Giorgio Maggi will be making his NASCAR Xfinity Series debut at Indianapolis Motor Speedway next weekend after it was announced that the Hendriks driver will be scheduled to drive the No. 42 Supra for MBM Motorsports with support from Toine Hezemans’ Team Hezeberg.
Another NASCAR Whelen Euro Series driver will be making the trip to America this year after it was announced yesterday that Giorgio Maggi will be making his NASCAR Xfinity Series debut in the Pennzoil 150 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway next weekend.
Maggi, who currently sits 9th in the championship on his second season in the top EuroNASCAR PRO class with the No. 18 Hendriks Motorsport-MOMO team, will drive the No. 42 Toyota Supra for MBM Motorsports with support from Team Hezeberg. The No. 42 Supra will be wrapped with a striking red-white livery that will feature the Swiss flag on the hood of the car.
MBM Motorsports themselves are no strangers to having a Euro Series driver racing one of their cars in Xfinity Series as three-time EuroNASCAR champion Alon Day famously raced their “Zombie Dodge” to great success at Mid-Ohio in 2016.
“It’s still really hard to believe because it seems so surreal,” said Maggi in his official press announcement. “I first came into contact with NASCAR two years ago and honestly had no idea about this type of motorsport. Now I’m going to be right in the middle of it! I’m really looking forward to it, but I’m also a little nervous, I have to admit. I’m super excited to be the first Swiss to compete in a NASCAR National Championship in the U.S.”
Maggi’s upcoming start at Indy Road Course is going to be a historic one as according to Vincent Bruins from Dutch NASCAR Fans, Maggi is set to become the first Swiss driver to compete in a national NASCAR series race. Only one Swiss driver, Hans-Peter Schappi, has made the trip to America to race in ARCA for Andy Belmont prior to this.
Maggi would also be joined by teammate – and Euro Series championship leader – Loris Hezemans at Indianapolis as Team Hezeberg’s team principal Toine Hezemans reveals that Loris would also make the trip to Indy Road Course next weekend for his third Xfinity start of the year.
It’s currently unknown on what entry Loris will compete with at Indy, but it’s expected that he will be driving the Reaume-prepared Hezeberg Systems Camaro once more with an entry borrowed from either MBM or DGM Racing.
“I am very happy that Giorgio Maggi will start alongside my son Loris in Indianapolis,” said Toine in the press release. “He is the first Swiss to race in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. He learned a lot in the EuroNASCAR 2 Championship and was the runner-up in 2019. He’s very mature for his age and has a lot of talent to be successful in the U.S. as well.”
Next weekend’s Pennzoil 150 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course will take place on Saturday, August 14 with the green flag being scheduled to be dropped at 4:00 PM Eastern Time/10:00 PM Central European Summer Time.
Disclaimer: Unless noted, all photos used in this article are courtesy of NASCAR Whelen Euro Series / Wolfgang Karl Koepp.