Colombian driver Tatiana Calderón made history at the Circuito dos Cristais, more simply referred as the Curvelo oval. It a 0.777-mile short track with about 16 degrees of banking.
After earning her first top five of the year with a fourth-place finish in Race #1 of the weekend, Calderón went on to claim victory in Race #2 after a dramatic event. She took the checkered flag, 0.527s clear of Felipe Malinowski in second place, and Ricardo Maurício filling out the podium in third.
The race-winning moment came after a caution for Nicolas Costa. On the ensuing double-file restart, Alfredinho Ibiapina and Cacá Bueno collided in the battle for the race lead, with Bueno spinning and Ibiapina pushing wide. Calderón was right behind them and squeezed by on the inside to escape the chaos to take over the race lead with 23 minutes to go in the event.
She held on to the lead for the remainder of the race, even after some intense late pressure from Malinowski, driving her SG28 Racing entry to Victory Lane.
NASCAR has had a handful of female race winners in the lower divisions over the years, but never before in the NASCAR Brazil Series. Notably, Hailie Deegan and Gracie Trotter have earned victories in the K&N West Series (now ARCA West), Manami Kobayashi earned a NASCAR Euro win, and decades ago, Shawna Robinson earned a win in the now-defunct Goody’s Dash Series.
At the Cup level, Danica Patrick is the only woman to ever earn a pole position, but Sara Christian holds the record for the best-ever finish in the top division of stock car racing, placing fifth all the way back in the inaugural 1949 NASCAR Cup season!
Calderón, 33, has experience from all around the motorsports world. She contested seven IndyCar races with A.J. Foyt Racing in 2022, placing as high as 16th in the Long Beach Grand Prix.
Her career highlights also include multiple years in Formula 2 and Formula 3, three appearances in the Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona and two starts in the Le Mans 24. She’s competed in the FIA World Endurance Championship, the European Le Mans Series, while also having several starts in Super Formula, Porsche Supercup, and many other divisions.
Calderón was also employed by the Sauber Formula One team (later Alfa Romeo Racing) as a development and test driver from 2018 to 2021.
You can watch the full race replay below:
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