Written by Lorenzo Baer, Edited by Vyas Ponnuri
The inauguration of the Circuito dos Cristais is scheduled for Friday, 15th November 2024.
Since 2023, the NASCAR Brasil Sprint Race has become one of NASCAR's licensed affiliates spread around the world. The big news for 2024 sees the announcement of a race on an oval circuit, the first of its kind to be contested in Brazil.
Named “Oval Special Edition”, the last stage of the 2024 season of the NASCAR Brasil Series will go down in the history of Brazilian motorsport as the inauguration event of the first purpose-built oval circuit in the country, located in the town of Curvelo, situated in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil.
The three-day race weekend, from the 15th to 17th November, is going to be contested on a brand-new, ¾ mile track, known as the “Circuito dos Cristais”.
The circuit is designed to provide the public and drivers an unprecedented experience in the country, but keeping in mind the reality of NASCAR Brasil Series current cars, which have different specifications from the international NASCAR championship.
Despite being based on the Chevrolet Camaro and Ford Mustang specs, the same ones used by the NASCAR Cup and Xfinity Series, the Brazilian cars are optimised for ‘traditional circuits’; in other words, with curves and straights sans inclination — certainly set to pose a new challenge for NASCAR Brazil drivers.
The format of the circuit is quite peculiar, slightly longer than Richmond Raceway in length (1250 km for the Brazilian track, against 1.207 km for its American counterpart). Curvelo will also feature two ends with different configurations, mirroring the famous asymmetrical oval layouts of Darlington and Motegi.
On one end, Curvelo has a wide radius, featuring a 16-degree banked corner that already existed on the site for training and testing activities. On the other end, a tight radius corner with zero banking, connecting the two main straights of the circuit.
The track, built with a mix of private funds and those from the Brazilian Automobile Confederation (CBA) and NASCAR Brasil (NBR), had technical support from NASCAR International, who maintained close control over the development of the project.
There was great interest from the international arm of the NASCAR in the Circuito dos Cristais enterprise, as the institution signed a multi-year deal with the NBR at the beginning of 2024, to secure NASCAR Brasil races on the track till 2026.
Originally planned to be homologated only next year, the rapid completion of the works allowed the track's debut to be brought forward to the end of 2024, closing this years’ NASCAR Brasil Series regular season.
The NASCAR Brasil series has proven to be one of the most successful cases in NASCAR's portfolio of international initiatives.
Founded originally in 2011 as ‘Sprint Race’, the category signed an agreement with the conglomerate that owns the NASCAR brand, becoming one of recognized affiliated brands, along the same lines as the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series and the NASCAR Mexico Series.
The race in Curvelo will feature three races valid for the Special Edition, with the result determining the champions of this tournament in the NASCAR Brasil and Challenge categories. Besides the divisional winners, it will also be awarded the overall trophy, which will reward the most consistent driver of the weekend.
A note-worthy detail worth mentioning is that this track is the first oval of considerable size built in South America since the Autódromo Ciudad de Rafaela, Argentina, inaugurated more than seven decades ago, back in 1952.
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