EuroNASCAR Champion to Debut in K&N Pro Series East at New Smyrna Speedway

By admin February 4, 2015 NASCAR K&N Pro Series East, New Smyrna

Anthony Kumpen will Race for Bill McAnally Racing in Season Opener

On Sunday, February 15th Anthony Kumpen will cash his prize for winning the 2014 NASCAR Whelen Euro Series title by entering the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East season opener at New Smyrna Speedway, located few miles south of Daytona, at the wheel of the number 99 NWES Toyota Camry fielded by 5-time Champion team Bill McAnally Racing.

The Belgian driver – 1 Win, 10 top-5s and 12 top-10s in his first season at the wheel of a stock-cars – will contest his first career NASCAR race in the USA as part of a program that will obviously include a quest for the second consecutive European NASCAR Title, but also some other NASCAR events in the USA during the NWES summer break.

“It’s really exciting, I can’t wait for it! My first NASCAR race in the US will not be easy, for sure, because I need to gain some experience on ovals, but I want to be prepared. That’s why we are trying to log as many miles as we can and learn as much as possible before the race. We are taking it step by step,” said Kumpen. “I want to do it in the best possible way and with Jerome Galpin we are working to see what other races I could do later in the year. The focus will definitely be on being again the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series Champion, but when we’re not racing in Europe, I want to do as much as possible in the US”.

Founded by former NASCAR K&N Pro Series driver Bill McAnally in 1986, Bill McAnally Racing is one of the powerhouses in the NASCAR Regional Series landscape, having won five NASCAR K&N Pro Series West titles. The team is also the only one to take part full-time in both the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East and the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West and won a total of six races in 2014.

New Smyrna Speedway is a half mile, high-banked speedway located just five minutes from the Daytona International Speedway, where the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series drivers will be racing in the traditional Sprint Unlimited on Saturday, February 14th launching the World famous Speedweeks that will end with the Daytona 500 on sunday, Feb. 22. The entire racing world will have their eyes on Daytona and this is definitely the place to be for the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series Champion.

After testing at New Smyrna Speedway following his crowning at the NASCAR Night Of Champions Touring Awards ceremony in December 2014, Kumpen continued his preparation for the race with a test on December 30th at Raceway Venray – the half-mile speedway that will make its debut in the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series calendar in May –  and he will fly to the United States on Monday, together with his wife Griet Vanhees, NASCAR Whelen Euro Series President / CEO Jerome Galpin and NASCAR Whelen Euro Series Vice President, Competition and Marketing Anne Galpin, to undertake a full week of preparation between the Caraway Speedway in Sophia, North Carolina and the New Smyrna Speedway. The program includes various test sessions at Caraway Speedway, plus tests and a Late Model division race at New Smyrna Speedway.

Bert Longin, Kumpen’s NWES teammate at PK Carsport and sixth in the ELITE 1 Division standings in 2014, will also be at New Smyrna to race in the Late Model Division in the NASCAR Whelen All American Series during the World Series Of Asphalt Stock Car Racing from February 13 to 21.

The K&N Pro Series East race will be broadcasted in the US on NBCSN on Thursday 19 February at 10:30 PM ET (4:30 AM CET), while the other races from New Smyrna Speedway will be streamed on Fanschoice.tv and NASCARHomeTracks.com.

Sources: Bill McAnally Racing PR