Daniel Suarez has his own posse this weekend

FORT WORTH, TEXAS - NOVEMBER 01: Daniel Suarez, driver of the #41 Walmart Family Mobile Ford, sits in his car during practice for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series AAA Texas 500 at Texas Motor Speedway on November 01, 2019 in Fort Worth, Texas. (Photo by Brian Lawdermilk/Getty Images)

As part of a successful outreach to the Latino community, Mexican driver Daniel Suarez will have his own cheering section for Sunday’s AAA Texas 500 at Texas Motor Speedway.

“Yeah, it’s a special weekend for myself and the team,” Suarez said on Friday afternoon at Texas. “We have a lot of exciting things going on, starting with another weekend of Daniel’s Amigos. We are bringing a lot of people that are Latinos out to the race track. We have pretty incredible numbers.

“We have over 5,000 subscribers for this weekend alone which is pretty amazing since this is just the fourth race we have been doing this. I feel like we are moving the needle. Last time in Las Vegas we had almost 2,000 and that was pretty unbelievable. We have high expectations for the weekend. Hopefully we can have fun with Daniel’s Amigos and have some good results on Sunday.”

Suarez expects more than 1,000 of his subscribing amigos to attend Sunday’s race.

I am very happy to be a small part of this,” