Tuesday, June 18, 2024 will forever be a special day for Trackhouse Racing’s Daniel Suárez. The driver of the No. 99 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 in the NASCAR Cup Series was officially sworn in as a United States citizen in a naturalization ceremony with 47 other candidates at the Charlotte field office of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.
With NASCAR President Steve Phelps on hand, Suárez placed his hand over his heart as the United States National Anthem played. At the conclusion of the oaths and National Anthem, Phelps awarded a citizen certificate to all 48 in the room.
Suárez, who is in year 12 of his American racing journey, hopes that his story and path to United States citizenship can inspire others that dream of immigrating to America someday.
“I just hope that this is the beginning of something great, and I can be the example for many people from my country, South America, Europe, you name it, Asia, to come to this country, to work hard, to be disciplined and to do things the right way, because in my mind, if you do all these things right, there is no question you’re going to be successful,” Suárez explained.
It was a proud day for Suárez, who had his fiancée Julia Piquet by his side as well as Trackhouse Racing president Ty Norris and other Trackhouse Racing team representatives.
What Suárez has accomplished in American motorsport is nothing short of incredible.
The now 32-year-old Suárez first entered the United States to race competitively at the age of 19. The native of Monterrey, Mexico competed in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East, where he ran well as a part-timer in 2011, and 2012 before moving to full-time competition in 2013. Suarez would score a win in 2013, and would finish third in the K&N Pro East championship standings that season.
Three years later, Suárez was hoisting his first NASCAR National Series championship trophy as he took the NASCAR Xfinity Series championship in a three-win campaign in 2016.
With the sudden retirement of Carl Edwards at the conclusion of the 2016 NASCAR Cup Series season, Suárez was thrust into the top series in NASCAR. And while it wasn’t an easy transition, Suárez refused to give up on his dreams, and would eventually land with the upstart Trackhouse Racing team in 2021.
A year later, he picked up his first-career NASCAR Cup Series win at Sonoma Raceway, and he backed that win up with another at Atlanta Motor Speedway this year.
The journey may have been difficult, but Suárez perservered.
It’s no different than his journey to American citizenship. But like the journey to his first NASCAR Cup Series win, Suárez stayed steady in his aspirations and accomplished his goal.
