Fresh of his second Legend Trophy title in the NASCAR Whelen Whelen Euro Series, Jerry De Weerdt will become the 16th NWES driver to compete in NASCAR in the US today by making his debut in the final race of the K&N Pro Series West at Kern County Raceway Park, California.
Success in the European NASCAR series translates into the best opportunities to race in the United States and racing on Bakersfield’s half-mile oval will represent De Weerdt another step towards fulfilling his dream of competing at Bristol Motor Speedway in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. The Belgian will count on the experience he gained in the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series to quickly adapt to the #14 Braxx Motors Ford Fusion fielded by Patriot Motorsports and owned by Jesse Iwuji. The goal for the weekend is to log miles and learn as much as possible in the highly competitive K&N Pro Series West.
“I’ve been thinking about racing in the US for a while and finally here we are thanks to NASCAR, NWES and Joe Balash (NASCAR International Liaison),” said De Weerdt, who earned 3 top-10 finishes in four races this year in the Euro NASCAR oval racing weekend at Raceway Venray. “The track looks a little bit like Venray but has less banking and is wider so I think I can find a good feeling. The race also fits well with our schedule because we closed the European season last month. It will take some time to adjust to a new car, but it’s great to be able to enter such a competitive race already knowing what to expect thanks to our experience in NWES and I would be happy to stay out of trouble, finish the race and try to move forward.”
De Weerdt’s 2017 season in the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series has been extremely positive. Braxx Racing’s team owner won his second consecutive Legend Trophy title in the ELITE 2 Division with the 10th place in the final points standings and finished 14th in points in ELITE 1. His Braxx Racing team also grabbed its first NASCAR win in the ELITE 1 Division with Marc Goossens and the #90 Ford Mustang in the Circuit Zolder Finals, testifying the team’s continuous progress.
“It’s been such a great year and with a fantastic Finals weekend we proved we’re a winning team, so this race in the US is the perfect ending for our season,” concluded De Weerdt. “We are building our new headquarters in Belgium and we’ll also put together a new car for Marc so we’ll have a lot of work ahead of us in the offseason but we can’t wait to be back on track. I hope Marc can be with us for the full season in 2018 and battle for the NWES title and we are also looking for an ELITE 2 driver to race alongside him.”
The K&N Pro Series West final race day at Kern County Raceway Park will start with the first practice session at 8:30 pm CET. Qualifying will begin at 0:30 CET, while the West Coast Stock Car HOF 150 presented by NAPA Auto Parts will go green at 4:00 am CET.
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