EURO-RACECAR Champion Eric Hélary to contest Loudon NASCAR event with new European team

BLOIS, France – Eric Hélary will contest the NASCAR K&N Pro Series race at Loudon on 22 September as his reward for securing the 2011 Racecar Euro Series championship. The Frenchman will campaign a Chevrolet for Team FJ’s newly acquired outfit in what is a curtain raiser to the top-tier Sprint Cup, further solidifying the EURO-RACECAR NASCAR Touring Series’ status as the starting point for European drivers looking to compete in the United States.

Since creating the Racecar Series in 2009, Team FJ has made clear its desire to prepare European drivers for NASCAR competition and create a path to the USA. Every year since the championship’s inception, the title winner has been rewarded with a race seat for a NASCAR event on the other side of the Atlantic. Wilfried Boucenna and Lucas Lasserre were the pioneers, entering the Toyota All-Star Showdown at Irwindale near Los Angeles, and now Hélary is preparing to make his American bow.

With the Californian race no longer being held, the recent Tours 100 winner will take part in the NASCAR’s K&N Pro Series East round at Loudon. The 1-mile (1.609 km) New Hampshire oval, situated 100km from Boston, Massachusetts, represents the 12th of 14 events on the calendar and will take place in support of the NASCAR Sprint Cup’s Sylvania 300.

EURO-RACECAR creators and promoters Team FJ recently acquired Fadden Racing, a vastly experienced K&N Pro Series East outfit for whom formerowner Mike Olsen won two titles. The team has three cars: one for road courses, the second for fast ovals and a third for short tracks. It is in the latterthat Joey Logano won the 2010 Toyota All-Star Showdown and Lucas Lasserre appeared in the same race 12 months later. By acquiring Fadden Racing, Team FJ has created a support structure for series champions to take their reward drive (Hélary in Loudon and the 2012 Champion in the Battle of the Beach, a curtain raiser to the Daytona 500, in February 2013) and for EURO-RACECAR competitors and other European drivers wishing to cross the Atlantic to get a taste of NASCAR competition.

WHAT IS THE NASCAR K&N PRO SERIES?

The K&N Pro Series is a feeder category to NASCAR’s three professional championships: Sprint Cup, Nationwide and Camping World Truck Series. It provides a proving ground for future stars with the likes of Kevin Harvick,Kyle Busch, Martin Truex Jr., Joey Logano and Trevor Bayne all emerging from the East and West series. Today its grid includes Travis Pastrana,Chase Elliott (son of Bill Elliott), Sergio Pena, Darrell Wallace Jr., Corey Lajoie and current points leader Brett Moffitt. Hélary will also go up against Ben Kennedy, the great-grandson of NASCAR founder Bill France Sr., who he competed with at Tours Speedway.

Interview Eric Hélary : "I feel the pressure building"

Frenchman Eric Hélary boasts an impressive racing CV having claimed the 1993 Le Mans 24 Hours, his native Formula Ford (1988) and Formula 3 (1990) titles as well as both the French and European Peugeot 905 Spyder Cup championships (1991 and ’92 respectively). But, at the age of 46, he has found a new challenge.

It is not a complete trip into the unknown however, as for the past three seasons Hélary has been soaking up the American racing atmosphere as part of the EURO-RACECAR NASCAR Touring Series, of which he is defending champion. As a reward for this success, the newly retired racer and manager of the Still Racing EURO-RACECAR squad is back in action – and he has very high hopes.

How do you feel about this new chapter of your career?

“I’m beginning to think seriously about it and, to be honest, I'm starting to feel the pressure building. I’ve done my research on Loudon and learnt the track on a simulator in Toulouse, but nothing replaces actually driving it. That said, I'm going there with the aim of performing well. The practice sessions will be quick so it’ll be difficult to fine-tune the car in such a short period and I don’t think I’ll be very comfortable in qualifying. But I am counting on the fact that it’s a long race – and a bit of luck!”

What are your goals for the NewHampshire 100?

“Well, I went to Tours just to have a look around and I won. I have nothing to lose, so I'm going to New Hampshire simply aiming to do my best. I won the Le Mans 24 Hours at the first attempt, despite predicting beforehand that it was totally impossible to do so. I retired because it is difficult to make a living as a driver, but I am still a competitor and my goal is to be at the top.”

How did Tours Speedway help you to prepare for this event?

“I was able to understand how to approach a long race. On Saturday I was very aggressive, taking risks at the first corner and seeing it as a normal race. The next day I approached it differently, knowing that Loudon would be longer again and that you need tohave the intelligence to manage the situation. In this respect, Tours helped me a lot. It was also great to learn the procedures related to oval racing such as spotters, the flag system and green and white chequered finishes. All of this is now familiar to me.”

You will be the first driver from the Team FJ venture to compete in NASCAR’s K&N Pro Series. What do you think of the ladder system created by EURO-RACECAR’s organisers?

“It’s no longer a ladder, it’s a bridge!If they find a talent in Europe they can take him straight to the United States. In a way I’m the guinea pig, because three years ago the Galpin family invited me to compete in a race at Val-de-Vienne so as to experience the new championship. I finished second in 2010, was champion last year and now I run my own EURO-RACECAR team. I'll be a rookie in the States, but they’ve bought an existing team that works well and I hope to be able to benefit from their experience.”

EURO-RACECAR NASCAR Touring Series
Tel : +33 (0) 254.45.54.45
E-mail : racecar@teamfj.com
Web :    WWW.RACECARSERIES.COM