Tatiana Calderón Becomes the First Woman To Win a NASCAR Brazil Race

Tatiana Calderón is making history. The Colombian driver has become the first woman to win a NASCAR Brazil race at Circuito dos Cristais, known as the Curvelo oval.

She began the weekend’s opening race from 15th and finished fourth overall and second in the Challenge class—her first top-five of the year. In the second race, things got even better: Calderón took the checkered flag for her first NASCAR Brazil victory, finishing 0.527s ahead of Felipe Malinowski in second, with Ricardo Maurício rounding out the podium.

Calderón is the first woman to win a race overall in the series. NASCAR has had female race winners in lower divisions, but never before in the NASCAR Brazil Series. Hailie Deegan and Gracie Trotter won in the K&N West Series (now ARCA West), Manami Kobayashi earned a NASCAR Euro win, and Shawna Robinson won in the now-defunct Goody’s Dash Series years ago.

At the Cup level, Danica Patrick is the only woman to have earned a pole position. Sara Christian still holds the record for the best-ever finish, placing fifth in the inaugural 1949 NASCAR Cup season.

Calderón has extensive motorsports experience, including multiple years in Formula 2 and Formula 3. She has made three appearances at the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona and two starts at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. She also competed in seven IndyCar races with A.J. Foyt Racing in 2022 and has raced in the FIA World Endurance Championship and the European Le Mans Series, among others.

With the win, Calderón also secured a spot among the 12 drivers advancing to the playoffs.