NASCAR Goes Beyond Europe: Georgia Joins the Map as Euro Series Targets Eurasia
NASCAR’s European ambitions are beginning to stretch beyond the continent’s traditional motorsport strongholds. Following plans for another international season in 2027, the NASCAR Euro Series has announced a multi-year agreement that will bring the championship to Georgia, with an all-star event planned for 2027 and official championship racing expected from 2028 through 2030.
By DLifestyle Magazine | Motorsport
NASCAR’s European story is entering a new chapter
For many fans, NASCAR means the high-speed ovals of the United States, the thunder of powerful stock cars and the close-quarters battles that have made American stock-car racing a global motorsport attraction. But NASCAR’s international ambitions have increasingly brought that racing identity to audiences far beyond its traditional home.
The NASCAR Euro Series has been developing its own identity, bringing American-style stock-car competition to European circuits while creating opportunities for drivers, teams and fans across different countries.
Its planned 2027 calendar illustrates that reach, with rounds scheduled in Spain, France, the United Kingdom, the Czech Republic, Italy and Belgium. The championship is not simply attempting to transplant an American racing format onto European soil. It is building a distinct international platform, with local drivers and teams helping to establish its following.
Now, that expansion is taking a significant step east.
On October 29, 2026, the NASCAR Euro Series announced a multi-year agreement with the Georgian Automobile Sport Federation (GASF) and Georgian authorities. The deal will bring international NASCAR Euro Series racing to the Rustavi International Motorpark, close to the Georgian capital of Tbilisi.
The announcement adds a new dimension to the series’ development: rather than concentrating exclusively on established European motorsport markets, NASCAR Euro Series is preparing to build a presence in the wider Eurasian region.
Source: “NASCAR Euro Series official announcement” (https://www.nascar.eu/2026/10/29/nascar-euro-series-forges-eurasian-expansion-multi-year-agreement-brings-the-championship-to-georgia/).
Georgia gets its first taste of NASCAR Euro Series racing in 2027
The agreement is structured around two stages.
The first is a non-championship all-star event planned for late autumn 2027 at Rustavi International Motorpark. Although it will not count towards the regular championship standings, the event is intended to introduce the series to a new audience and provide an opportunity to assess the operation of an international race meeting at the venue.
The organisers say participating teams and drivers will receive logistical assistance and financial travel subsidies. These measures are intended to make the trip more accessible, although the precise schedule, race format and full event arrangements have yet to be announced.
The second stage begins in 2028, when Rustavi is planned to join the NASCAR Euro Series championship calendar. Under the agreement, Georgia is expected to host championship racing through the end of the 2030 season.
That distinction matters. The 2027 event is a preliminary, non-championship meeting, while the races planned from 2028 onwards are intended to form part of the official title competition.
The arrangement gives organisers time to establish the event, coordinate international participation and introduce the championship to Georgian spectators before the venue becomes a regular destination on the series calendar.
Why Georgia, and why Rustavi?
Located approximately 20 kilometres from Tbilisi, Rustavi International Motorpark sits close to Georgia’s largest urban centre. Its location gives the championship access to a metropolitan population of approximately 1.3 million people, while also placing the event within reach of visitors travelling from other parts of the country and the wider region.
For the series, the appeal extends beyond adding another circuit to a calendar.
Georgia offers a route into a region where the championship can develop relationships with new fans, potential sponsors, local teams and emerging drivers. A permanent event could also create opportunities for corporate hospitality, tourism and other commercial activity connected with international motorsport.
The circuit itself has a history that predates this agreement. Rustavi was developed during the Soviet era and later underwent modernisation before returning to use as an international motorsport venue. Its selection for the NASCAR Euro Series is therefore part of a broader effort to build on existing infrastructure rather than create an entirely new racing facility.
The planned expansion will nevertheless depend on the practical details of staging an international event: transport, accommodation, circuit operations, safety standards, commercial partnerships and the logistics of moving teams and equipment across borders.
The announcement establishes the direction of travel. The coming seasons will determine how successfully that ambition translates into a sustainable race meeting.
Georgian drivers helped open the door
The expansion also has a local sporting story.
