Rear view cameras will be made available as an optional choice for drivers and teams in the 2025 EuroNASCAR season.
NASCAR Euro Series will be adding rear view cameras as an optional choice in the Gen3 EuroNASCAR car for 2025, as revealed during Jerome Galpin’s appearance in the 2024 Race Industry Week.
The news was first broken by Freedom Racing Enterprises general manager and NASCAR on Fox pundit Jeff Hammond.
Hammond, who was the presenter of Galpin’s panel, mentioned the camera as one of EuroNASCAR’s new additions for next season.
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“I want to touch on a couple of items that I’ve been told you want to upgrade with your cars. Number one is sequential gearboxes, which is what everybody’s going towards,” Hammond said to Galpin.
“Also I found it interesting, in the spirit of safety, is the fact that they’re going to let you use the rear view camera if you want. Those are some of the improvements the guys were telling me about.”
Hammond is supportive of EuroNASCAR’s move to add rear view cameras. He believes that its introduction will aid the development of young drivers to become a better racing talent.
“I think something like that will help a lot of young drivers to develop their talent and learn how to race,” added Hammond.
“It’s not to say that you shouldn’t trust your spotters when he said caution. But, you don’t need to have spotters driving the cars. The drivers need to be driving them and be in control.”
Galpin agrees with what Hammond said, but he also brought up another reasoning on why the introduction will take place.
EuroNASCAR’s competitors came from multiple nationalities and racing backgrounds. Therefore, Galpin reasoned that it’s only right that the series accommodates their needs to make them feel more suited to the world of EuroNASCAR.
“You’re absolutely right,” responds Galpin. “We have spotters as you do in the US, but the driver must also have his own vision and make his moves.”
“Also keep in mind that our drivers came from all around the world and only a few of them are used with spotters. More were used with their mirrors.”
“We always have to adapt to our audience. When I say audience, I say race fans, teams, drivers and stakeholders. To make sure that we cannot just copy-paste what NASCAR is doing in the US, we always have to adapt.”
As brought up by Galpin above, the introduction of rear view cameras is the next step in EuroNASCAR’s desire to bring new technology to stock car racing.
Whether the technology is already common in other forms of motorsport or not, EuroNASCAR is willing to bring them in as part of its goal to upgrade their cars every year.
The gradual changes also help to keep the series budget in check. For the 2025 season, a full campaign in one division will cost around €95,000 ($100,000).
“We try to upgrade the car every year,” said Galpin. “Compared to other series, we try to work gradually with our teams and leave them time to put in an addition. So instead of having a big investment immediately, we will gradually improve the car.”
“This year, the new sequential gearbox is the first step along with the rear view camera. After that, we have other projects in mind like upgrading the body and so on.”
“We want the series to be absolutely cost effective. I think this series is probably one of the most cost efficient that you can find. You got to meet with a large audience and have a lot of fun in the car.”
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