World of EuroNASCAR spoke to Vinnie Meskelis after he scored a hard fought runner-up finish in his Trans-Am debut at Sebring.
Vinnie Meskelis already made headlines in his first racing event of the year. The Brazilian-American is heading to EuroNASCAR’s season opener at Circuit Ricardo Tormo with plenty of smiles on his face after he scored a runner-up finish in his Trans-Am debut at Sebring.
Starting from seventh on the grid, Meskelis stayed at the front for the majority of the 27-lap race. Meskelis performed competitively against not only other talented youngsters, but also experienced veterans like Alon Day – EuroNASCAR’s greatest driver.
Meskelis’ immediate success in Trans-Am showcased his great adaptability, given that the Mazda Spec MX-5 Series car is the fastest car that he raced prior to Sebring.
With a full-season EuroNASCAR PRO campaign and additional Trans-Am races in the horizon, expectations are high for Meskelis to build upon his Sebring success into a career-defining season.
World of EuroNASCAR was able to get a chance to speak to Meskelis after the Sebring weekend, where we discussed the race itself and how the experience will help Meskelis going forward.
Reza Maulana: Obviously, you very recently made your Trans-Am TA2 debut and not only did you get a runner up finish, you also fought at the front right from the get go. How do you feel after such an amazing performance?
Vinnie Meskelis: “I mean, I feel ecstatic! It was probably the biggest accomplishment in my career so far and we went into the weekend confident to compete in the top-10 and fight for a top-5 finish.”
“Obviously I had [thoughts to get a] podium in my mind, but I knew it was going to be very difficult. But we unloaded very fast and made some slight adjustments for race trim.”
“I went to Qualifying with good confidence, but unfortunately it rained out and was cancelled, so we had to go from Practice times.”
“I was confident that I could do it, I just knew that it was going to be very challenging. But, a lot of things worked out during the race with the cautions and restarts and I was super happy by the end. It was a big relief, and a big weight lifted off my shoulders.”
RM: It certainly felt like a big relief with the runner-up finish and all the chaos that’s happening.
I saw the race and there’s multiple restarts happening and you were quite close to being involved in some of the incidents, like the one with Alon Day, which fittingly enough, given that you were scheduled to race in EuroNASCAR this year, Alon Day is a four-time EuroNASCAR champion. Arguably its greatest driver.
What did you learn from racing someone like Alon Day at a road course, where he really shines as a driver, even in a different environment [like Trans-Am]?
VM: “I got a chance to meet him off-track on Thursday and talk to him a little bit. He’s really aggressive and it’s something I was expecting, but not to the level that we start at during the restarts!”
“It’s an awakening call [for me] that I had to do my job as well and be as aggressive to maintain my spots and chase after him, especially on the restarts. Ultimately it’s what got us the P2 in the final restart, I just judged it correctly, held it on my own and moved up the positions.”
RM: That’s very fair. Top talents are very aggressive, you rarely see top talents being kind to its rivals.
We see it from Michael Schumacher and Ayrton Senna in the past and Max Verstappen [today], they’re very aggressive, ruthless and don’t hold back when the time comes.
VM: “Absolutely.”
RM: So this race in Sebring, from what I read, is the first of a six-race deal that you planned with Nitro Motorsports, your Trans-Am team. Something that I also noticed from your post-race interview at Sebring is that you tested the car back in December, but you only announced your deal just a few days before the race.
Was there some difficulties in getting the deal done, or is it just a matter of “I prefer to announce it right before the season starts?”
VM: “It was a combination of both. I actually tested the TA2 car with Nitro at Sebring the weekend after I did the Recruitment Tests for the Euro Series.”
“After we left the Recruitment Tests, where we had a handshake deal done to race in the PRO series, we got to Sebring and that test went very well too.”
“The team wanted me to come back and it was a matter of us finding the funding to be able to do both. That was one of the biggest challenges during the winter.”
“We originally confirmed with Nitro just for Sebring while we were still working on more sponsorship to do more races and it was about two to three weeks before Sebring that we got the funding secured and we agreed to that six-race deal for this year.”
“It was [then] a matter of choosing the best time to announce it. The weekend of the race was going to have the most attention and attract the most buzz around that news and with the podium finish, we were able to keep the momentum going on the PR side.”
