Alex Popow Jr.


Alex Popow Jr. is a Venezuelan and American racing driver who last drove in and came runner-up in the Formula 4 United States Championship">2024 Formula 4 United States Championship">Formula 4 United States Championship.

Personal life

Popow is the son of Lu-Ann Acosta-Rubio and sportscar veteran Alex Popow.

Career

Karting and maiden title in single-seaters (2013–2024)

Popow began karting in 2013. In his first stint in karts, Popow raced in the United States, in which he also drove in the 24 Hours of Orlando alongside his father, but was forced to take a hiatus from karting in 2018 after two separate incidents in which he broke his collarbone. After delaying his return to racing due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Popow returned to karting in 2021 and stayed in it until 2022, when he made his single-seater debut in Formula Inter's exhibition round.
Remaining in Formula Inter for the following year, Popow scored seven wins in the series' only season to take the title in early September. Popow then tested USF Juniors machinery for Exclusive Autosport at Sebring and Indianapolis later that year, before making his series debut the following year for Zanella Racing. After finishing no higher than 17th at NOLA, Popow left the series before returning to racing in the final round of the 2024 [Formula 4 United States Championship|Formula 4 United States] season at Circuit of the Americas for MLT Motorsports. In his first round in the series, Popow took pole and won the first two races of the weekend before finishing fourth in race three.

First full season in Formula 4 United States and NACAM F4 cameos (2025)

Despite testing USF Juniors machinery in late 2024, Popow remained with MLT Motorsports to drive in the Formula 4 United States Championship, after receiving support from the PMH Powering Diversity Scholarship. In the first round of the season at NOLA, finished third in race one before winning the final two races of the weekend to take an early lead in the standings. Popow then took pole at Road America, but was only able to convert it to a best result of fifth all weekend as he dropped to third in points. At Mid-Ohio, Popow finished second in both races to retain third in the standings, before taking pole at New Jersey Motorsports Park but once again was not able to convert it into a win, as he retired in race one and finished fourth in race two. In the series' only trip abroad at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, Popow finished second in the first two races and ending the weekend by taking third. In the following round at Virginia International Raceway, Popow continued his podium streak as he finished second in both races, before ending the year with a double win at Barber to secure runner-up honors. During 2025, Popow also partook in the second and sixth rounds of the 2025 [NACAM Formula 4 Championship|NACAM Formula 4 Championship] for Alessandros Blue at Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez. In the former, Popow scored his best result of the season by finishing second in race three.

Racing record

American open-wheel racing results

USF Juniors

YearTeam12345678910111213141516RankPoints
2024Zanella RacingNOL
1
25		NOL
2
22		NOL
3
17		ALA
1
ALA
2
VIR
1
VIR
2
VIR
3
MOH
1
MOH
2
ROA
1
ROA
2
ROA
3
POR
1
POR
2
POR
3
33rd6

Complete NACAM Formula 4 Championship results

YearTeam1234567891011121314151617DCPoints
2025Alessandros BluePUE1
1		PUE1
2		PUE1
3		AHR1
1
5		AHR1
2
4		AHR1
3
2		AHR2
1		AHR2
2		AHR2
3		AHR3
1		AHR3
2		AHR3
3		PUE2
1		PUE2
2		PUE2
3		AHR4
1
DNS		AHR4
2
5		10th50