The NASCAR Euro Series presents a brand new format for the 2025 season. The redesigned time-attack-based Rookie Challenge will be part of five events and will provide the best opportunity for newcomers, talents, gentleman drivers and rookies to prepare for PRO and OPEN races and gain valuable track time. The new competition will replace the Club Challenge and will consist of three 30-minute sessions on Friday. Two sessions will be timed and will award points to the participants.
"The Rookie Challenge is designed to train and prepare rookie drivers for future NASCAR Euro Series races," reads the division's rulebook. "It provides beneficial track time in a friendly and consistent environment during private practice sessions organised immediately prior to the prestigious NASCAR Euro Series events to discover the NASCAR cars and tracks." The tracks hosting Rookie Challenge sessions are Valencia, Vallelunga, Most, Oschersleben and Zolder.
The Rookie Challenge is open to all drivers holding a valid racing licence. The division is not open to PRO and OPEN drivers, with one important exception: competitors who are racing in their first season of EuroNASCAR or who have not competed in more than three events per season in previous years may participate in the sessions. Young drivers aged 15 and older will be allowed to get behind the wheel of a V8 EuroNASCAR car. It's also allowed for teams to enter more than one driver per car in the competition. Taxi driving is also permitted during the Rookie Challenge sessions upon prior request to TEAM FJ, the founder, owner and promoter of the NASCAR Euro Series.
To ensure a friendly environment, overtaking zones will be enforced during the Rookie Challenge to reduce the risk of accidents. After the first practice session, all drivers will have to declare a target time for the second and third competition sessions. The best five laps from both sessions that are closest to the reference time will be counted. The driver with the lowest penalty time wins the Rookie Challenge event, in case of a tie the second best lap time closest to the reference time is used to declare the winner.
The points system is the same as in PRO and OPEN: the winner gets 40 points, second place 35 points, third place 34 points and so on. Declaring and achieving a faster reference lap time is rewarded with a bonus point. The driver with the fastest reference time receives three bonus points, the second fastest two points and the third fastest one point. At the EuroNASCAR Final at the Circuit Zolder, all points awarded will be doubled. After the sessions there will be a podium ceremony with trophies for the Rookie Challenge participants. There are also prizes to be won: the winner will receive the full entry fee for the 2026 NASCAR Euro Series season in the PRO or OPEN categories, while second and third overall will receive 50% of the entry fee.