Daniel Suárez is in his tenth full-time season in the NASCAR Cup Series after winning the 2016 Xfinity Series championship. He drives the No. 7 Freeway Insurance Chevrolet for Spire Motorsports. He has won two NASCAR Cup Series races and scored one of the most emotional victories of his NASCAR career in the June Xfinity race at Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez in Mexico City.
He started 39th in the JR Motorsports Chevrolet after going to a backup car. It marked the first time anyone has driven from last to first on a road course in any NASCAR national series race. He became the first driver from Mexico (Monterrey) to win in the NASCAR Cup Series on June 12, 2022, at Sonoma (Calif.) Raceway. He returned to victory lane at Atlanta Motor Speedway on February 25, 2024, when he and runner-up Ryan Blaney were separated by 0.003 seconds at the finish line. It was the fourth-closest finish in series history, and with third-place Kyle Busch just 0.007 seconds behind the winner, it also stands as the closest finish among three cars in the history of auto racing.
He is one of four foreign-born drivers in NASCAR history to win two Cup Series races. Suárez took the Oath of Allegiance at a naturalization ceremony in 2024, in front of media, friends, and the NASCAR industry. NASCAR President Steve Phelps gave the keynote address to the 48 new citizens from 28 countries who joined Suárez at the ceremony. Suárez came to America about 13 years ago without speaking English. He passed the United States Citizenship test on April 29, 2024, in Charlotte before taking the last step of the process on June 18, 2024. He is now a dual citizen of Mexico and the United States.
Suárez won the 150-lap Mexico Series race at the Los Angeles Coliseum in February 2024. It was his 11th victory in the series. Suárez married his fiancé Julia Piquet, Daughter of three-time Formula One champion Nelson Piquet, at a ceremony on July 30, 2024, in Brazil. Four days later he raced in the NASCAR Brazil race at the Autódromo José Carlos Pace, better known as Interlagos. He won one of the three races and battled for victory in the other two events. Suárez now has the unique accomplishment of winning in NASCAR Mexico and Brazil, in addition to all three American series.
Suárez owns two victories (Sonoma 2022 and Atlanta 2024) and three Busch Light Pole Awards – Pocono (Pa.) Raceway (July 2018), Kentucky Speedway (July 2019), and on the road course at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway (August 2023). Suárez became the first Latin American, as well as the first NASCAR Drive for Diversity graduate, to win a NASCAR national series title when he won the 2016 Xfinity Series championship.
In 2016, he became the first Mexican driver to win in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, claiming three victories: Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Dover (Del.) Motor Speedway and the championship finale at Homestead-Miami (Fla.) Speedway. He was the 2015 NASCAR Xfinity Series Sunoco Rookie of the Year – the first Mexican driver to win the award. Suárez lives in Charlotte, collects and works on cars as a hobby. Suárez is a fan of the Mexican Soccer team Tigres UANL – He grew up playing soccer.
