The 2026 NASCAR Euro Series kicks off this weekend, at the start of another flat-out season which will bring it to Brands Hatch for American SpeedFest on 6/7 June. The opening action comes from the NASCAR GP Spain in Valencia on Saturday and Sunday (18/19 April), with the sole UK round coming to the Kent circuit for round three.

As has become traditional NASCAR Euro Series events, including the summer clash on the Indy circuit, will feature four races across two days. That’s a race each, per day, for the headline V8GP class and the OPEN category. The majority of the cars are shared between drivers in the classes, with a handful eligible to compete in both.

These colourful stock cars have headlined SpeedFest since the fixture’s inauguration in 2013, and the series remains the only officially sanctioned stock car series of its kind you can see in Europe.

Star names to look out for the premier V8GP class this year include former Grand Prix contender Nelson Piquet Jr, who is taking on the European NASCAR scene for the first time. Another former F1 racer on the grid will be Alex Caffi, who is stepping back into the cockpit from his team management role to add more experience to the grid. They’ll be competing against a grid of some of the most experienced stock car competitors on the continent.

The OPEN division, meanwhile, will offer young drivers and amateur competitors an opportunity to show they have what it takes in US-inspired competition.

The field also includes a handful of American competitors and it will be fascinating to see how they fare ahead of the visit to Brands Hatch.

The NASCAR Euro Series will be accompanied at SpeedFest by Bernie’s V8s, the Pickup Truck Racing Championship, Ford vs Chevy, the Legends Cars National Championship and the SpeedFest Silhouettes.

For more information about the NASCAR Euro Series, visit www.nascar.eu. For SpeedFest tickets head to www.speedfest.co.uk.