Prior to the Finals at Zolder, Anthony Kumpen made an exclusive interview with EuroNASCAR’s André Wiegold to give an insight on his VTM GO reality show The Long Road Home.
The main show of the 2023 NASCAR Whelen Euro Series season is played on the six championship rounds that the series hosted this year. For Anthony Kumpen, the spectacle off the track is just as important as his story in 2023 is filmed by Belgian television station VTM for their reality show series “The Long Road Home”.
Broadcasted on VTM’s streaming platform VTM GO, The Long Road Home provides viewers with an exclusive behind the scenes footage at Kumpen’s life as an on-track competitor in EuroNASCAR and his off-track work as PK Carsport’s team manager.
The Long Road Home also gave an unprecedented access towards Anthony’s son Henri-Constant Kumpen, who is currently making his name known as a star in the making on the Benelux karting scene.
The show takes a huge inspiration from the struggles that Kumpen had in recent years. The Belgian was banned from on-track competition for four years after failing a drug test in the 2018 24 Hours of Zolder, but he remained active as the manager for both PK Carsport and Henri-Constant.
His motivation to go racing remains as high as ever, however, and when Kumpen finished serving his suspension in 2022, he wasted no time in returning to the race tracks.
After a “trial” run in last year’s NASCAR GP Belgium, Kumpen made his full-time return this year and has proved himself to still be one of the fiercest championship contenders in EuroNASCAR’s top class.
The synopsis that VTM GO provided on their website provided the best summary of what the show is about:
“Belgian professional driver and team manager Anthony Kumpen currently works as team manager for PK Carsport in the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series,” states VTM GO.
“He is back and making a comeback on the racing circuit. In doing so, he is passing the baton to his son, who is now also on his way to a promising racing career.”
The show is currently being aired after the first episode premiered on 16 September. In an exclusive interview with André Wiegold on euronascar.com, the Belgian driver talks about what The Long Road Home means to him prior to the season finale at Circuit Zolder.
“There is currently a reality show on the Belgian channel VTM GO that follows me behind the scenes in the NASCAR championship,” said Kumpen. “This Belgian TV show gives exclusive behind the scenes footage of my team PK Carsport and me at all NASCAR events.”
“In addition, the show features some karting races of my ten-year-old son, Henri-Constant, who was recently crowned Benelux karting champion.”
With only 23 points separating Kumpen from championship leader Gianmarco Ercoli, the two-time former champion hopes that he can provide the best ending possible when the cameras roll for filming of the final episode of The Long Road Home on Saturday and Sunday’s Finals.
“My NASCAR program was a little bit affected by this busy schedule,” adds the 44-year old driver. “I had almost no time to test at the international tracks we visited with EuroNASCAR. But I knew the finale would take place at Circuit Zolder and we did some testing at my home track.”
“The car felt great at the last test there and I’m sure we had the best setup for the #24 Chevrolet Camaro all season. We have a lot of confidence and the goal is to win both races and add another NWES championship ring to my collection. I’m really looking forward to it.”
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