A native of Monterrey, Mexico, Daniel Suarez is in for a huge homecoming when the NASCAR Cup Series competes South of the Border this weekend for the first time.
Suarez, who with his 2016 Xfinity Series championship became the first international driver to win a NASCAR national touring series title, remembers a time not all that long ago when the thought of the NASCAR Cup Series venturing to his native country seemed entirely farfetched.
Now, it’s reality.
Next stop 🇲🇽 pic.twitter.com/s5CKYW7wwX
— Daniel Suárez (@Daniel_SuarezG) June 10, 2025
Daniel Suarez Expects NASCAR To Receive Warm Welcome In Mexico City
How amped is Daniel Suarez about getting to Mexico City for Sunday’s Viva Mexico 250 at Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez road course?
“I can’t wait,” said the NASCAR Cup Series’ only full-time driver who hails from Mexico. “This is a dream come true. We have a lot to do down there, and we’re going early. It’s going to be a great moment for NASCAR as well as the Mexican race fans.
“I really think everyone will be shocked at what a good reception we get in Mexico. It’s going to be an awesome weekend.”
Sunday will mark not only the first NASCAR Cup Series points-paying race in Mexico, but it will be just the third points-paying Cup race held outside of the continental U.S. The other two both took place in Canada.
The last points-paying race held outside of the continental U.S. was in July 1958, in Toronto. It’s finally Mexico’s turn to host the world’s premier stock car racing series.
“I’m super-excited about it,” said Suarez, whose Trackhouse Racing car will carry a special paint scheme just for the event. “It’s going to be tough to handle all the people pulling me in different directions, (but) it’s going to be a lot of fun. I feel very, very grateful and thankful to be in this position and to be living the NASCAR dream in this era.
“I was talking to some friends, and just a few years ago, going to Mexico probably wouldn’t be an option. So I’m very grateful for the opportunity.”
Daniel Suarez’s Mexico City car … pic.twitter.com/MHFWR7JXBc
— Bob Pockrass (@bobpockrass) June 8, 2025
Daniel Suarez Is (Sort Of) No Stranger To Mexico City Road Course
Early in his NASCAR career while working his way up through the ranks, Daniel Suarez won at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez three times as a participant in the NASCAR Mexico Series.
On Sunday, he will be the only driver in the field with seat time at the 2.42-mile road circuit. However, the track Suarez will see this weekend is quite a bit different from the one he raced on and won at.
So much, then, for having a true home court advantage.
“This is the part that is actually very interesting,” Suarez said. “A lot of people think that I’ve been racing that layout for a very long time. And actually, I’ve never been on that layout in my life.
“I have won at that race track, but in the overall configuration, never on the road course configuration. I know maybe 50%, maybe 40-50%, of the layout. Corner four, I’ve never been on.”
Even so, Suarez — a two-time Cup Series race winner seeking his first victory of 2025 — expects to be a contender for the win. After all, one of his two Cup Series triumphs to date came on a road course — at Sonoma in 2022. On that day, he made history by becoming the first driver from Mexico to capture a Cup Series victory.
In 2022 at Sonoma, Daniel Suarez became the first Mexican-born driver to win a NASCAR Cup Series race.
Hearing Tony Rivera call him home was something special. pic.twitter.com/2V3cTQeZ2j
— NASCAR on NBC (@NASCARonNBC) June 6, 2024
Even if he doesn’t come out on top in Mexico, Suarez wants to savor every minute of his return home.
“I’m really trying to be as present as possible, enjoy the moment and execute the best possible weekend that we can,” he said. “We know that we are capable of winning the race, but that’s not the goal. The goal is the execution of the entire weekend, and hopefully the win is the result of the execution part.”
