Alex Popow
NationalityVenezuela Venezuelan
Born (1975-11-09) November 9, 1975
Lecheria
American Le Mans Series
Rolex Sports Car Series career
Current teamCORE autosport
Starworks Motorsport
Previous series
Mexican Seat Leon Championship
Latin American Challenge Formula 2000 Championship
Supercup Seat Leon
Formula 2000 Venezuela
Latin America Formula 2000
Mustang Cup
Fiat Palio Cup
Championship titles
2005
2000, 2002
1998–1999		Formula 2000 Venezuela
Mustang Cup
Fiat Palio Cup
NASCAR Xfinity Series career
1 race run over 1 year
2012 position96th
Best finish96th (2012)
First race2012 Zippo 200 (Watkins Glen)
Wins Top tens Poles
0 0 0
Statistics current as of July 1, 2013.

Alex Popow Karaha (born 9 November 1975 in Lecheria) is a Venezuelan racing driver who competes in the American Le Mans Series and Rolex Sports Car Series for CORE autosport and Starworks Motorsport.

He was champion of the LMPC class in the American Le Mans Series in 2012 and obtained a class victory at the 12 Hours of Sebring in 2012, and an overall win the inaugural Brickyard Grand Prix at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 2012. Also, he finished second overall in the 2012 24 Hours of Daytona.

Name

Popow's name, which is pronounced "pop-off", is the result of his Eastern European ancestry. During a broadcast on Speed Channel, it was revealed that his family name was originally Popov, but was changed to Popow upon his ancestors' immigration.

Early racing career

Popow began his racing career in his native Venezuela in 1996, winning the Eastern Division Championship for 2000cc cars. He repeated as champion one year later before moving up to the Fiat Palio Cup and Mustang Cup, where he reached success in both championships. Popow was the Expert Class champion in the Palio Cup in both 1998 and 1999, while also earning top honors in the Mustang Cup in 2000 and 2002.[1]

Having won the Formula 2000 Venezuela Championship in 2005, Popow went on to form the first all-Venezuelan team to participate in the Panam-GP series, which took place in six countries, including Venezuela.

Bogota 6 Hours

Considered the most prestigious professional auto racing event in Colombia, Popow has also enjoyed success in the Bogota 6 Hours. He earned a second-place result in his debut in 1997, while also collecting runner-up finishes in 2004 and 2005. Popow was crowned champion of the race in 2011.

Off-road racing

Between 2007 and 2009, Popow competed in the AWA 4x4 Rally Championship, earning a third-place finish in the LUV D-MAX Trophy.

Rolex Sports Car Series

Popow made his Grand-Am debut in 2011, racing in the Rolex Sports Car Series for Starworks Motorsport team. He finished a season-high third at Watkins Glen with Ryan Dalziel and finished 20th in the Daytona Prototype points standings.

In 2012, Popow took his first victory in the inaugural Brickyard Grand Prix Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and obtained two second places and two fourth, so that finished sixth in the drivers' championship.

Popow with Ryan Dalziel achieved one win, two second places and two third in the 2013 Rolex Sports Car Series season, however the poor results obtained at the end of the season, did they finished eighth in the drivers' championship in the DP class. In 2013 Popow won the ‘Jim Trueman’ Award by a landslide and the Starworks Motosport was crowned ‘Sports Car Team of the Year’ by the SPEED Channel.

American Le Mans Series

Popow won the 2012 12 Hours of Sebring in his American Le Mans Series debut, teaming with Burt Frisselle and E. J. Viso in a CORE autosport Oreca FLM09 Prototype Challenge car.[2] He then went on to win the following ALMS round at Long Beach with Ryan Dalziel.[3]

Four races into the 2012 season, Popow currently leads the ALMS PC Drivers Championship, with four podium finishes to his credit.

Other racing

Popow competed in the Latin America Challenge Formula 2000 Championship, finishing third in 2010 and fourth in 2011. He also took part in the Mexican Supercup Seat Leon Championship in 2011, finishing second.

Additionally, Popow finished third in the 2012 Gulf 12 Hours at Abu Dhabi.

In August 2012, Popow made his NASCAR debut, driving in the Nationwide Series for TriStar Motorsports at Watkins Glen International.[4]

Personal life

Popow is married to Lu-Ann Acosta-Rubio and has two children. He enjoys extreme sports in his free time.[5]

Motorsports career results

NASCAR

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

Nationwide Series

NASCAR Nationwide Series results
Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 NNSC Pts Ref
2012 TriStar Motorsports 19 Toyota DAY PHO LVS BRI CAL TEX RCH TAL DAR IOW CLT DOV MCH ROA KEN DAY NHA CHI IND IOW GLN
38		 CGV BRI ATL RCH CHI KEN DOV CLT KAN TEX PHO HOM 96th 6 [6]

* Season still in progress
1 not eligible for series points

Complete WeatherTech SportsCar Championship results

Year Entrant Class Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Rank Points
2014 Starworks Motorsport P Riley Mk XXVI DP Dinan (BMW) 5.0 L V8 DAY
17		 44th 30
Honda HR35TT 3.5 L V6 Turbo SEB
17		 LBH LGA DET WGL MOS IMS ELK COA PET
2015 Starworks Motorsport PC Oreca FLM09 Chevrolet LS3 6.2 L V8 DAY
6		 SEB
5		 LGA
 DET
 WGL
1		 MOS
 LIM
 ELK
 COA
DNS		 PET
7		 12th 115
2016 Starworks Motorsport PC Oreca FLM09 Chevrolet LS3 6.2 L V8 DAY
4		 SEB
3		 LBH
2		 LGA
2		 DET
1		 WGL
1		 MOS
2		 LIM
1		 ELK
6		 COA
1		 PET
6		 1st 355
2018 BAR1 Motorsports P Riley Mk. 30 Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8 DAY
14		 SEB LBH MDO DET WGL MOS ELK LGA PET 59th 17


References

  1. ↑ "alexpopow.com".
  2. ↑ Dagys, John (17 March 2012). "Audi Dominates Sebring". SPEED.com. Archived from the original on 21 May 2012. Retrieved 17 July 2012.
  3. ↑ "coreautosport.com". Archived from the original on 2013-01-20.
  4. ↑ "Venezuelan Popow To Make Nationwide Debut". SPEED Channel. Fox Sports. August 10, 2012. Archived from the original on August 11, 2012. Retrieved 2012-08-10.
  5. ↑ "alexpopow.com".
  6. ↑ "Alex Popow – 2012 NASCAR Nationwide Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved April 7, 2023.
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