NASCAR fans gripped by emotions over home hero Daniel Suarez’s ‘impressive’ Mexico City Race triumph

Daniel Suarez pulled off one of the most memorable wins of his career in front of his home crowd in Mexico City, rallying from the back of the field to claim victory in the NASCAR Xfinity Series race, The Chilango 150, on Saturday. It was an emotional moment, not just for the 33-year-old driver but for NASCAR fans, who flooded social media to celebrate their hometown hero’s win.

The race was at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, where Daniel Suarez started from the rear in a backup JR Motorsports car after crashing during qualifying earlier in the day. Despite that, Suarez charged through the 37-car field to take the checkered flag, leading a race-high 19 laps.

He made the decisive move with 19 laps to go, surviving a chaotic three-wide restart involving Ty Gibbs and Connor Zilisch. The final lap tested Suarez one last time. Taylor Gray forced him off the track briefly, but Suarez kept control, regained the lead, and crossed the line first, sending the grandstands into a roar of chants and waving Mexican flags.

Suarez later admitted he had never experienced such crowd energy before, saying, “I got goosebumps. I felt so blessed.” Jeff Gluck summed it up best with a tweet. He captioned it,

"Unbelievable moment! Incredible stuff here in Mexico City!"

The fan reactions came pouring in almost immediately. One wrote,

"Very impressive."

"Almost like a movie!! 🍿 the home town hero returns to win the day!!!" another wrote.

"I'm glad he won today. He's a great guy. He's not my favorite driver but I hope he wins tomorrow too. It was a great race!" a fan expressed.

"Glad to see everyone finally smarting up and appreciating a cup guy racing in the Xfinity series." one commented.

"That’s what dreams are made for!!!" another commented.

"Incredible alright!🙄 " a fan expressed.

As for the rest of the race results, Taylor Gray finished in second place. Along with that, Austin Hill claimed third, racing for Richard Childress Racing.

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Daniel Suarez fights through a qualifying crash to deliver an unforgettable performance

Earlier in the day, things looked bleak for Daniel Suarez. During his first flying lap in Xfinity qualifying, Suarez lost control in Turn 11 and went head-first into the barrier. The crash left his No. 9 Chevrolet heavily damaged and forced JR Motorsports to bring out a backup car.

Suarez later explained that the crash was caused by a brake problem. Via Bob Pockrass on X, Suarez said:

"I've been having issues with brakes pretty much all day... My pedal was just traveling too much and I just couldn't slow down... I felt like the car was never stopping. So it was unfortunate."

He also shared that the team was debating whether to fix the brakes before or after qualifying, but ultimately didn’t act in time. The crash left Suarez with no option but to start from the back under the international provisional rule.

With Saturday’s emotional high behind him, Daniel Suarez shifts focus to Sunday’s Cup Series race. He’ll start 10th in the first NASCAR Cup points event held outside the U.S. in 67 years.