Daytona Beach, Florida – All that’s left is to hand out is the hardware. And settle some bragging rights.
The 2014 NASCAR Champions Week in North Carolina kicks off Wednesday with the annual Media & Champions Karting Challenge at GoPro Motorplex in Moorseville, and culminates with two nights of celebration at the Charlotte Convention Center at the NASCAR Hall of Fame.
The NASCAR Whelen All-American Series Awards will be Friday, and the NASCAR Touring Series Night of Champions follows on Saturday. Both nights will air live on FansChoice.tv and streamed simultaneously on NASCARHomeTracks.com, beginning with the Red Carpet Pre-Show at 5 p.m. The awards begin at 6 p.m. each night. The shows will air in English, French and Spanish.
Before they get to the stage to deliver their championship speeches and accept their NASCAR Champions ring from NASCAR President Mike Helton, the seven champions of the NASCAR touring series and the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series national champions will square off with each other and the media.
Champions at the event will include:
Greg Pursley, Newhall, California (NASCAR K&N Pro Series West)
Doug Coby, Milford, Connecticut (NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour)
Andy Seuss, Hampstead, New Hampshire (NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour)
Anthony Kumpen, Hasselt, Belgium (NASCAR Whelen Euro Series)
L.P. Dumoulin, Trois-Rivières, Quebec, Canada (NASCAR Canadian Tire Series presented by Mobil 1)
Abraham Calderón, Monterrey, Mexico (NASCAR Toyota Mexico Series)
Anthony Anders, Easley, South Carolina (NASCAR Whelen All-American Series)
GoPro Motorplex will open at 9 a.m. Wednesday, and drivers will be practicing throughout the morning. The track is open to the public until 1 p.m., and fans are encouraged to come out to meet the drivers and race against them.
The Media & Champions Karting Challenge begins at 1:30 p.m. with additional practice for just the media and drivers. The race – in which each of the champions will be paired with a media member in a relay format – will kick off at 2:50 p.m. This will be followed by a 15-minute sprint face-off between the eight champions.
In 2012 at GoPro Motorplex, current NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Kyle Larson won the Champions Sprint, while four-time NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour champion George Brunnhoelzl III and Kyle Rickey of Motor Racing Network (MRN) won the Media & Champions Challenge. Past Champions Karting winners also include Max Gresham (2011), Bobby Santos (2010), Ryan Truex (2009) and Brian Loftin (2008). Last year, the Champions event was held on iRacing simulators at the NASCAR Hall of Fame, with NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour’s Ryan Preece grabbing the top honors among the champions.
The NASCAR Whelen All-American Series Awards will take place Friday. Among those honored will be Anders as the 2014 national champion in addition to his South Carolina and Greenville Pickens Speedway late model titles. The awards will also recognize the Division I champions from 58 tracks across the United States and Canada, state and provincial champions and top rookies, Div. II-V national champions, and other special award winners.
On the following evening, NASCAR’s touring series champions will be recognized at the traditional NASCAR Night of Champions Touring Awards. Honorees will include the champions from the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East and West, NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour, NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour, NASCAR Canadian Tire Series presented by Mobil 1, NASCAR Mexico Toyota Series and NASCAR Whelen Euro Series. In addition, the series championship car owners and crew chiefs will receive their trophies, as well as the Most Popular Drivers and rookies of the year.
Top finishers and special awards winners will also receive their trophies and recognition during the annual Grand Champions Breakfasts at the Westin in Charlotte on Friday (NASCAR Whelen All-American Series) and Saturday (NASCAR Touring Series). For the first time, these events will be simultaneously streamed live on FansChoice.tv and NASCARHomeTracks.com.