Daniel Suárez celebrates NASCAR Cup Series in Mexico: 'I don't come from a wealthy family, I've worked hard'

Mexican driver Daniel Suárez grew up in a house with two bedrooms and one bathroom, used public transportation, and when he was 18 he was driving a 1994 Beetle; he dreamed of reaching the Telmex Racing Team and NASCAR Mexico . The Monterrey native stepped up his aspirations and is now about to experience a historic race at the Hermanos Rodríguez Racetrack in Mexico City: the arrival of the NASCAR Cup Series .

“I don't come from a family of money or racing ,” Suarez said at a press conference on February 26, “I have had to work very hard to obtain each of the things that have come my way in life.”

Daniel Suárez (Trackhouse Racing) will race the first international NASCAR Cup Series race outside the United States during the NASCAR Mexico City Weekend, a sporting event held in June.

In addition to the main category, the weekend includes races from the NASCAR Xfinity Series (second most important division) and the NASCAR Mexico Series (local).

“It has not been an easy journey,” said the Monterrey native, who recalled his beginnings behind the wheel: “When I was just 18 years old, my dream was to race for Escudería Telmex , to race for Jimmy Morales and Carlos Slim . I never thought about one day racing internationally . I wanted to get to NASCAR Mexico .”

In his opinion, he was fortunate to arrive with “good people” and made “many sacrifices.” After reaching NASCAR Mexico, Daniel believed that his family would finally get some rest and be financially secure, but he still had a “little itch” to explore the track in the United States .

“I didn’t want to do it. I was afraid of many things , of putting my family in a difficult situation, I didn’t speak the language , I didn’t speak English, I knew I could have a very successful career in Mexico. Of the 10 people I asked if I should go to the United States or not, eight said no.”

However, Daniel listened to those two people who advised him to take a risk and lived from 2011 to 2013 the most difficult years of his life , trying his luck in North Carolina, with little money and trying to learn English.

In 2022, Daniel Suárez became the first Mexican to win a NASCAR Cup race in the United States ; now he is fighting for another podium at home, in the top division of stock cars.

“Being just months away from being able to fulfill another dream , which is to race in front of all of you, in front of all the people who know me, in front of all the people who have seen me make mistakes, who have seen me grow, who have seen me since I was very young, since I was a child... it's a dream,” added the driver.

NASCAR Mexico City Weekend brings together its three categories on June 13, 14 and 15, 2025 at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez, home of Formula E and Formula 1.

NASCAR tickets (three-day pass) went on pre-sale on February 26 and general sale will be available starting on the 27th. An attendance of 243,000 people is expected over the three days. The price range is from 1,000 to 10,500 pesos (without service charge).

The NASCAR Cup Series will not run on the same layout as the Mexican Grand Prix , it is a circuit shortened in turn four : it is 3.8 kilometers long and has 15 curves; its main straight is 1.1 kilometers, which allows " speeds greater than 200 km/h " during the 100 scheduled laps (387.8 kilometers), explains a statement.

The Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez has several peculiarities in NASCAR: it is the highest altitude track in the championship (2,285 meters above sea level) and “it is one of the six non-oval circuits in the season.”

“Currently, more than 11 million Mexicans are interested in motorsports. Therefore, the arrival of the NASCAR Mexico City Weekend not only underlines Mexico’s position as the motorsports capital of Latin America ,” explained Federico Alamán, director of Commercial Operations at OCESA, at a press conference.

NASCAR Mexico City Weekend activities are broadcast on pay television: Fox Sports.

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