Alex Popow Karaha (born 9 November 1975 in Lecheria) is a

Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...

n racing driver who competes in the

American Le Mans Series The American Le Mans Series (ALMS) was a sports car racing series based in the United States and Canada. It consisted of a series of Endurance racing (motorsport), endurance and sprint races, and was created in the spirit of the 24 Hours of Le M ...

and

Rolex Sports Car Series The Rolex Sports Car Series was the premier series run by the Grand American Road Racing Association. It was a North American-based sports car series founded in 2000 under the name Grand American Road Racing Championship to replace the failed ...

for CORE autosport and

Starworks Motorsport Starworks Motorsport was an American automobile racing team based in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, last competing in the 2021 IMSA SportsCar Championship fielding the No. 8 Oreca 07 in LMP2. The team was established in 2010 by Peter Baron. History ...

. He was champion of the LMPC class in the

in 2012 and obtained a class victory at the

12 Hours of Sebring The 12 Hours of Sebring is an annual motorsport Endurance racing (motorsport), endurance race for Sports car racing, sports cars held at Sebring International Raceway, on the site of the former Hendricks Army Airfield World War II air base in S ...

in 2012, and an overall win the inaugural Brickyard Grand Prix at

Indianapolis Motor Speedway The Indianapolis Motor Speedway is a motor racing circuit located in Speedway, Indiana, United States, an enclave suburb of Indianapolis, Indiana. It is the home of the Indianapolis 500 and the Brickyard 400, and and formerly the home of the U ...

in 2012. Also, he finished second overall in the

2012 24 Hours of Daytona The 2012 Rolex 24 at Daytona was a long-distance motor race for sports cars conforming to the regulations of the Grand-Am Road Racing series. The race was held over a duration of 24 hours, starting at 3:30pm on Saturday, January 28, finis ...

Name

Popow's name, which is pronounced "pop-off", is the result of his Eastern European ancestry. During a broadcast on

Speed Channel Speed was an American sports-oriented cable and satellite television network that was owned by the Fox Sports Media Group division of 21st Century Fox. The network was dedicated to motorsports programming, including auto racing, as well as a ...

, 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. 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

team. He finished a season-high third at Watkins Glen with

Ryan Dalziel Ryan Dalziel ( ; born 12 April 1982) is a Scottish professional racing driver. Dalziel has seen the most success in his career in the United States, racing in the American Le Mans Series GT1 class and the Champ Car World Series, and winning t ...

and finished 20th in the Daytona Prototype points standings. In 2012, Popow took his first victory in the inaugural Brickyard Grand Prix

, and obtained two second places and two fourth, so that finished sixth in the drivers' championship. Popow with

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 James R. Trueman (May 25, 1935 – June 11, 1986) was an American businessman and automobile racing team owner. His most successful business ventures were Red Roof Inn motels and the Truesports racing team. Bobby Rahal won the 1986 Indianapo ...

’ Award by a landslide and the Starworks Motosport was crowned ‘Sports Car Team of the Year’ by the

SPEED Channel Speed was an American sports-oriented cable and satellite television network that was owned by the Fox Sports Media Group division of 21st Century Fox. The network was dedicated to motorsports programming, including auto racing, as well as a ...

American Le Mans Series

Popow won the 2012 12 Hours of Sebring in his

debut, teaming with Burt Frisselle and E. J. Viso in a CORE autosport Oreca FLM09 Prototype Challenge car. He then went on to win the following ALMS round at Long Beach with Ryan Dalziel.

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 The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. It is considered to be one of the top ranked motorsports organizations in ...

debut, driving in the

Nationwide Series The NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) is a stock car racing series organized by NASCAR. It is promoted as NASCAR's second-tier circuit to the organization's top level Cup Series. NXS events are frequently held as a support race on the day prior to a ...

for

TriStar Motorsports TriStar Motorsports was an American professional stock car racing team that used to compete in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series. The team competed in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series primarily during the early to mid 1990s, suspending racing oper ...

Watkins Glen International Watkins Glen International, nicknamed "The Glen", is an automobile race track in the Northeastern United States, northeastern United States, located in Dix, New York, just southwest of the village of Watkins Glen, New York, Watkins Glen, at the ...

Personal life

Popow is married to Lu-Ann Acosta-Rubio and has two children, including his namesake Alex, a junior formula racecar driver. He enjoys extreme sports in his free time.

Motorsports career results

NASCAR

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

Nationwide Series

Season still in progress
not eligible for series points

Complete WeatherTech SportsCar Championship results

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Popow, Alex Living people 1975 births Venezuelan racing drivers Rolex Sports Car Series drivers American Le Mans Series drivers NASCAR drivers 24 Hours of Daytona drivers WeatherTech SportsCar Championship drivers LATAM Challenge Series drivers Starworks Motorsport drivers United Autosports drivers EuroInternational drivers Michelin Pilot Challenge drivers Le Mans Cup drivers