Ulysse Delsaux (born 22 September 1997) is a French professional racing driver who currently competes in the

NASCAR Whelen Euro Series The NASCAR Euro Series (formerly known as Racecar Euro Series, Euro-Racecar NASCAR Touring Series, and NASCAR Whelen Euro Series) is an official NASCAR stock-car racing series based in Europe. It is one of NASCAR's four international-sanctioned s ...

, driving the No. 14

Ford Mustang The Ford Mustang is a series of American Car, automobiles manufactured by Ford Motor Company, Ford. In continuous production since 1964, the Mustang is currently the longest-produced Ford car nameplate. Currently in its Ford Mustang (seventh ...

for SpeedHouse Racing in the EuroNASCAR PRO class. He is a one-time champion in the Euro Series, having won the EuroNASCAR 2 championship in

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

Racing career

Delsaux made his

kart racing Kart racing or karting is a motorsport discipline using open-wheel, four-wheeled vehicles known as go-karts or shifter karts. They are usually raced on kart circuit, scaled-down circuits, although some professional kart races are also held on fu ...

debut in the Ile-De-France Minikart Championship at the age of nine, two years after his father Emmanuel gave him his first kart. Early in his career, he competed in the regional championships and won the regional title in 2011, allowing him to move to international championships before a crash forced Delsaux to stop competing in karting. In 2013, Delsaux switched to

stock car racing Stock car racing is a form of Auto racing, automobile racing run on oval track racing, oval tracks and road courses. It originally used Production vehicle, production-model cars, hence the name "stock car", but is now run using cars specifical ...

and joined the

Developmental program. He was given to opportunity to make his racing debut in a street stock race at Bowman-Gray Stadium. In 2014, he made his debut in the

, signing a contract to compete in the Elite 2 class with RDV Competition. He finished 9th in the championship with a best finish of fourth in the second race at

Umbria Umbria ( ; ) is a Regions of Italy, region of central Italy. It includes Lake Trasimeno and Cascata delle Marmore, Marmore Falls, and is crossed by the Tiber. It is the only landlocked region on the Italian Peninsula, Apennine Peninsula. The re ...

. Delsaux was transferred to the No. 3 team as the Elite 2 partner of

Frédéric Gabillon Frédéric Gabillon (born 27 March 1976 in Uzès) is a French professional racing driver that currently competes in the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series, driving the No. 3 Chevrolet SS for RDV Competition in the EuroNASCAR PRO class. He is a three-time ...

for the 2015 season. He finished the season in 7th in the championship with 1 podium finish in the second race at

Tours Tours ( ; ) is the largest city in the region of Centre-Val de Loire, France. It is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Indre-et-Loire. The Communes of France, commune of Tours had 136,463 inhabita ...

, two Top-5 finishes, and a total of 10 Top-10 finishes. In 2016, he made his K&N East debut for

Precision Performance Motorsports Precision Performance Motorsports (PPM) is an American professional sports car racing and former stock car racing team that currently competes full-time in the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship using a GT Daytona-class Lamborghini Huracán, Lam ...

during the season-opening round at New Smyrna. He qualified in 19th before finishing in 28th after he was involved in a crash on lap 50. He also moved up to the Elite 1 class on the same year, driving the No. 31 RDV Competition

for all twelve races of the season. He finished 9th in points with 6 Top-10 finishes. The next season, 2017, saw Delsaux move back to Elite 2 class to once again partner Gabillon in the No. 3 RDV Competition team. He scored an emotional first Euro Series career victory at

Valencia Valencia ( , ), formally València (), is the capital of the Province of Valencia, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, the same name in Spain. It is located on the banks of the Turia (r ...

, winning by 3.5 seconds over eventual championship winner Thomas Ferrando in the Sunday race. Afterward, Delsaux was joined by fellow drivers, spotters, and NASCAR officials to celebrate in the victory lane. Delsaux would finish the season in fourth, scoring a total of 1 win, 6 podiums, and 10 Top-10 finishes. In 2018, Delsaux once again competed in Elite 2 in the No. 3 RDV Competition team. He swept both races at

Tours Speedway Tours Speedway was a oval speedway located in Tours, France Tours ( ; ) is the largest city in the region of Centre-Val de Loire, France. It is the prefecture of the department of Indre-et-Loire. The commune of Tours had 136,463 inhabit ...

to claim his first victories in an oval. Leading the championship coming to the double points-paying playoff rounds at

Hockenheim Hockenheim () is a town in northwest Baden-Württemberg, Germany, about 20 km south of Mannheim and 10 km west of Walldorf. It is located in the Upper Rhine Plain, Upper Rhine valley on the tourist theme routes "Baden Asparagus Route" ( ...

and

Zolder The Circuit Zolder, also known as Circuit Terlamen, is an undulating motorsport race track in Heusden-Zolder, Belgium. History Built in 1963, Zolder hosted the Formula One Belgian Grand Prix on 10 separate occasions in the 1970s and 1980s, a ...

