The opening of NASCAR Brasil 2026, in Santa Cruz do Sul (RS), left a clear impression: the championship started at full speed and the new car, the RiSE26, already arrived demanding maximum effort from the start.
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With a victory and a second place over the weekend, Vitor Genz (Ford Mustang #46, Full Time), leader of the overall standings, left the stage with more than just points. Debuting in a new team, he left the interior of Rio Grande do Sul with the feeling that the work done before the start made a direct difference on the track. In a compressed grid, he maintained pace and control in both races, even under pressure.
“Leaving with the championship lead in the first stage reinforces our confidence, even more so being my first race with Full Time. Our synergy will still evolve, but we already had an excellent start,” he commented. The focus now is on the next stage in Cascavel (PR) and the leader is already looking at the Paraná track as an opportunity to maintain momentum. “It’s a track I really like, one of the fastest circuits in Brazil. The new car favors high-speed corners and I believe it will fit very well there,” evaluates the driver from Porto Alegre (RS).
In second place, Thiago Camilo (Ford Mustang #21, Full Time) reinforces the team’s good momentum, which dominated the opening stage. The victory in Race 1 and constant presence among the top finishers show a competitive package from the start, although the driver himself recognizes that there is room for improvement.
“It was a positive and promising start. The team’s effort in assembling the cars was rewarded, we arrived more prepared and with fewer problems to solve,” he highlighted. Even with the strong result, the discourse is one of continuous evolution. “There is a large margin for evolution. We are not yet 100% and we have a lot to improve throughout the championship,” completed the São Paulo native, already looking ahead to the next stage.
In the Challenge, the logic repeats itself: balance and race reading make a difference. Witold Ramasauskas (Chevrolet Camaro #11, Team RC), championship leader, built his position with consistency and knew how to take advantage of every opportunity.
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“We started very well, even with the setbacks during the weekend. Leaving with the lead was a pleasant surprise. We managed to take good advantage of the starts and restarts, being in the right place at the right time,” explained the São Paulo driver. “It was ‘all or nothing’ at times, and it ended up being everything,” he said. For the sequence, the plan is to maintain the attack, but with championship intelligence. “We will attack, but with strategy, always thinking about scoring as many points as possible,” he anticipated.
Right behind, Alfredinho Ibiapina (Ford Mustang #8, Full Time), current runner-up, has already shown the ability to react by transforming a complicated start into an expressive result. The recovery after an incident in Race 1 became one of the highlights of the stage.
“It was a very intense debut in every sense, but I am very happy with what we showed on track,” he stated. The focus now is on evolving details that can make an immediate difference: “We need to improve qualifying. The car is very good and the adaptation continues to happen,” said the competitor from Curitiba (PR) who currently resides in Florianópolis (SC).
After an intense debut, NASCAR Brasil arrives in Cascavel, on May 2-3, with a well-defined scenario: whoever wants to fight for the title will need to sustain performance from qualifying practice.
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