World of EuroNASCAR recaps all of the NASCAR Euro Series silly season moves that took place in January 2026…
NASCAR Euro Series only has two and a half months of off-season to go before the 2026 season starts at Circuit Ricardo Tormo.
After a quiet silly season to end 2025, January’s silly season went to high gear with a series of announcements that completely shifted the landscape of the series in 2026.
Since then, there have been plenty of moves from both drivers and teams as they began to finalize their deals for the upcoming season.
In this article, World of EuroNASCAR gathers all of the development that has happened in January 2026. The updates are split into three categories:
- Confirmed Moves: Drivers and/or teams who confirmed their status for the 2026 season
- Looking from the Outside: Drivers and/or teams who are still undecided, but has expressed their intention to compete in 2026
- Under the Radar: Silly season moves that World of EuroNASCAR missed in the actual month
Confirmed Moves
January’s silly season started off with Liam Hezemans’ shocking departure from the series. Liam announced through Instagram Story on 9 January that he’ll be leaving EuroNASCAR after four highly successful years – a story that we covered through our Bluesky account.
Liam’s departure marked the end of the Hezemans family’s NASCAR participation after eight years.
The Hezemans family currently competes in historic racing, fielding a Lotus Elise GT1 and Bizzarrini 5300 that is maintained by long-time partners Hendriks Motorsport.
This left one less rival for Paul Jouffreau to contend with in 2026. Jouffreau confirmed his extension with RDV Competition on 11 January, two days after Liam’s departure was announced.
The following day, Marko Stipp Motorsport announced that Henrik Peters, who tested with the team during their Discovery Day event in November 2025, has been signed for a debut campaign in Rookie Challenge.
While not the first rookie to be announced – that honor goes to Vinnie Meskelis, Peters does become the first driver to be confirmed in the regularity-based Rookie Challenge division.
Reigning champion Vittorio Ghirelli and his teammate Thomas Dombrowski were the next to confirm their entries to the 2026 season.
Ghirelli announced his contract extension with PK Carsport on 17 January, with Dombrowski following suit two days later.
PK Carsport’s long-time rivals CAAL Racing made the next move by announcing the signing of Claudio Remigio Cappelli from Academy Motorsport on 21 January.
CAAL will also reactivate the No. 54 team, bringing back their iconic number after it was not present in 2025 due to its entry being absorbed by debutants Alumitec Racing.
23 January sees two confirmed moves that were opposites in nature. On one side, there’s Belgian Maxim van Laere, who announced his promotion to EuroNASCAR OPEN by joining SpeedHouse, the team that his father Sven competes with in 2025.
Maxim will replace Sven, who will sit out the 2026 season to guide his son. World of EuroNASCAR was able to contact Sven to confirm this information.
“This season I won’t be participating in the EuroNASCAR,” said Sven. “However, I will be present in the paddock every weekend to support my son Maxim, who’s stepping up from the Rookie Challenge to the OPEN championship with SpeedHouse.”
On the other end, series veteran Max Lanza announced that he’ll be leaving EuroNASCAR after eight years. Lanza plans to make a return to GT racing, having already made a one-off return at Vallelunga in September 2025.
Vladimiros Tziortzis revealed that he will be driving the No. 6 Ford Mustang on 28 January 2026. So far, it’s still unknown on which exact team the Cypriot is going to be competing with.
Lastly, on 30 January 2026 Alumitec Racing officially announced that they will be going independent in the upcoming season.
The Canadian team will move to a new base in France, having invested in “an advanced driver simulation program” and “a full in-house engine dynamometer” to fulfill their ambition to win the 2026 EuroNASCAR title.
Looking from the Outside
Two new talents have made it known that they are aiming to join the grid in 2026: American Jason Friday and Luxembourger Nathalie Neumann.
Friday expressed his interest when he booked an independent Fontenay test with Lux Motorsport at the end of 2025. To Friday’s luck, it just so happens that the day of his test falls on the same day as the first edition of the 2026 NASCAR Recruitment Test.
This gave Friday the chance to not only learn from Lux Motorsport’s Jack Davidson, but also from series CEO and founder Jerome Galpin who was there to coach the Recruitment Test participants.
Friday has stated that he’s “looking forward to the next test before the season starts”, implying that he has signed for more opportunities with Lux Motorsport in the near future.
Nathalie joined the second Recruitment Tests on 29 January 2026 under recommendation from Gil Linster. Nathalie and Linster came into contact in the off-season and a deal was agreed for Nathalie to join Recruitment Tests, with Linster acting as her coach for the day.
After the test, Nathalie expressed her desire to “fight for a permanent spot on the starting grid” in the upcoming season.
Nathalie is not the only Neumann to be looking for a seat. German tabloid Bild stated that Vanessa “Happinessa” Neumann “will start again in 2026” in a report that they made on 27 January 2026.
[Warning: Bild’s article and Vanessa’s social media contains nudity pictures and are therefore Not Safe For Work (NSFW). You have been warned.]
Vanessa later confirmed this in Instagram posts that she made on 29 and 31 January. She stated that she still “haven’t decided” which team she’s driving with, although she has “four options” to “try for”.
This suggests the possibility of Vanessa departing Bremotion after just one season. Vanessa finished 17th in EuroNASCAR OPEN in 2025, the last of the full-timers.
Friday, Nathalie, and Vanessa joined the likes of Marc Goossens, Melvin de Groot, Sandro Tavartkiladze and Valentino Gambarotto, who all expressed their desire to return to the championship at the 2025 Finals.
Under the Radar
Throughout January, two teams have made moves that went under the radar: Alumitec Racing and Team Georgia.
Alumitec Racing stated in its official website that they were planning to enter two cars for 2026. The Canadian team also stated that they have signed Romain Iannetta as team COO.
Iannetta has had prior association with Alumitec’s team boss Alain Lord Mounir, as Iannetta drove for Lord Mounir’s old team Go Fas Racing back in 2018.
The news was made official in February, with the two-car announcement coming on 2 February while Iannetta’s announcement was unveiled on 4 February.
Team Georgia, on the other hand, quietly revealed plans to enter the 2026 season under the new identity of “Kolkhi GRT”.
The news was first announced by Georgian media magnate and politician Irakli Chikovani, who said to Business Media Georgia (BMG) that Kolkhi GRT has re-signed Davit Kajaia for the upcoming season, with Kajaia set to receive a new teammate in Mariam Davitidze on 12 January.
Kolkhi GRT’s plans was made official by NASCAR Euro Series on 1 February 2026, just a day after the cut off for the January silly season – hence their inclusion in “Under the Radar”.
EuroNASCAR’s announcement confirms that Kajaia and Davitidze would indeed race the No. 8 Chevrolet Camaro for Kolkhi GRT.
Disclaimer: Credits for all photos are listed underneath each image.