Miguel Paludo
Paludo in 2012
Born	(1983-07-26)July 26, 1983 (age 42) Nova Prata, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil
Achievements	2008, 2009, 2017, 2020Porsche GT3 Cup Brasil Champion
NASCARO'Reilly Auto Parts Series career
11 races run over 4 years
2023 position	45th
Best finish	45th (2023)
First race	2012Sargento 200 (Road America)
Last race	2023Pennzoil 150 (Indianapolis G.P.)
Wins Top tens Poles 0 2 0
NASCARCraftsman Truck Series career
73 races run over 4 years
2013 position	9th
Best finish	9th (2013)
First race	2010O'Reilly 200 (Bristol)
Last race	2013Ford EcoBoost 200 (Homestead)
Wins Top tens Poles 0 25 1
Statistics up to date as of December 27, 2023.

Miguel Paludo (born July 26, 1983) is a Brazilian professionalracing driver who competes full-time in thePorsche GT3 Carrera Cup Series. Paludo formerly competed in NASCAR full-time in theCamping World Truck Series, driving forRed Horse Racing andTurner Scott Motorsports. He has won four championships in the Porsche GT3 Cup Series, with three (2008, 2009, and 2020) in the Carrera Cup and the other (2017) in the Endurance Series.

Paludo began racinggo karts at the age of 14, and in 2004, moved up totouring car racing in a regional Brazilian series, competing for his family-owned team with his brother Daniel.^[1] He competed for several years in regional and national series in Brazil, most successfully in thePorsche GT3 Cup Brasil, where he won back-to-back series championships in 2008 and 2009.^[1][2]

Paludo began his NASCAR career in 2010, competing in theK&N Pro Series East in a car fielded byHattori Racing Enterprises. He finished fifteenth in the series standings that year, with a best finish of fourth.^[1] He also made his debut in theCamping World Truck Series, competing forGermain Racing andRed Horse Racing in four races.^[1] He finished ninth in his first race in the series, atBristol Motor Speedway, widely regarded as a difficult track for rookie drivers.^[3]

In 2011, he ran full-time in the Camping World Truck Series forRed Horse Racing, with a best finish of third;^[3] he ended the season finishing seventeenth in the points standings and fourth in the series'Rookie-of-the-Year competition.^[4]

Following the end of the 2011 season, Paludo left Red Horse Racing to drive forTurner Scott Motorsports in the No. 32 truck with teammatesJames Buescher andNelson Piquet Jr., another Brazilian driver.^[4] Paludo started the season with a pole in the season-opener atDaytona International Speedway, where he was the first Brazilian to win a pole in one of NASCAR's top-three series, and alongside Piquet Jr., comprised the first all-Brazilian front row in the history of NASCAR. But during the race, Paludo would suffer a very violent crash when his truck lost control and crashed hard into the inside frontstretch wall. The impact sent his truck spinning in circles and flew through the air while also catching on fire. Paludo would walk away from the crash unhurt.^[5] Paludo's best finish of the season (fifth) came in the season finale atHomestead-Miami Speedway, and he ultimately finished 10th in the NCWTS driver point standings, his best points position to date.Additionally, Paludo ran twoNASCAR Nationwide Series races in 2012, competing atRoad America andWatkins Glen International,^[6] in the latter of which he earned his best NNS finish of 13th.

In 2013, Paludo returned to the No. 32 Chevrolet Silverado with Turner Scott Motorsports for another complete NCWTS season.^[7] At Talladega Superspeedway in October, Paludo was involved in a spectacular last-lap accident, his truck being flipped in thetrioval.^[8]

Following the 2013 season, Paludo was released by Turner Scott Motorsports due to a lack of sponsorship.^[9] He was unable to find another ride in NASCAR for 2014.

In2021, Paludo would return to NASCAR and theXfinity Series (previously Nationwide) and would drive the No. 8JR Motorsports in three road course races (theDaytona Road Course,Circuit of the Americas andMid-Ohio) during the first half of the season, replacingJosh Berry, the car's driver for the first half of the season. JRM had announced months earlier thatSam Mayer would be driving the No. 8 car during the second half of the season, which was why Paludo was not given the car for all seven road course races on the schedule. The deal came about through BRANDT, Paludo's sponsor in Brazil, which was also the primary sponsor of JRM's No. 7 car ofJustin Allgaier. Allgaier and Paludo were teammates at Turner Scott Motorsports from 2011 to 2013, and BRANDT was Allgaier's primary sponsor there as well, and in addition to that, they sponsored Paludo in one Truck race.^[10] Paludo would return toJR Motorsports for the same 3 events in 2022.

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After Paludo ended up not running any NASCAR races during the 2014 season, he moved back to Brazil in 2015 and began racing in thePorsche GT3 Cup Series again. He would also compete in and win one championship in both the Porsche Endurance Series as well as the Carrera Cup, giving him a total of four titles in the series across all of its divisions.^[10]

Born inNova Prata in the state ofRio Grande do Sul in southern Brazil,^[1] Paludo currently resides inMooresville, North Carolina.^[11] He is married, and has one son, Oliver, with his wife Patricia.^[3]

Paludo was diagnosed withtype 1 diabetes in 2004 at the age of 21 and has since become an advocate ofdiabetes awareness and care. In addition to a long-standing relationship with theAmerican Diabetes Association, Paludo announced in 2012 that he would become the next Blue Circle Champion for theInternational Diabetes Federation, a worldwide alliance of some 200 diabetes associations in more than 160 countries. Paludo is the first representative of the organization fromSouth America.^[12]

Paludo and his wife Patricia also learned in 2012 that their son Oliver, at the time only eight months old, was also a type 1 diabetic. In response to the news, Paludo ran a special No. 32 Unite for Diabetes/Duroline paint scheme in the June 2012 NCWTS race atTexas Motor Speedway. The scheme featured the blue circle, which is the international symbol for diabetes, and an image of Paludo and his son on the truck'stonneau cover. In November of that year, Paludo ran aWorld Diabetes Day paint scheme at both Texas Motor Speedway andPhoenix International Raceway.^[12]

(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time.Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time.Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

^* Season still in progress
¹ Ineligible for series points

• Official website
• Miguel Paludo driver statistics at Racing-Reference

• Living people
• 1983 births
• Sportspeople from Rio Grande do Sul
• Brazilian racing drivers
• Brazilian NASCAR drivers
• NASCAR drivers
• People with type 1 diabetes
• ARCA Menards Series drivers
• JR Motorsports drivers
• People from Nova Prata
• Racing drivers with diabetes

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