SONOMA, Calif. – Daniel Suarez became the first Mexican-born driver to win a NASCAR Cup race on Sunday, ahead of Chris Bushehr in a historic victory at the Sonoma Raceway.
Suarez, 30, from Monterey, finally won his 195th career start in the Cup Series career, which began in 2017. He also brought his Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet to his third Cup Series victory of the season in 2 years. -old team, co-owned by former driver Justin Marx and music star Pitbull.
Suarez passed Buescher and took command at the beginning of the final stage of this hilly road in the wine country of Northern California, and he persisted through a pit stop and caution to come forward with 23 laps to the end. Buscher pushed him aggressively, but Suarez made no significant mistakes as he moved toward victory.
“This is crazy,” Suarez said. “I have so many thoughts in my head right now. It was a hard time in the Cup Series, and these guys believed in me. I have many people to thank in Mexico. My family, they never gave up on me. Many people did, but they didn’t. I’m just happy we made it work. “
Daniel Suarez celebrates with a Mexican flag after winning the NASCAR Cup race at Sonoma Raceway on Sunday. Photo by Chris Grayton / Getty Images
Suarez’s team partyed wildly when he finished, even took out a festive pinata shaped like a taco. Pina was asked by Suarez every time he won his first victory and won a place in the playoffs – and he celebrated by punching a hole through it with his fist.
“They believed in me from day one,” Suarez told his team.[We’ve got] all the people, all the resources to make that happen. “
Suarez then addressed his fans briefly in Spanish, saying, “This is the first of many.”
Buescher’s second place was the best of the season in his RFK Racing Ford. He failed to achieve his second career victory.
“It hurts to be so close, but congratulations to Suarez,” Buscher said. “We tried, we tried to catch him. That’s where my money ran out. “
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Suarez, who won the Xfinity Series Championship in 2016, is the fifth foreign-born driver to win a Cup Series race. He joins Colombian Juan Pablo Montoya, Australian Marcos Ambrose, Canadian Earl Ross and Italian-born American Mario Andretti.
The success of Suarez and Trackhouse Racing can be a welcome boost for a sport looking to expand its cultural footprint. After moving to the United States 11 years ago with a desire to compete in the bigger stages, Suarez is a great success story of NASCAR’s Drive for Diversity program, which aims to bring new perspectives and experience to an organization that has been largely monocultural throughout much of its history.
Michael McDowell finished the best third of the season ahead of Kevin Harwick in cloudy conditions in the first race of the Sonoma Raceway Cup at full capacity before the coronavirus pandemic. The crowd included about 350 fans of Suarez’s program, Daniel’s Amigos, which allows children in several NASCAR cities to attend competitions.
Austin Cindrick was fifth in the final race before a one-week break in the middle of the Cup season.
BEEKEEPING WORK
Sonoma Raceway has rebuilt the 1.99-mile Chute track scheme for this race after using the longer Carousel configuration in the previous two editions in 2019 and 2021. The shorter track does not appear to have led to more contact in the race and not much happened in the first two stages, which were won by Kyle Larson and Joey Logano.
WITHOUT REPETITION
Defending champion and field player Larson led the first stage, but he retreated and eventually lost his right front tire with 27 laps to go. Larson started on the pole for the fifth time in a row in the race closest to his childhood home in the suburbs of Sacramento, but his decision not to play boxing in the first stage left him buried in the field from there. He finished 15th.
NEXT
After the break, the season resumes with a trip to Nashville Superspeedway on Sunday, June 26.
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