Julia Landauer is set to make her NASCAR Xfinity debut at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in the #45 Alpha Prime Racing Chevrolet, as she becomes the first NASCAR driver sponsored by NFT communities.
American racer Julia Landauer, 30, is set to make her NASCAR Xfinity Series debut at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on 16th July, at the wheel of the #45 Boss Beauties/Garage XYZ Chevrolet operated by Alpha Prime Racing.
A highly respected racer with an impressive resumé, Landauer is a two-time champion in stock cars with a background in single-seaters. She was in fact the Skip Barber Racing Series first female champion at 14, before becoming a leading contender in the 2016 NASCAR K&N Pro Series West. A NASCAR Next graduate, Landauer competed in Canada for two partial campaigns in the NASCAR Pinty's Series, where she claimed a top-10 finish at Mosport.
In 2020, Landauer moved to Europe and, despite the challenging pandemic restrictions, she managed to contest the full EuroNASCAR season. In the fast-growing European NASCAR division, she became the first ever woman to score an outright podium in the series - and finished as the best ever placed American in the standings, with fifth place at the end of the year.
Unfortunately, Landauer could not secure a full time seat in 2021 and she focused on a bigger 2022 return. A Stanford University graduate in Science, Technology, and Society, Landauer explored the world of Web3 and blockchain opportunities during her driving hiatus.
And she was rewarded with a few interesting partnerships which will allow her to get back behind the wheel on the biggest stage to date: having teamed up with NFT communities Boss Beauties and Garage XYZ - which becomes the first NFT companies to sponsor a driver in NASCAR - Julia Landauer will make her debut in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, the second-tier national NASCAR championship.
“I’m so happy to be racing at this level with Tommy Joe Martins and Alpha Prime Racing,” said Landauer. “Jumping into Web3 introduced me to the incredible people at Boss Beauties and GarageXYZ, both of which are strong communities with passionate people that believe in the power of supporting women."
"I’m excited to introduce them to NASCAR. I also really appreciate Penta ESP and FrontRunner for supporting me. It’s going to be fun!”
“We’ve been trying to get Julia in our racecar all year long,” added Tommy Joe Martins, General Manager of Alpha Prime Racing, the team running the #45 machine.
“Ever since her days in a NASCAR West car, I felt like she deserved an opportunity at this level. I am really glad we were able to put it all together and give her a shot here at Alpha Prime.”
Landauer is also a very active public speaker and advocate for women in STEM and gained nationwide popularity when she was a contestant in the CBS reality TV show Survivor in 2012-2013.
The New York City-native got behind the wheel for the first time in the #45 Chevrolet Camaro in a rookie test at Motor Mile Speedway in Virginia on June 17th.
Things will get serious on July 15th, when a 30-minute practice session is scheduled before qualifying. The NASCAR Xfinity Series race at New Hampshire will begin at 2:30 pm ET on July 16th.