Michel Disdier makes NASCAR comeback ahead of Homestead-Miami

It's been seven years since French racing driver Michel Disdier last raced in NASCAR, but the Nice native will make his long-awaited return to the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series this weekend at Homestead-Miami Speedway for the Baptist Health 200 behind the wheel of the No. 67 Chevrolet Silverado RST for Freedom Racing Enterprises.

Disdier's path into NASCAR wasn't conventional. Getting involved with motorcycle racing first, the racer won his first race at the age of just 16. But when he became an exchange student in North Carolina, he fell in love with oval racing. He took part in the North American stock car competition in 2007, but his Truck Series debut didn't come until 2014 where he became the first Frenchman to compete in NASCAR since Claude Ballot-Lena in the late 1970s.

“It has been my lifelong dream and main goal to race in NASCAR as a European driver and I hope that the hard work of the entire team will pay off on the Speedway. The journey has been so exciting and I feel that it has only just begun," the driver once said. 

Now, Disdier will return to the track this weekend after originally wanting to return at Daytona International speedway. 

"It took us a little longer for everything to be ready so that we could finally be back and erase a period of scarcity imposed by the COVID period," he said. 

To fund his return to racing, the driver launched a crowdfunding campaign that raised over €33,000.

Michel Disdier

Photo by: Michel Disdier

His return comes via Freedom Racing Enterprises, a relatively new team that will be fielding two cars for the first time for a single event. 

"I would like to thank Spencer and his entire team for welcoming us warmly, and for preparing a very good car for the Miami event," Disdier said. "I am sure that we will do a very good job together and surely create other opportunities in the future. We share the same passion and we are both hard workers to fulfill our dreams."

The green flag drops on the Baptist Health 200 this Friday at 20:00 EST.