One of Brazil’s most accomplished racing drivers, Cacá Bueno, celebrated the opening of Chapecó International Raceway (SC), which debuts this weekend with the NASCAR Brasil stage. The Team RC driver, who competes on the venue’s oval track for the penultimate round of the 2026 season, highlighted the current moment of Brazilian motorsport on Friday (the 30th), as new racetracks and circuits are being refurbished and reappearing on the calendars of the national series.
“É sempre legal ter uma iniciativa de novos autódromos, como foi em Cuiabá, aqui em Chapecó e a reforma de Brasília. A gente perdeu muitos autódromos recentemente, e Londrina, Fortaleza e Campo Grande estão em situações difíceis, e perdemos Rio de Janeiro e Curitiba. Estamos em um momento diferente, com novos autódromos e alguns reformados”, disse Cacá Bueno, logo após o treino de hoje.
“Chapecó is a debut, and there are still things to finish, as is the case with any racetrack inauguration, but access is good, the track is solid, wide, with good asphalt. And a new region; we needed to race in new places, such as Santa Catarina. It’s important to embrace new regions. Rio de Janeiro is still missing, but I’m happy to see it, and I hope it will be packed on Sunday so we can put on a great show,” the driver, who finished third-best in his group, added.
“The result was reasonable; we knew the second group would have a track that rubbered up and performed better. We finished three tenths behind in a group with the slower track, and just one tenth off the lead in ours. We’re well positioned to contend at the front,” concluded Cacá Bueno, who is backed by Capital Concreto, PicPay, ACDelco, SpeedMax Pneus, Pneu Store, Milwaukee, Turbi and Chevrolet.
The NASCAR Brasil schedule in Chapecó calls for one more practice session on Saturday at 10:25, followed by qualifying at 16:30. The races are set for Sunday, at 9:00 and 14:05, with two races back-to-back in the afternoon.
