CAAL Racing became the first team in the history of the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series to reach the 50-win milestone during its home NASCAR GP at Autodromo di Vallelunga. The powerhouse from Todi, led by Luca and Corrado Canneori, made EuroNASCAR history with the two latest victories by Gianmarco Ercoli and Alberto Naska, bringing the team’s total to 51 wins since debuting in NWES in 2013. In both championships, CAAL Racing has a strong chance of winning another set of titles, but other top organizations will be doing their homework to beat the Italian squad.
It’s time to take a look at the history of the team, which fields three cars in the 2023 NWES season in pursuit of race wins and titles in all different classes. CAAL Racing made its NASCAR debut on September 28, 2013 in Monza with Stefano Gabellini and Lino Curti behind the wheel of the #54 Chevrolet. In CAAL Racing’s second season, Eddie Cheever III became the first driver to take the team to Victory Lane. The Italian scored a total of three wins at Brands Hatch, Magione and Le Mans and finished the season in fourth place behind champion Anthony Kumpen, Ander Vilarino and Frederic Gabillon. Cheever went on to score his fourth and final race win for CAAL Racing in Valencia in 2015.
The same year another NWES icon rose to prominence: Nicolo Rocca. The Italian took CAAL Racing’s first oval win at Raceway Venray in the Netherlands and continued his streak with another first place at the short track in Tours, France. Rocca’s next win with CAAL Racing came at Magione, the track where the winningest EuroNASCAR driver etched his name in the history books for the first time. The name of this unique driver is Alon Day and it was in Magione that the Israeli scored his first career NASCAR win in 2015.
The track near Perugia was CAAL Racing’s playground: also in 2015, Salvador Tineo Arroyo was the first driver of the Italian team to win in EuroNASCAR 2. The Spaniard became the fourth CAAL Racing driver to visit the Victory Lane, increasing the number of victories that the team scored to six that season. Day, the super talent from Ashdod in Israel, was destined to become a true legend and he confirmed his potential at Circuit Zolder in Belgium with a perfect sweep to close his first season on a high note in second overall behind Vilarino. CAAL Racing took all six pole awards that season with two different drivers, a feat never achieved by any other team.
The 2016 NASCAR Whelen Euro Series season added four more wins – three by Day at Valencia, Brands Hatch and Adria, and one by Tineo Arroyo at Brands Hatch. Day was among the title contenders, finishing third behind Kumpen and Gabillon. CAAL Racing was winning regularly, but the team was still looking for the first championship. With Day in the lineup, it was only a matter of time before the Canneori family would be able to lift the big trophy.
The Israeli took it to the next level in 2017, winning four times at Brands Hatch, Franciacorta (2x) and Zolder. These race wins were enough for Day and CAAL Racing to finish at the top of the EuroNASCAR PRO standings and grab the title. The knot had been broken and with newcomer Felipe Rabello’s two wins at the Venray oval, another new driver added his name to the winners list. Day continued his streak with seven race wins in the 2018 season, taking his second consecutive championship. He added victories at Tours and Hockenheim, two tracks where he had never won before.
The Day era at CAAL Racing continued with three wins in the 2019 season at Franciacorta and Brands Hatch. Three more came in 2021 at Brands Hatch, Most and Zolder. The Israeli is the winningest driver in the team’s history with 23 victories in the premier championship of European NASCAR. Day scored two more championship victories in the PK Carsport colors to bring his personal total to 32 wins and four rings.
However, there were many more drivers who parked a CAAL Racing car in Victory Lane: NWES veteran Thomas Ferrando of France won an incredible race at Zolder in 2019. Advait Deodhar scored his first NWES race win at his home track of Brands Hatch in 2021, while Rocca was back with the team in 2022 and took a race win at Valencia. But there are two more names that ushered in an exciting new era for CAAL Racing beginning with the 2020 NASCAR Whelen Euro Series.
2015 EuroNASCAR 2 Champion Gianmarco Ercoli made his EuroNASCAR debut with CAAL in 2014, but he decided to go his separate ways for the next five seasons. In 2020, he rejoined Canneori’s team and scored his first victory onboard CAAL’s flagship #54 Chevrolet at Vallelunga in 2020. The NWES star from Rome became a true EuroNASCAR PRO title contender, racking up win after win. Seven times so far in the 2021, 2022 and 2023 seasons, Ercoli has defeated his competition. The Italian leads the EuroNASCAR PRO championship from Lucas Lasserre at the midway point of the current season.
His teammate Alberto Naska joined the EuroNASCAR 2 championship in 2022 and won a total of four races in his debut season, but the Italian was beaten for the championship by Liam Hezemans in the final race of the season at Grobnik. In 2023, Naska broke his curse at his home race, taking his first win of the season in front of tens of thousands of fans at the Autodromo di Vallelunga. At the NASCAR GP Italy, Ercoli marked the 50th win for CAAL Racing, while Naska added the victory number 51 to the team’s record. With eight wins for Ercoli and six for Naska, the duo is second and third, respectively, in CAAL Racing’s internal standings behind Day.
CAAL Racing’s arch-rivals PK Carsport and Hendriks Motorsport are tied at 42 victories each and both are poised to hit the 50-win mark very soon.
The home races in Italy have always been in the hands of CAAL Racing. At Vallelunga, Franciacorta, Adria and Magione, the team scored a total of 15 race wins. Brands Hatch follows in second with ten race wins for CAAL Racing, while the venue of the EuroNASCAR Finals, Circuit Zolder, has also been good to the powerhouse as the drivers have collected a total of nine wins in Belgium. The team won the EuroNASCAR PRO Championship and the Junior Trophy thrice with Day (2x) and Ercoli, as well as two trophies in EuroNASCAR 2: Arianna Casoli won both the Lady Trophy (3x) and the Legend Trophy (1x).
CAAL Racing is looking to add more wins and titles to its tally in the 2023 NWES season. NWES’ Pure racing will continue after the summer break on August 26-27 at the Autodrom Most, the venue of the NASCAR GP Czech Republic. Qualifying and all races will be broadcast live on EuroNASCAR’s YouTube channel, Motorsport.tv and several TV services around the world. Keep an eye out for the #54, #56 and #88 Chevrolet Camaros fielded by CAAL Racing.
Featured image by NASCAR Whelen Euro Series / Bart Dehaese
