Home Hero: Suarez Goes Worst To First For Mexico NXS Win

MEXICO CITY – In front of the home country that made him everything he’s become, Daniel Suarez completed a worst-to-first rally through extreme adversity to win Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series Chilango 150 at Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez.

After a hard qualifying crash put him in a backup JR Motorsports Chevrolet, forcing the Monterrey, Mexico, native to utilize NASCAR’s special ‘international provisional’ just to roll off last in the 39-car field, Suarez survived and was the fittest when it mattered.

The 33-year-old escaped damage after a three-wide scuffle for the lead with Connor Zilisch and Ty Gibbs to open the final stage of the 65-lap race went sour, leaving the latter two heavily damaged at turn three and Suarez largely alone among the remaining frontrunners.

Once he took the lead, Suarez never gave it up again and controlled the remaining 19 laps for his fourth career Xfinity Series victory.

It was his first win at NASCAR’s second-highest level since November of 2016 at Homestead-Miami (Fla.) Speedway, the night he won the Xfinity Series championship, though this one was equally emotional for vastly different reasons.

Nine years ago, Suarez was still largely unheralded and just coming into his own as a top-level racer in the United States. Now, he’s a racer who’s realized his long-held aspirations and savored the chance to come home and celebrate that prowess with his countrymen.

“It’s so special,” said Suarez of winning a NASCAR national series race on Mexican soil. “To be here in front of all my people … who have supported me for many, many years and loved me since my NASCAR Mexico [Series] days to now fighting with the big boys, it feels good. There aren’t words [to describe it].

“That race was everything about teamwork, what it means,” he added. “These [JRM] guys worked extremely hard to get this [backup] car ready … and it wasn’t supposed to be a winner today! [People said] we weren’t supposed to be here … but look at where we are right now.

“It’s been a special day, and I can’t wait to enjoy it for a little bit.”

The turning point came on the lap-47 restart that followed the second and final stage break, when Zilisch and Gibbs lined up on the front row for the long run down the main straightaway to turn one.

With Zilisch to driver’s right – the inside lane for the first corner – Gibbs and Suarez flared out to the left in a three-wide run to try and gain control of the race. All-out mayhem ensued instead.

Zilisch hopped the turn-one curb and slid sideways into the right door of Gibbs’ Toyota, losing momentum rapidly as the field piled in around him while Gibbs and Suarez tried to continue their battle for what became the lead through the turn two-and-three complex.

Suarez slipped away to the point just before contact between Gibbs and stage-two winner Carson Kvapil – who had escaped the fracas in turn one – led to Gibbs spinning and additional carnage at the exit of the third turn when Parker Retzlaff and others slammed into Gibbs’ stalled machine.

In all, 13 cars were involved by the time the smoke cleared. Polesitter Zilisch and second-starting Gibbs, who combined to lead 35 of the first 46 laps, were chief among the casualties – though both continued despite significant damage.

At that point, it became Suarez’s race to lose, after he’d short-pitted before the two stage cautions to gain track position and set himself up near the front for the run to the finish.

He didn’t have it quite that easy, though, despite pulling out a lead of more than two seconds over Taylor Gray inside of 10 to go.

A turn-15 spin by Jesse Love with seven laps left set up a dash to the finish, with Suarez and Gray lining up on the front row for the day’s final restart.

Once the green flag waved with four to go, Gray made a deep dive into turn two in an effort to wrestle the top spot away from Suarez, forcing the latter into the grass and nearly sparking additional mayhem.

But with veteran presence of mind, Gray allowed Suarez to gather the car back underneath him, not wanting to settle the fight that way. He ultimately fell just .598 seconds shy of his first Xfinity Series win.

“I put him in the grass. I didn’t mean to, but that was on me,” Gray, a Joe Gibbs Racing rookie, later told reporters. “I didn’t feel like it was right to take the lead [that way] from him then, so we both kept on and fought for it again after that.

“Just a little short.”

Richard Childress Racing’s Austin Hill crossed third, more than four seconds back of the winner, followed by Kaulig Racing’s Christian Eckes.

Zilisch, meanwhile, stormed back from 26th after the incident to finish fifth with a patched-up race car and believed he had the car to win before everything went sideways – literally – in the final stanza.

“Obviously the finish isn’t what we wanted,” lamented Zilisch, who ended up across the nose of William Sawalich’s Toyota in the turn-one incident before getting straightened out and pinballed around by multiple vehicles.

“We had a better car than fifth place. But congrats to Daniel. It’s awesome to see him win here in his home [country].”

Sawalich was a career-best sixth despite his piece of the late scrum. Austin Green, Jeb Burton, Harrison Burton, and stage-one victor Sammy Smith closed out the top 10.

A tough day for reigning champion and series point leader Justin Allgaier saw him head to the garage with a broken left-rear axle before the end of the first stage. He got back out, but ultimately finished 15 laps down in 34th place.

Allgaier’s regular season advantage over Hill dwindled from 92 points to 54 heading to the tour’s next race at Pennsylvania’s Pocono Raceway.

Broadcast coverage of the Explore the Pocono Mountains 250 is slated for Saturday, June 21 at 3:30 p.m. ET, live on The CW, the Motor Racing Network, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, channel 90.