RM: Oh, definitely. It was a very late announcement, but with the podium, you have made your name in the Trans-Am scene. To get a podium and finish only behind Hélio Meza, which I believe is a Chevrolet backed driver if I’m not mistaken…
VM: “Yes. I believe Hélio is in Chevrolet’s program, and he’s a really good friend of mine from our karting days in Texas.”
RM: So yeah, it was a very impressive performance. Especially since you jumped to Trans-Am from Mazda Cup cars, which is quite different really. The Mazda car is low powered but very agile while the Trans-Am car is a big muscle car, probably closer to stock cars that one would imagine.
How much did the TA2 outing is going to help you with not just future races in Trans-Am, but also with EuroNASCAR?
VM: “It was for sure a huge jump to go from Mazda cars to these big, heavy powerful stock cars. The TA2 car really impressed me on how agile and how much grip that it has, especially with all the aero, tire and chassis.”
“I think it can be a little bit more difficult to drive [the TA2] than the NASCAR Euro Series, which in terms of just the speed and the way they move around and manage, especially over a long race run, I think it will only help me going to Valencia for the first round of the Euro Series with some knowledge on how to manage my equipment and getting the most out of the car that I can.”
“Obviously, going to the rest of the TA2 season as well, that’s only going to build up as I will be able to learn how to manage more and get the most out of the cars after every single weekend.”
RM: That is a very good point about the experience, considering that Valencia is not only going to be your very first EuroNASCAR weekend, but also that you jump straight to the PRO class immediately.
Did you feel it’s a big undertaking to immediately go to PRO and not go to EuroNASCAR OPEN where you can, well, it’s not appropriate for me to say “lesser quality drivers” because there’s a lot of OPEN drivers that are PRO capable if they want to make the jump and there are OPEN drivers that did both classes, but do you feel there’s pressure to perform from the get to to perform in PRO against the best of European stock cars?
VM: “Yeah, there’s obviously a lot of pressure that I put on myself. I think I’m the one that puts the biggest pressure on myself, but especially after my debut in TA2, there are expectations that I can have a good result [in Valencia].”
“It was definitely something that we debated when deciding to race in the Euro Series whether we started off in OPEN and took my time getting up to speed or if we wanted to jump straight to the PRO series.”
“With how successful the Recruitment Test was, we felt that we could skip the OPEN series and felt confident to make the jump to the PRO series and be able to compete and do well.”
“I think especially now, with the result of my TA2 debut, that it was a relief to have the weight taken off my shoulders because it proved that I can be competitive and fight for podiums and even wins in a professional championship. I really hope I’ll be able to do the same in Valencia.”
RM: That’s very great and yes, you are right, getting the P2 will be a very great mood booster heading to Valencia, which is a new track. Well, not for your team, considering that all but one team [in 2026] will be existing teams so they will have knowledge about Valencia that will help you adapt to the track.
But, obviously there will be other tracks from old tracks like Brands Hatch and Autodrom Most and one new track for this year, Circuit Paul Ricard. How excited are you to go and race the six tracks that will be raced in the NASCAR Euro Series this year?
VM: “I’ve done a little bit of research and sim work to prepare, especially Paul Ricard and Brands Hatch. Such historic tracks, F1 has raced there before and Brands Hatch is the home of American SpeedFest. It will be an incredible event, so I’m looking forward to it.”
“Vallelunga as well, it seems to be a fun track and I’m looking forward to it. Zolder has a lot of history there, I watched a lot of videos of the track and it looks super fun.”
“It’s kinda like an European tour as well, you can get to travel around the world and see all these incredible cities and experience all the events and cultures. It’s just a lot of things to look forward to.
RM: Very much so. I believe this will be your first races outside of America or have you raced in Brazil before?
VM: “No. I’ve only raced in the US. I was born in Brazil but started racing here in the US in 2020, so it will be my first time racing outside of the US.”
RM: Maybe one day you can get an opportunity to race in Brazil, considering that NASCAR also has a Brazil Series and it’s quite blossoming right now. Now to the last question I prepared here, in the Nitro Motorsports press release that I read, it is stated that you will race in Sebring, Sonoma, Watkins Glen and COTA.
But, I also see from the Trans-Am website that your name is listed for the next race at Road Atlanta. Was that a mistake or are you really planning to race in Road Atlanta as well?
VM: “No, that’s a mistake. The only things we have confirmed for the rest of the season are Sonoma, Watkins Glen and COTA.”
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