, Delsaux started his playoff run with his third victory at the season at the Saturday race in

before a puncture on the final lap of the Sunday race denied him of an opportunity to sweep the weekend. At the season finale round in Zolder, Delsaux was able to recover from an early accident to finish in second on the first race before being crowned as the Elite 2 champion after finishing third in the second race. Delsaux finished the season just 6 points ahead of Florian Venturi in the championship with 3 wins, 6 podiums, and 10 Top-10 finishes. Delsaux returned to the Elite 1 class in 2019 to replace

Bobby Labonte Robert Allen Labonte (born May 8, 1964) is an American semi-retired professional stock car racing driver and current analyst for ''NASCAR on Fox''. He also currently competes part-time in the SMART Modified Tour, driving the No. 18L for Hermie Sa ...

in the second RDV team. Delsaux would run the No. 36 car for 2019. He stated that the No. 36 is an inversion of 63, which serves as a tribute to both his father Emmanuel, who was born in 1963, and

Jim Clark James Clark (4 March 1936 – 7 April 1968) was a British racing driver from Scotland, who competed in Formula One from to . Clark won two Formula One World Drivers' Championship titles with Lotus, and—at the time of his death—held the ...

, who won his first

Formula One Formula One (F1) is the highest class of worldwide racing for open-wheel single-seater formula Auto racing, racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The FIA Formula One World Championship has been one ...

title in

1963 Events January * January 1 – Bogle–Chandler case: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation scientist Dr. Gilbert Bogle and Mrs. Margaret Chandler are found dead (presumed poisoned), in bushland near the Lane Cove ...

. He finished 9th in points with 1 Top-5 and 4 Top-10 finishes. For the 2020 season, Delsaux was originally scheduled to race in both the EuroNASCAR PRO and the EuroNASCAR 2 class, and was also going to run the No. 10 instead of the No. 36, stating that he wanted to run the number as a way to represent

Aube Aube ( ) is a French departments of France, department in the Grand Est region of northeastern France. As with sixty departments in France, this department is named after a river: the Aube (river), Aube. With 310,242 inhabitants (2019),

, his home department. However, he did not race at all that year due to

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

restrictions.

Personal life

Delsaux is

autistic Autism, also known as autism spectrum disorder (ASD), is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by differences or difficulties in social communication and interaction, a preference for predictability and routine, sensory processing di ...

. He had trouble communicating with others as a child and was unable to talk until he was 5 years old. , he still had to make a monthly visit with a doctor in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. He has said that his aspirations in racing "is the demonstration that there is no obstacle you cannot overcome with hard work, passion, and a strong will to succeed". His childhood idols include

Jeff Gordon Jeffery Michael Gordon (born August 4, 1971) is an American stock car racing executive and former professional stock car racing driver who currently serves as the vice chairman of Hendrick Motorsports. He raced full-time from 1993 to 2015, d ...

and

. He is known to be a fan of

anime is a Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, , in Japan and in Ja ...

and his helmet currently features an illustration of

Sinon In Greek mythology, Sinon (Ancient Greek: Σίνων, from the verb "σίνομαι"—''sinomai'', "to harm, to hurt") or Sinopos was a Greek warrior during the Trojan War. He is not mentioned by Homer, but his story is given in the ''Aene ...

from ''

Sword Art Online is a Japanese light novel series written by Reki Kawahara and illustrated by abec. The series takes place in the 2020s and focuses on protagonists Kazuto "Kirito" Kirigaya and Asuna Yuuki as they play through various virtual re ...

'' on the back of his helmet.

Complete motorsports results

NASCAR

Whelen Euro Series - EuroNASCAR PRO

( key) Bold - Pole position awarded by fastest qualifying time (in Race 1) or by previous race's fastest lap (in Race 2). ''Italics'' - Fastest lap. * – Most laps led. ^ – Most positions gained.

Whelen Euro Series - EuroNASCAR 2

K&N Pro Series East

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

References

External links

Official website of Ulysse Delsaux
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Delsaux, Ulysse 1997 births Living people French racing drivers NASCAR drivers Sportspeople from Troyes Autistic sportspeople French disabled sportspeople 21st-century French sportsmen