NASCAR Euro Series Sporting and Technical Director Joe Balash addressed some of the key takeaways from the NASCAR GP Italy at Autodromo di Vallelunga
- NASCAR Euro Series Sporting and Technical Director Joe Balash takes you behind the scenes
- The American praised the high level in the PRO championship
- Balash also addressed the new virtual safety car and explains what happened in the big crash
The second event of the 2025 NASCAR Euro Series season took place at the Autodromo di Vallelunga in Italy. Four sprint races – two each in PRO and OPEN – excited 12,000 fans on the grandstand of one of the most challenging, fastest, and most entertaining circuits on the EuroNASCAR schedule. NASCAR Euro Series Sporting and Technical Director Joe Balash was right in the middle of the action, interacting with teams and drivers. After another thrilling event close to Rome, the American and former NASCAR Xfinity Series Director addressed some of the most discussed topics.
The PRO drivers put on a great show with four races, brilliant battles, almost no crashes, and zero cautions to kick off the 2025 season. The championship’s high level of racing led to nail-biting, side-by-side action, with drivers never crossing the red line. This produced pure, groundbreaking stock car racing at two completely different tracks: Valencia and Vallelunga. Balash is pleased with the racecraft and discipline the PRO drivers displayed in the 2025 NASCAR Euro Series season thus far.
Six drivers were separated by less than one second in qualifying in both Spain and Italy, while an average 15 cars were encompassed in two seconds.
“I’d like to say that the level of professionalism in the PRO category has always been very high,” he said. “The qualifying results and race finishes show how close the times are. The inspection process is keeping the cars very close and no one team has a strong advantage over the others so results are based upon the ability of the drivers on the individual circuits and the setups suiting them better or worse. We’re also seeing different setups on the cars, but with equal results. There are so many drivers who could win a race. Every corner matters, and split-second decisions determine who comes out as the winner. In Vallelunga, six cars were within 0.5 seconds.”
“What I also saw in the first four races is that there were no cautions or safety cars on the track in PRO,” Balash continued. “The competitors showed a very high level of respect for each other. That tells me they are getting to know each other better and better. They are very aware of their role in the series, both as competitors and as individuals who respect their fellow competitors.” Respect, high skill levels, and close competition make the 2025 PRO season one to remember so far.
The virtual safety car
In the OPEN division, the 2025 season began with impressive performances by the drivers in Valencia. The NASCAR GP Italy saw more cautions, crashes, and incidents on the track. To optimize efficiency and return to green-flag racing in a shorter time span, race control used a new tool: the virtual safety car. During a full-course yellow, the cars bunched up behind the leader for a single-file restart, bumper to bumper, on the start-finish straight, without a real safety car ahead of the field. This solution worked, and race control was able to minimize the time spent under caution.
“I’m good with that,” said Balash. “I think the introduction of the virtual safety car was well-received in the paddock, and it helped us safely return to racing very quickly. I was pleased with how both the racers and race control managed the introduction of the virtual safety car. It’s also an effective solution for track cleaning, requiring less time, so we can get back to racing sooner. Going to a virtual safety car also protects the marshals who are doing the cleanup by bunching all the cars together and giving them a big gap on the racetrack where they can work, where they have no cars going by them, and where, just under a full course yellow, you always have traffic.”
The three-car crash in OPEN Round 3
Cautions mean that something happened on the track, and Open Round 3 on Saturday saw a big crash involving three drivers: Thomas Toffel, Happinessa, and Arianna Casoli. Let’s sum up the situation. Toffel made contact with Martin Doubek and was penalized for it. He fell down the order behind the Bremotion driver. To race himself back into a good position, the Swiss driver tried to pass Happinessa in Turn 2. He pulled out onto the inside line right after the little left kink and they raced side-by-side for about five seconds.
The two then converged towards the middle of the track and collided. The contact sent Happinessa’s car right into the tire stack. Toffel’s car stopped on the track and was then hit by Casoli, who had zero visibility in the dust and therefore no chance of dodging the wrecked car despite slowing down. All drivers left the wreck on their own power. Happinessa and Toffel were checked and released from the medical center, while Casoli was sent to a local hospital where she was diagnosed with a radius bone fracture.
Race control reviewed the footage and decided not to take further action, classifying the crash as a racing incident.
“Our cars are built to a very high standard, with safety being our top consideration in the design of the race car,” said Balash, who is happy that the three drivers walked away unscathed. “The chassis is very strong and has many innovations to keep the pilots safe. This has been proven year after year, not only in this incident, but in other incidents as well, so we’re very pleased with the safety cocoon that the car provides for the driver.”
Regarding the incident, he said, “When you’re racing on various parts of a track, there are low-speed and high-speed areas, slightly different lines, and different times for overtaking. Sometimes two cars reach the same location at the same time. In this incident, for example, it literally happened in the center of the racetrack, where two cars were competing for overlapping centimeters.”
“And unfortunately, they got together at that time, causing both cars not to complete what they thought their expected trajectory would be,” Balash continued after studying the footage. “Because of the contact, cars left the racing surface. The racetrack’s safety features, such as the gravel trap and tire barriers, helped protect the drivers involved. Yes, they both did their jobs perfectly.”
Balash offered one final comment regarding the new sequential gearbox, which had just completed another competitive stress test. “Overall, the implementation of the new sequential gearbox has surpassed our initial expectations,” he stated. “We have a great partner working with us hand in hand on any questions that have come up. We continue to fine-tune the program and look forward to many years of success.”
Featured image by NASCAR Euro Series / Bart Dehaese
