NWES cancels Hockenheim, Vallelunga All-Star becomes points race

The 2022 NASCAR Whelen Euro Series season will begin a month later than planned. Due to unexplained circumstances, the first round at Hockenheimring on 9/10 April has been cancelled, meaning the second race at Circuit Ricardo Tormo on 14/15 May is now the opener. In order to keep the schedule at twelve races, the all-star exhibition race at Autodromo di Vallelunga on 9/10 July has become a standard points-paying event.

Hockenheim began hosting the NASCAR GP Germany annually in 2017, but has disappeared from the NWES schedule since 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Series officials cited “ongoing difficult circumstances” for the cancellation but did not specify a reason, though the previous two years mean one can assume the pandemic is once again a contributing factor. The series intends to return in 2023 should matters be resolved, with CEO Jérôme Galpin proclaiming his group will “start immediately to investigate every possible opportunity to come back racing in Germany in 2023”.

Circuit Ricardo Tormo in Valencia becomes the first race of the season due to unfortunate circumstance, but it is not unfamiliar with such a slot. Outside of the pandemic-plagued 2020 season, the Spanish track hosted the season opener every year from 2014 to 2021.

Autodromo di Vallelunga in Italy was originally to hold an all-star race, a concept that is similar to the exhibition conducted by the NASCAR Cup Series in America. NWES moved the NASCAR GP Italy from Autodromo di Franciacorta to Vallelunga in 2020, and it became that year’s first race after the pandemic pushed Valencia to the final round.

“We are very excited to continue working with the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series and we look forward to this new development,” commented Vallelunga CEO Alfredo Scala. “The event we will host in July will become even more important and we are sure that fans, from Italy and beyond, will flock to the Vallelunga circuit for an event that will combine the excitement of EuroNASCAR racing with plenty of family-friendly attractions at the track, all at a time of the year when Rome and Italy offer unique beauty and incomparable weather.”

All other dates will remain the same. The series also intends to hold its exhibition race on a snow/ice course at the end of the season, though a location and date have not been specified.

Revised 2022 schedule