World of EuroNASCAR recaps all of the EuroNASCAR silly season moves that took place in February 2026…
NASCAR Euro Series is inching closer to the start of the 2026 season, which is going to be hosted at Circuit Ricardo Tormo for a record 12th time.
After January’s silly season went into high gear with a series of landscape defining announcements, there were considerably less silly season moves being announced in February.
However, it doesn’t mean that the confirmed teams were less ambitious. If anything, the teams that confirmed their plans in February had grand plans to make their names known in the 2026 EuroNASCAR season.
In this article, World of EuroNASCAR gathers all of the development that has happened in February 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 was not able to cover during the month
Confirmed Moves
Kolkhi GRT opened the tabs for Silly Season moves in February when they officially confirmed their plans to compete in the 2026 NASCAR Euro Series season on 1 February.
Georgian media magnate and politician Irakli Chikovani had previously revealed Kolkhi GRT’s plans to the local media back in January.
Kolkhi GRT, who finished fifth in the 2025 Endurance Teams championship under their old identity Team Georgia, will continue to retain the services of Davit Kajaia in EuroNASCAR PRO.
Accompanying Kajaia in 2026 is rookie Mariam Davitidze, who will make her series debut in EuroNASCAR OPEN.
Kolkhi GRT set up an ambitious plan to field the No. 8 Camaro using in-house engineers. The team also plans to use two cars in 2026, one for testing in Georgia and one for competition in mainland Europe.
The chassis intended for the former was received by the team on 13 February, allowing Kajaia and Davitidze to test the EuroNASCAR stock cars at home.
Fellow 2025 debutants Alumitec Racing also used February to announce their equally ambitious plans for 2026.
After announcing their plans to go independent on 30 January, Alumitec officially announced that they will be expanding into a two-car team on 2 February 2026.
The Canadian team then announced four major personnel signings throughout the month. The first came on 4 February, when EuroNASCAR pioneer Romain Iannetta was announced as the team’s COO for 2026.
Two days later, 2025 runners-up Gianmarco Ercoli announced his contract extension with Alumitec. Ercoli will once again drive the No. 11 Ford Mustang to chase for his second top class title in EuroNASCAR.
Later on 13 February, Israeli driver Ofek Eliyahu was announced by Alumitec as the driver of their new No. 48 entry.
The 13 February announcement also saw Alumitec confirming experienced NASCAR Cup/O’Reilly/Truck crew chief Wayne Carroll Jr. as their crew chief for the upcoming season.
Sandwiching the Alumitec announcements on 9 February is the confirmation of André Lortie’s EuroNASCAR debut.
An aviation expert specializing in maintaining Hawker Hunter jet fighters, Lortie will trade his pilot wings to the driver’s seat when he steps into the seat of the No. 16 Hunter Aviation Racing machine at Valencia.
SpeedHouse then announced Andreas Kuchelbacher’s contract extension on 14 February. Kuchelbacher is set for another year in Rookie Challenge, still chasing for his first title since 2017.
The Daytona 500 weekend that followed proved to be the perfect occasion for Rette Jones Racing to announce their 2026 drivers.
Logan Bearden and Vanessa “Happinessa” Neumann announced their plans to compete with RJR on 15 and 16 February respectively.
Bearden is set to replace Liam Hezemans in EuroNASCAR PRO, while Happinessa will switch teams for her sophomore EuroNASCAR OPEN campaign.
Also switching teams in 2026 is Sandro Tavartkiladze. After finishing fourth in 2025, Tavartkiladze moved to Teams champion Team Bleekemolen to fulfill his ambition to become the 2026 EuroNASCAR OPEN champion.
Tavartkiladze will drive the No. 72 Toyota Camry for Team Bleekemolen, as announced on 18 February 2026. He will be joined by Davit Kajaia’s son Sandro, who will learn the trades of stock car racing in Rookie Challenge.
Giovanni Cartechini completed the Silly Season action on 22 February 2026 when he announced his upcoming debut year with CAAL Racing.
Cartechnini will step in as Claudio Remigio Cappelli’s EuroNASCAR PRO teammate in the No. 54 car, having spent the 2025 season competing in Legend Cars Italia.
Looking from the Outside
Patrick Schober is keeping his options open for the 2026 racing season. Schober is looking for a potential switch to McLaren Trophy after a successful Artura Trophy EVO test at Circuito de Navarra on 3-5 February 2026.
However, Schober is “still in contact with a few EuroNASCAR teams,” as confirmed when World of EuroNASCAR approached the young Austrian.
Schober further notes that his destination for 2026 is “all depending on sponsors and the overall circumstances.”
Under the Radar
Nuno Caetano has confirmed his 2026 EuroNASCAR plans as of the writing of this article, but it was on 5 February 2026 where it was revealed that Caetano is heading to Pikes Peak this year.
Caetano will make his return to the Colorado hills for the 104th edition of the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb, having skipped the 2025 event to focus on his EuroNASCAR Rookie Challenge debut season.
Caetano is set to drive the No. 77 Porsche Cayman 718 GT4 RS Clubsport in the Pikes Peak Open division. He previously ran the hillclimb in 2023 and 2024, finishing 15th in the latter edition.
Disclaimer: Credits for all photos are listed underneath each image.