🇺🇸 Carlos Contreras

Carlos Contreras is an entry-level professional who raced stock cars in NASCAR's national series. He competed in the NASCAR Xfinity Series across thirteen seasons from 2003 to 2015, primarily for Rick Ware Racing, and made four starts in the NASCAR Truck Series in 2016 driving for his own team, Contreras Motorsports. He ran the majority of his Xfinity starts on oval circuits, with occasional road and street course appearances.[1]

Across 39 total starts, Contreras finished 37th in the 2015 NASCAR Xfinity championship standings in what proved to be his final indexed season. His best results came against established and elite-level professionals; he finished ahead of Denny Hamlin, an elite professional with more than 500 NASCAR starts across the national series, twice, and beat Christopher Bell, the 2017 NASCAR Truck champion, once. More typically, he ran behind Regan Smith and J.J. Yeley, both regular opponents in the Xfinity field and drivers with substantially more experience in NASCAR's top tiers.[2]

Contreras raced in fields mixing amateur and semi-professional entrants with graded professionals. His thirteen-year tenure as a full-time NASCAR driver made him a notable presence in the series, though his results placed him in the lower portion of these competitive fields. He remains the first Mexico-born driver to race full-time in any NASCAR national series.