside the top-10 during the season and amassed 1 Win and 10 top-5s. “Today it was the first time I drove the car in the rain on a road course. It was difficult but we made an outstanding job. I want to thank my fantastic team, NASCAR, the organization, Whelen Engineering and all the sponsors. I’m so happy to be in this Series and I’ll be back next year to go for title again!”
Exceptionally back to racing in both division for the Le Mans Finals, Guillaume Rousseau (#13 Bull Racing Team Ford Mustang) finally found his way to Victory Lane for the first time in his NASCAR career with an outstanding performance at the Circuit Bugatti in the ELITE 2 Saturday Race. Gianmarco Ercoli (#32 CAAL Racing Chevrolet SS) completed an incredible comeback from the 21st position on the grid to finish second and win the Rookie Cup classification. The Italian crossed the finish line just ahead of championship leader Maxime Dumarey (#24 PK Carsport Chevrolet SS).
It was Maxime Dumarey who ended up celebrating his ELITE 2 Division Champion thanks to a cautious performance in the sunday race that he ended in fifth position.
First to take the checkered flag was his debutant teammate Gabriele Gardel (#11 PK Carsport Chevrolet SS), who got his maiden win in what was just his second NASCAR outing. It was a real triumph for the PK Carsport team. The belgian squad won the ELITE 1 Division Championship with Anthony Kumpen the ELITE 2 Division Championship with Dumarey and consequently the Team Championship with the #24 Chevrolet SS. The other title contender, 16-year-old Thomas Ferrando (#22 Overdrive Chevrolet Camaro) was forced on lap 4 to an unscheduled pit stop due to a problem with the right rear tire that ended his championship hopes.
Champions and Trophy winners will be honored on December 13 in Charlotte, at the NASCAR Hall of Fame / Charlotte Convention Center, in the contest of the NASCAR Night of Champions Touring Awards.
