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Trackhouse Racing star Daniel Suarez recently spoke about the initial stages his NASCAR Cup Series career.
The Monterrey native will be making his national stock car racing series debut this weekend at the LA Memorial Coliseum. It was thus only fitting for the #99 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 driver to reflect on his roots.
Daniel Suarez is the sole Hispanic driver and NASCAR Cup Series race winner in the highest echelon of the sport as of now. In an interview with motorsport.com, he spoke about his journey from racing in his hometown to representing an up-and-coming powerhouse at the highest echelon of the sport. He said:
"If there was no NASCAR Mexico, there would be no Daniel Suarez in the Cup Series. This is a big deal. Some people understand that. Some people don’t. But I do because I was part of that."
Iterating further on the series' return to the USA after a nine-year hiatus, the 32-year-old driver said:
"This series is being put on a very big stage."
The Mexico Series will be previewing the exhibition-style Busch Light Clash on Sunday, February 4. Given the vast Hispanic population in the Los Angeles region and NASCAR's plans to make the sport relevant internationally, this seems like the ideal first step in that direction.
The 2024 regular season is expected to start later this month with the famed Daytona 500. Daniel Suarez will be hoping to bounce back after a sub-par showing last year.
Daniel Suarez's performance during 2023 NASCAR Cup Series season
Suarez managed to enter the NASCAR history books as the sole Mexican-born winner in the Cup Series in 2022. However, the Trackhouse Racing driver failed to make an impression last year.
He finished in P19 on the driver's standing table, failing to qualify for the postseason playoffs due to no victories to his name. Despite finding some speed and consistency during the latter half of the year, Suarez and the #99 crew failed to visit Victory Lane in 2023.
He will hope to fare better during the 2024 Cup Series season.
