Rubens Barrichello swept the NASCAR Brasil races at Interlagos with a victory that he celebrated with everyone in the paddock.
Rubens Barrichello proved himself as NASCAR’s new king at Interlagos. Barrichello wins again a day after he finally broke his infamous curse in Race 1 at the 4.309 kilometer circuit, which will also host the 2025 NASCAR Brasil Series season finale.
Barrichello’s victory was celebrated by virtually everyone in the paddock. Fans, team members, journalists and even competitors from Copa Truck all joined “Rubinho” as he addressed the people in a moment that will be remembered as one of NASCAR Brasil’s biggest feel-good stories.
“It’s more than just crying, today I’m very happy!” said Barrichello while celebrating his win in front of thousands of fans that visited the Autódromo José Carlos Pace.
“I would like to thank everyone at Full Time Sports and everyone who supports us. I don’t know if it’s shown, but before the start we had a problem with the brakes.”
“At the beginning of the race, I was wary of how the brake pedal was. But, once the car warmed up, it was wonderful. I love driving this car and I’m in a beautiful moment. Thank you all for being here. What a show!”
Unlike in Race 1, “Rubinho” was fighting with not just Full Time Sports teammate Thiago Camilo. Fellow teammate Victor Andrade also performed competitively, running second behind Camilo in the early stages of the race.
Contact between Nick Monteiro and Felipinho Tozzo triggered an early caution on the opening lap. Cayan Chianca, Gabriel Casagrande and Guilherme Backes were also collected in this incident.
Chianca was the least fortunate, being forced to retire yet again. Casagrande also suffered significantly as he lost the right-side door on his No. 83 Axalta / Jupiter Camaro.
One further Safety Car period was also called after Jorge Martelli suffered an engine failure on lap 5. This was a big blow for Martelli, who lost plenty of points in both the overall and Challenge standings.
Barrichello was third when the race was restarted for the final time. This became second when the 52-year old passed Andrade on lap 8, and then first after he overtook Camilo on the very next lap.
Barrichello’s lead would stay until the checkered flag. “Rubinho” won by 0.383 seconds from Camilo with Andrade completing a Full Time podium sweep in third.
Fourth went to Vitor Genz, who reestablished his championship aspirations after his problems in Londrina. Witold Ramasauskas completed the top-5 ahead of Londrina’s winner Léo Torres.
Casagrande finished seventh despite being disadvantaged with his crash damage. Cacá Bueno had yet another recovery drive for his eighth place finish in Race 2, this time going from 23rd on the grid.
Gabryel Romano also had his own stunning recovery drive. Romano also started from the last row on the grid, but he took a surprise Challenge class win with his ninth place finish. This finish also marked Romano’s first overall championship points in the 2025 season.
Antonio Junqueira, Monteiro and Galid Osman round out the final points-paying positions. Osman was particularly unlucky as he was involved in a collision with his teammate and fellow Shell-sponsored driver Ricardo Zonta.
Zonta retired with just two laps to go. Tozzo, Backes and debutant Emerson Reck all also retired at the same time as the former BAR, Jordan and Toyota driver.
Championship Standings
Barrichello’s Interlagos sweep was the definition of a perfect race weekend. It also propels the Formula One legend to the lead of the NASCAR Brasil Series overall standings with 94 points to his name.
There is, however, one major complication for Barrichello. The next round at Taruma clashed with the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Barrichello had to be present at Le Mans because his son Eduardo is making his debut at the world’s most famous endurance race.
This opens up opportunities for drivers like Thiago Camilo to potentially leapfrog “Rubinho” while he’s away in France. Camilo is now second in the standings, 19 points behind Barrichello.
Vitor Genz stays in third with 68 points while Léo Torres was fourth with 63 points. Witold Ramasauskas is fifth with 55 points, one point ahead of Gabriel Casagrande.
Victor Andrade moves up to seventh while former championship leader Jorge Martelli drops down to eighth position. Galid Osman is ninth, befitting for the driver of the No. 99 car.
Martelli leads the Challenge drivers in the overall standings, but not on the class standings. Tenth placed driver Alfredinho Ibiapinha is the overall Challenge leader, having gained more points thanks to Challenge’s own point system.
Disclaimer: Credits for all photos are listed underneath each image.