Anthony Kumpen

Anthony Kumpen

Kumpen (right) with teammate Maxime Dumarey in 2015
Nationality  Belgium
Born (1978-11-03) 3 November 1978
Hasselt, Belgium
Related to Max Verstappen (nephew)
NASCAR Whelen Euro Series career
Debut season 2014
Current team PK Carsport
Car no. 24
Championships 2 (2014, 2016)
Wins 7
Podiums 27
Best finish 1st in 2014, 2016
Finished last season 1st (2016)
Previous series
2001–2003
2001		 American Le Mans
Rolex Sports Car Series
Championship titles
2014, 2016 NASCAR Whelen Euro Series
NASCAR Xfinity Series career
5 races run over 3 years
Car no., team No. 46 (Precision Performance Motorsports)
2016 position 70th
Best finish 52nd (2015)
First race 2015 U.S. Cellular 250 (Iowa)
Last race 2017 PowerShares QQQ 300 (Daytona)
Wins Top tens Poles
0 0 0
24 Hours of Le Mans career
Years 2001–2004
Teams Paul Belmondo Racing, Team Carsport Holland / Racing Box, Carsport America, Taurus Sports Racing
Best finish 40th (2001)
Statistics current as of 25 February 2017.

Anthony Kumpen (born 3 November 1978) is a Belgian professional racing driver. As the overall winner of the 2014 NASCAR Whelen Euro Series season, he received his license to compete in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East. He currently competes part-time in the Xfinity Series, driving the No. 46 Chevrolet Camaro for Precision Performance Motorsports.

Racing career

Kumpen's car after his win in Elite 1 race two at Raceway Venray 2015.

In 1988, Kumpen started Kart racing. He moved on to Belcar, the Belgian Racing Car Championship, in 1998, winning the GT2 championship in his first year, and the GT championship in 1999. He won several more Belgian GT and GTA championships over the next decade. In 2000, he won the overall classification at the 24 Hours of Zolder, a feat he would repeat in 2002, 2003, 2004, 2010 and 2012 for a record total of 6 victories.[1]

In 2000, he started competing in the FIA GT Championship for the Paul Belmondo Racing team. His first victory in a race in this championship followed in 2002. More victories followed in 2005 (2), 2006, 2008 and 2009 (2).[2]

He also competed in the 24 Hours of Daytona and the 24 Hours of Le Mans.[3]

In 2014, he competed in the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series for the PK Carsport team, driving a Holden VF Commodore. He won one race in the championship, and ended the season in first place, one point ahead of defending champion Ander Vilariño.[4]

His win gave him a license to compete in the 2015 NASCAR K&N Pro Series East, racing for Bill McAnally.[5] On 7 June, as part of the Nexteer Automotive Road To Daytona program, he announced his intentions to compete in the Xfinity Series, running three races at Iowa Speedway, Phoenix International Raceway and Homestead-Miami Speedway.[6] In 2016, he announced that he would run the Xfinity Series season opener at Daytona for Precision Performance Motorsports, driving the No. 46 Chevy.[7] He continued his part-time slate in the Xfinity Series in 2017, adding two races at Daytona and Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, driving the No. 46 Chevy for PPM.[8]

Personal life

Kumpen is the son of Paul Kumpen, a former race pilot, Belgian Rallycross Champion 1987 with Porsche 911 BiTurbo 4x4, director of the building company Kumpen, and president of VOKA Limburg. Paul Kumpen owned 50% of the shares of Ridley Bikes, and Anthony worked as a commercial director for the company, which became the largest bike manufacturer in Belgium.[9] Anthony stayed on at the company after his father sold his share in 2013.[9]

Kumpen lives in Hasselt and is married to Griet Vanhees. They have one child, a son named Henri-Constant.[10] Kumpen has a daughter, Laura, and a stepson, Thibeau, from his and his wife's previous relationships.[11] He is the uncle of F1 driver Max Verstappen.[12]

In 2010, Kumpen participated in Sterren op de Dansvloer (the Belgian version of Dancing with the Stars) on vtm.[13] He was voted out of the show in the third episode and finished as 8th out of 10 contestants.[14]

