Daniel Suarez suffers major blow as Trackhouse Racing hit with travel woes ahead of historic NASCAR Mexico City race

Daniel Suarez is off to a bad start in his home race in Mexico City after missing several team members in early sessions. The #99 Trackhouse Racing team only has five team members at the track for the two practice sessions on Friday (June 13), with the rest experiencing flight delays in the US.

Suarez, 33, is the only Mexican driver on the grid. Driving the #99 Chevrolet Camaro, he is one of the three drivers under Trackhouse Racing, along with Ross Chastain and Shane van Gisbergen. His crew chief is Matt Swiderski, who arrived at Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez on time.

According to a report by NBC Sports, Swiderski stated that some of the original crew members were left in the US after two of the NASCAR chartered flights were grounded. The first was due to an engine issue, while the other was the flight crew exceeding their hours.

The #99 team will borrow spotters from the NASCAR Xfinity Series team for the practice session. With only five members on the scene, Swiderski admitted that the session would be challenging as optimizing the car would take more time.

“The speed that you can make changes is a performance gain… making one more run we’ll be a little it slower just being down a couple of guys,” Suarez's crew chief said.

Daniel Suarez drives the #99 Chevrolet Camaro for Trackhouse Racing - Source: Imagn

Daniel Suarez enters the race weekend with a four-race top-10 drought, including two DNFs from Kansas Speedway and Charlotte Motor Speedway. He ranks 28th in the points standings, a far cry from teammate Ross Chastain, who sits in eighth with one win secured in the Coca-Cola 600.

The Mexican-American driver will look to put on a show in his home race on Sunday (June 15). Scheduled for 100 laps of road course racing, the inaugural Viva Mexico 250 will commence at 3:00 p.m. ET on Amazon Prime.

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“It's time to be selfish”: Daniel Suarez on game plan for home race in Mexico City

Daniel Suarez believes he can win the NASCAR Cup Series race this weekend in his home turf in Mexico City. To do so, the 33-year-old intended to be selfish to become the best version of himself. He flew early to the track to acclimate to the high altitude, which is known to be unforgiving to drivers and cars throughout a race.

Speaking to The Athletic's Jeff Gluck, the 2016 Xfinity Series champion said:

“Once we get to Friday, it’s time to be selfish because I want to be the best version of myself, and I know we can win the race. But for that, I have to execute everything right, and I have to be on my game. So I’m going to be traveling to Mexico City very early, way earlier than normal (he flew Tuesday), so I can acclimate with the altitude, I can start training a little bit.”

Daniel Suarez before the 2025 NASCAR All-Star Open - Source: Imagn

Suarez will compete in a 37-car field at Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez on Sunday. Katherine Legge is the only open car driver who is joining the historic Cup debut race in the No. 78 Live Fast Motorsports Chevrolet.