Credits: NASCAR Whelen Euro Series / CAAL Racing
Marc Goossens is moving to CAAL Racing for the 2023 season as he will be joined by former Braxx teammate Sven van Laere, who will be making his return to the series this year.
Marc Goossens is returning for his eighth season in NASCAR Whelen Euro Series' top division EuroNASCAR PRO. The news of his return was made official on 27 March 2023, when it was announced that he and Sven van Laere will be joining CAAL Racing's No. 56 team for the 2023 EuroNASCAR season.
Goossens and van Laere, a gentleman driver with 26 seasons of racing experience that primarily competes in various sports car championships in the Benelux region, will be bringing back a familiar sponsor in automotive wholesale solutions company Anecars to the No. 56 team.
Credits: NASCAR Whelen Euro Series / CAAL Racing
Anecars' presence on the grid is certainly going to bring people's attention towards the No. 56 Chevrolet, thanks to the wonderfully colorful, comic book-inspired livery that the No. 56 team will be using for the full season.
Interestingly, this is not the first time that Goossens and van Laere will be sharing a car together in EuroNASCAR. Both drivers had previously raced Braxx Racing's No. 78 Ford Mustang when van Laere made his EuroNASCAR debut at Zolder in 2019.
Goossens and van Laere then announced that they will be racing the 2020 season together as the driver of Braxx's No. 91 Chevrolet before Braxx chose to withdraw from the season - and later the series altogether - due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Credits: NASCAR Whelen Euro Series / Bart Dehaese
Braxx's exit forced Goossens and van Laere to go on their own separate ways. Van Laere opted to focus his efforts in the local Benelux region, while Goossens - who is also active in the local Benelux championships such as Belcar - maintained his participation in EuroNASCAR after he found a new teammate in Dylan Derdaele.
Coincidentally, CAAL Racing happens to be the team that Goossens chose as his new destination in the 2020 season. Goossens' time at CAAL proved to be a successful one, as he finished on the podium twice and scored seven top-10 finishes on his way to finish fifth in the standings - the highest of the four CAAL entries that year.
Credits: NASCAR Whelen Euro Series / Klemen Sofric
With Goossens having recently struggled to make major impressions with DF1 Racing and SpeedHouse, he is hoping that a return to the Italian powerhouse team will give him the chance to fight for victories in ENPRO once more.
"Winning the championship and going to Victory Lane are always the goals," said Goossens. "Those are the two most beautiful goals you can put first, aren't they? I love close racing immensely and the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series lends itself perfectly to that."
Credits: NASCAR Whelen Euro Series / Bart Dehaese
Van Laere's initial stint in EuroNASCAR might be short lived, but the 49-year old Belgian is ready to finally realize his dreams of making a full-season campaign in EuroNASCAR after a three-year delay.
"I want to win the Legend Trophy and fight for some overall podiums," said van Laere to euronascar.com. "I really like close racing with the same cars for every driver in the championship. Drivers can really make the difference in EuroNASCAR. My experience and my ability to fight in close races in a clean and proper way will be my strengths."
Disclaimer: Credits for all photos are listed underneath each image.
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