Motorsports career results

NASCAR

(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

Whelen Euro Series – Elite 1

NASCAR Whelen Euro Series – Elite 1 results
Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 NWES Points
2014 PK Carsport 24 Chevy VAL
3		 VAL
4		 BRH
4		 BRH
2		 TOU
7		 TOU
8		 NUR
5		 NUR
3		 UMB
2		 UMB
5		 LEM
1		 LEM
2		 1st 656
2015 VAL
5		 VAL
3		 VEN
16		 VEN
1		 BRH
5		 BRH
5		 TOU
18		 TOU
9		 UMB
4		 UMB
10		 ZOL
3		 ZOL
3		 4th 610
2016 VAL
1		 VAL
4		 VEN
2		 VEN
1		 BRH
1		 BRH
10		 TOU
4		 TOU
5		 ADR
1		 ADR
2		 ZOL
1		 ZOL
7		 1st 657

Xfinity Series

* Season still in progress
1 Ineligible for series points

Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results

Year Team Co-Drivers Car Class Laps Pos. Class
Pos.
2001 France Paul Belmondo Racing France Grégoire de Galzain
France Jean-Claude Lagniez		 Chrysler Viper GTS-R GTS 44 DNF DNF
2002 Netherlands Team Carsport Holland
Italy Racing Box		 Netherlands Mike Hezemans
Italy Gabriele Matteuzzi
Italy Luca Capellari		 Chrysler Viper GTS-R GTS 93 DNF DNF
2003 United States Carsport America Netherlands Mike Hezemans
Netherlands David Hart		 Pagani Zonda GR GTS 10 DNF DNF
2004 United Kingdom Taurus Sports Racing United Kingdom Phil Andrews
United Kingdom Calum Lockie 		Lola B2K/10 LMP1 35 DNF DNF

References

  1. ↑ "SPORTWEEKEND: Monza en Zolder". Autowereld.be (in Dutch). 10 September 2012. Retrieved 21 November 2014.
  2. ↑ "Anthony Kumpen". driverdb.com. Retrieved 27 November 2014.
  3. ↑ "Anthony Kumpen". racingreference.info. Retrieved 27 November 2014.
  4. ↑ Estrada, Chris (14 October 2014). "NASCAR: Belgium’s Kumpen takes Whelen Euro Series title at Le Mans". NBC.
  5. ↑ "Anthony Kumpen volgend seizoen in het Nascar: "Dit is een unieke kans"". De Morgen (in Dutch). Belga. 18 November 2014.
  6. ↑ "Anthony Kumpen To Debut In XFINITY Series". NASCAR Home Tracks. 7 June 2015. Retrieved 8 June 2015.
  7. ↑ "NASCAR Euro champion Kumpen to race Xfinity season-opener at Daytona". Motorsport.com. 15 January 2016. Retrieved 23 January 2016.
  8. ↑ "NWES Champ Set For Xfinity Series Campaign". NASCAR Home Tracks. 20 January 2017. Retrieved 22 January 2017.
  9. 1 2 "CEO koopt familie Kumpen uit bij Ridley bikes". Gazet van Antwerpen (in Dutch). Belga. 15 November 2013. Retrieved 21 November 2014.
  10. ↑ verhoogen, Inne. "Griet Vanhees is mama van Henri-Constant". Deredactie.be (in Dutch).
  11. ↑ jva (4 June 2011). "Racepiloot Anthony Kumpen gehuwd met babe Griet Vanhees". Het Nieuwsblad (in Dutch).
  12. ↑ Bonardel, Cécile (18 August 2014). "Verstappen's son in F1 in 2015". 24h-lemans.com. Retrieved 24 November 2014.
  13. ↑ "Anthony Kumpen" (in Dutch). vtm. 2010. Retrieved 21 November 2014.
  14. ↑ "Anthony Kumpen mag niet meer dansen". De Standaard (in Dutch). 16 April 2010.
Sporting positions
Preceded by
Ander Vilariño		 NASCAR Whelen Euro Series Champion
2014 		Succeeded by
Ander Vilariño
Preceded by
Ander Vilariño		 NASCAR Whelen Euro Series Champion
2016 		Succeeded by
Incumbent
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