NASCAR Awards honor first group of 2024 champions in Charlotte

The NASCAR Awards have already begun this weekend with a ceremony on Thursday night to honor the grassroots and international champions. In many ways, the sport has gone global but is also staying true to its past.

The champions from the ARCA Menards Series, East and West Series, Whelen Modified, and NASCAR Weekly Series were all crowned. International champions from NASCAR Canada, Brasil, Mexico, and the Euro Series were also recognized last night.

Andres Perez de Lara is the first foreign-born champion ever in ARCA. During the season he amassed 10 top-5s and 17 top-10 finishes in 20 starts. While he didn’t pick up a win, part-time superstars William Sawalich and Connor Zilisch took most of them, he earned his championship through consistency on the track.

Speaking of Sawalich and Zilisch, they fought for the East Series title. Sawalich came out on top after a disaster of a race at Bristol for Zilisch.

“We know how to race each other really good, really clean,” Sawalich said, via Reid Spencer of the NASCAR Wire Service. “We figured each other’s craft out, how we race and what our characteristics are… I can’t wait to race him next year in Xfinity.”

Sean Hingorani won his second straight West Series championship. He could be headed for bigger things in 2025 as well. Justin Bonsignore brought home his fourth Modified championship. He also made his ARCA and Xfinity Series debuts this season.

Connor Hall brought home his second straight NASCAR Weekly Series championship. He will race for JR Motorsports next year in the CARS Tour.

NASCAR Awards honors international champions

This year was a big step for NASCAR internationally and the awards ceremony showed that on Thursday. Andres Perez, Mexican driver and ARCA champion. Fellow Mexican driver Daniel Suárez had wins in the Cup Series this year as well as the Mexico and Brasil Series.

The champions from Mexico and Brasil were honored along with the winners from Canada and Europe. Marc-Antoine Camirand, the Canada champ, celebrated his second title with a proposal to his girlfriend of 27 years. Sophie Marcotte said yes as their children watched on.

Then there was Ruben Garcia, the Mexico champion. He took home his fifth career title with three wins and 12 top-10s in 13 stars this season. Talk about dominance. Vittorio Ghirelli became a two-time NASCAR Euro Series champion and is hoping to make Xfinity Series starts in 2025.

Finally, Alex Seid, co-champion with his own teammate Gabriel Casagrande, spoke about how tough it was to win the title this year. Apparently, all of the best drivers in Brazil want to move to NASCAR. Bring it on.

That was only night one of the NASCAR Awards. The fun continues today and later tonight. Then fans can see the whole show broadcast on The CW on Sunday afternoon.