The NASCAR Euro Series has pointed to the recent international campaigns of Georgian competitors, including the Kolkhi Georgia Racing Team, Davit and Sandro Kajaia, Sandro Tavartkiladze and Mariam Davitidze.
Their participation has helped strengthen Georgia’s connection with the championship and demonstrated the potential for drivers from the country to compete on an international stage.
Davit Kajaia has been particularly prominent in the series’ Trophy competition, while Tavartkiladze has also recorded Trophy success. These results have provided a sporting foundation for the partnership, giving the proposed Georgian event a local connection rather than making it simply another overseas stop for visiting teams.
The appearance of the first EuroNASCAR car in Georgia during 2026 was another important step. It allowed local drivers to test the machinery at Rustavi and helped establish the groundwork for future participation.
For aspiring racers, a home event could offer something difficult to replicate through overseas competition alone: the opportunity to compete in front of local supporters, attract domestic partners and introduce more young people to the sport.
It does not guarantee that Georgia will produce a future NASCAR champion, but it creates a more direct pathway for local talent to become involved.
A partnership with a longer-term purpose
NASCAR Euro Series President and founder Jerome Galpin described the agreement as an opportunity to reach new fans, inspire future generations and create sporting and commercial opportunities for teams and drivers.
His comments suggest that the project is intended to be more than a one-off international exhibition.
A successful all-star event in 2027 could help establish audience interest, demonstrate the circuit’s ability to host the championship and give organisers valuable operational experience. A regular championship round from 2028 would then provide a recurring platform for the series to develop its presence.
Georgia’s Minister of Sport, Shalva Gogoladze, welcomed the agreement as an important milestone for motorsport development in the country. Alexander Lomadze, president of the Georgian Automobile Sport Federation and vice-president of the FIA Sport Clubs Committee, also highlighted the progression from the preliminary event to planned championship races.
The arrangement reflects a shared ambition: NASCAR Euro Series gains a foothold in a new market, while Georgia gains an international motorsport event with the potential to support driver development, tourism and commercial exposure.
The longer-term impact will depend on whether that relationship can be maintained beyond the initial excitement of the announcement.
What this means for the NASCAR Euro Series
The planned Georgia expansion comes as the championship continues to develop its international calendar and identity.
For 2027, the published European schedule includes Circuit Ricardo Tormo in Spain, Paul Ricard in France, Brands Hatch in the United Kingdom, Autodrom Most in the Czech Republic, Vallelunga in Italy and Zolder in Belgium. Georgia’s late-autumn all-star event is a separate addition to that broader programme, rather than a replacement for one of the scheduled European championship rounds.
From 2028, Rustavi is expected to become part of the official championship calendar.
That distinction highlights the scale of the series’ ambition. Its traditional European programme can continue while a new event establishes a presence in the Caucasus, a region at the intersection of Europe and Asia.
For teams, an additional international destination brings both opportunity and complexity. Travel costs, freight, schedules and preparation will all need to be managed. The announced subsidies for the 2027 event may help participating teams make the initial trip, but the long-term commercial and logistical arrangements will be important to the success of the championship rounds that follow.
For fans, meanwhile, the prospect is straightforward: more opportunities to see NASCAR-style racing in person, and a new setting in which the series can build its identity.
Looking beyond the traditional motorsport map
Motorsport’s international growth is often measured through new races, new circuits and the arrival of established championships in markets that have not previously hosted them.
But a successful expansion requires more than putting a venue on a calendar. It needs local interest, capable organisers, competitive participation and a reason for fans to return after the first event.
Georgia has a head start in that respect. Its drivers have already participated in the NASCAR Euro Series, a national federation is involved in the agreement, and Rustavi provides an existing circuit close to the country’s capital.
The proposed 2027 all-star event will be the first major test of that combination. If it succeeds, the planned championship rounds from 2028 through 2030 could help turn the agreement into a lasting part of the series’ international programme.
For NASCAR Euro Series, the opportunity is to build a connection with a new audience without abandoning the European foundation on which its championship has developed.
For Georgia, the prize is the chance to place its motorsport community on a larger international stage.
NASCAR Euro Series is no longer looking only at how far it can travel across Europe. With Georgia now part of its plans, the championship is preparing to test how far its racing identity can reach into Eurasia.
