Alex García (racing driver, born 1977)
Venezuelan stock car driver and team owner.
Last updated
Alex García, a Venezuelan born on March 18, 1977, is a former professional stock car driver. His final NASCAR Nationwide Series appearances came as a road course ringer, piloting the No. 98 Dixien/OmniSource Chevrolet for his own team, Transnet Racing. He debuted in the series at the 2007 Telcel Motorola Mexico 200 in Mexico City, making history as the first Venezuelan to compete in one of NASCAR’s top three divisions.
Quick Facts
- Born
- 18 March 1977
- Birthplace
- Caracas, Venezuela
Facts from the source article.
Background
Originally from Caracas, Venezuela, García immigrated to the United States with his family in 1988 at age 11, settling in Marietta, Georgia, where he still lives. His Argentine uncle sparked his interest in racing, and at 16 he drove his first race car.
Open Wheel career
García began racing in 1994 at the amateur level in SCCA Formula Vee, scoring five top-five finishes in his first season. By 1997 he raced professionally in Formula Ford 2000, and in 1998 he achieved top-ten and top-five finishes throughout the season. A sponsorship deal with Dixien Automotive Stampings and OmniSource in 2000 allowed him to race full-time in Atlantic Championship. In 2004, Transnet Racing expanded to a two-car team and earned its first podium finishes in the series.
Transition to stock cars
In 2005, García finished second in the Six Hours of Bogotá in a field of over 64 cars. That year he tested his first stock car at Peach State Speedway and made his official stock car debut at Music City Motorplex in the NASCAR AutoZone Elite Division, earning several top-tens and a POWERade Move of the Race award. He purchased his first stock car and debuted in the ARCA RE/MAX Series at Salem Speedway in September 2006. In December 2006, he announced Transnet Racing would run a partial NASCAR Nationwide Series season in 2007.
NASCAR career
García made his NASCAR Nationwide Series debut in March 2007 at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in Mexico City, becoming the first Venezuelan to race in one of NASCAR's top three series. That season he also competed at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve and Watkins Glen International. In 2008 he returned for the last Nationwide race at Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez and later raced at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, where teams competed in the rain for the first time in a NASCAR points event. He planned to run his first full-time Nationwide season in 2009 but never did.
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Sources
Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.
- Wikipedia: Alex García (racing driver, born 1977) (CC BY-SA 4.0).
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