It’s incredibly rare for a fairytale-type story of this magnitude to unfold in professional sports.
Many factors were working against Daniel Suarez at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez on Saturday, but the NASCAR Cup Series regular from Monterrey, Mexico, pushed forward and earned the victory in front of his home country.
The afternoon didn’t start off on a particularly strong note for Suarez, with a crash in qualifying that destroyed his No. 9 Quaker State-sponsored Chevrolet. Under normal circumstances, with the team’s low owner points position, the 33-year-old driver would have missed the race.
Though with the help of the ‘International Provisional’ (introduced for this event to ensure nobody traveled all the way to Mexico without competing) Suarez would get to line up 39th after JR Motorsports thrashed for several hours just to get the backup car on the grid for the start.
“It’s everything about teamwork. These guys worked extremely hard to get this car ready, and the car wasn’t supposed to be a winner today, and look at where we are right now,” Suarez exclaimed. “I can’t thank enough Quaker State, JR Motorsports, and all of the people who worked really, really hard for us to be here this afternoon. It’s been a very special day, and I can’t wait to enjoy it for a little bit and do it again tomorrow.”
Throughout the race, that terrible starting spot was mitigated by rookie crew chief Corey Shea flipping the stages.
From that point forward, Suarez was in contention to run in the top five, but Connor Zilisch, Ty Gibbs, and Christopher Bell all looked to have racecars capable of winning, while Suarez couldn’t quite compete to their level.
RACE RESULTS: The Chilango 150 at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez
But, between an engine problem for Christopher Bell at the end of Stage 2 and an accident early in the final stage that severely damaged the racecars of Zilisch and Gibbs, Suarez suddenly found himself in the catbird seat, having to hold off series rookie Taylor Gray.
Suarez seemingly lacked some speed against Gray in the closing laps, but despite a couple of close calls, and one final lunge in the penultimate corner of the event, the No. 9 was able to hold on for his fourth win in the NASCAR Xfinity Series.
“This is very special, man. This is very, very special to be here in front of my people,” Suarez said after climbing from his racecar. “You know, all of these people who have supported me for many, many years. They have loved me since my NASCAR Mexico days, and now fighting with the big boys, it feels good.”
Suarez was able to hold off rookie driver Taylor Gray in the closing laps of the event, who continues to look for his maiden trip to Victory Lane in the second-tier series. Austin Hill rebounded from a mid-race spin and flat tire, where he was nearly a lap down, to finish in third place.
Christian Eckes recorded his second top-five finish of the season, in fourth. Both of the Kaulig Racing driver’s top-fives have come on road courses, with his first coming earlier in the season at Circuit of The Americas (COTA).
Connor Zilisch rounded out the top five, making an incredible rally after restarting as low as 28th-place during the final run of the race. William Sawalich was sixth with Austin Green seventh, Jeb Burton eighth, Harrison Burton ninth, and Sammy Smith rounding out the top-10.
NASCAR Xfinity Series points leader Justin Allgaier suffered transmission issues early in the event, causing him to finish 34th, 15 laps off the pace. The JR Motorsports driver now sees his points lead drop to only 54 markers after a trip to Mexico City.
Next for the NASCAR Xfinity Series is a trip to Pocono Raceway for the Explore The Pocono Mountains 250 on Saturday, June 21. Coverage of the event will be on The CW, Motor Racing Network, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90 at 3:30 PM ET.
