Thomas Krasonis tells his story on how he became the NASCAR Euro Series OPEN champion – The Greek moved abroad early and was able to make history for his home country in 2025

• Thomas Krasonis is the 2025 NASCAR Euro Series OPEN champion
• The Greek recognized the need to move abroad in his early career days
• Krasonis accomplished success with his long-term commitment to the sport

Thomas Krasonis accomplished a historic feat when he crossed the finish line in the NASCAR Euro Series Finals at Circuit Zolder. By securing the OPEN division title, Krasonis became the first NASCAR champion to hail from Greece, turning him into a national star of the sport. The Greek achieved his ambitions after he and his family recognized early on the need to compete abroad and committed themselves to fulfilling Krasonis’ long-term goals. This is the story of how the 23-year-old made history in the 2025 season.

The First Steps Into Racing

Krasonis started his journey when he raced go-karts alongside his father in his native country of Greece. His father recognized Krasonis’ talent and passion for the sport, so they entered amateur championships and achieved success together. The allure of international competition also led them to compete in a race in another country. This was a life changing experience, as it opened their eyes on the need to move abroad to build Krasonis’ career further.

“I started racing with karts as a hobby with my father,” said Krasonis on where it all began. “It was something nice to do together and we then did some amateur races. We really liked the sport, so we continued and did some races abroad just to see what is the difference between there and Greece, which is a small country in motorsports. Back then we didn’t have circuits, we didn’t have the automobile industry, we didn’t have anything. ”

“So we went to do a world championship race or a trophy, I think it was in Italy, where we saw more than 60 or 70 cars per category. It was incredible to see compared to the 15 to 20 maximum that we had in Greece. We quickly understood that the level of competition abroad is high and if you wanted to try to build a career in motorsport, you need to do it abroad. It’s not possible to do it in Greece. Therefore we began putting all of our funding to international racing.”

Krasonis Finds His Path to NASCAR

Once moving abroad, Krasonis continued to build his experience in karting races across Europe. After five years, the Greek made the jump to car racing and competed in touring car championships in the UK and Italy. His talents were noticed by former Formula 1 driver Alex Caffi, who owned his eponymous Alex Caffi Motorsport team in the NASCAR Euro Series. Caffi offered Krasonis a chance to test one of his machines and from then, the path to the official European NASCAR championship was secured.

“I did five years in the world and European championship karting races,” explained Krasonis. “When finished with karting, you have the choice of single seaters or cars. We didn’t have the budget for single seaters, so I began racing at a junior championship with a Citroen Saxo in the UK. In the UK, I did two seasons there to upgrade my license. Then I went to the Mini Challenge Italy, which was a very nice championship.”

“Alex Caffi was the first team boss that I had in NASCAR. He gave me the opportunity to test with the EuroNASCAR cars. I have to say thanks to him because he was there at the beginning and after that, the rest is history.”

The First Greek NASCAR Champion

Krasonis approached his NASCAR adventure methodically. Recognizing his limitations with budget, he made a commitment to stay long-term and worked his best to make everything count from race by race. This approach worked wonders: After securing his first sponsors during his time with Marko Stipp Motorsport and later a move to PK Carsport in 2025, the Greek was able to make history in his first season with the #13 Chevrolet Camaro.

“We began step by step. We didn’t have the funding to do full seasons in the beginning, so if somebody checked the results, you will understand. In my third year, after showing some very good signs, my first sponsors and my first official contract came when signing with Marko Stipp. That was the big changing step, together with my initiative to bring along my trainer to make him my coach. After that, it was just a more organized effort.

“We knew we had a target. We had a goal compared to the previous year where we just said, ‘Okay, let’s see where we will arrive’. We decided that this will be a long plan, but if we follow all the steps, we will get rewarded. And that’s what happened. We got the championship in the end and became the first Greek champion ever. That is basically the story. It took me a lot of time to get competitive, but in the end, we made it count.”

Featured image by NASCAR Euro Series / Nina Weinbrenner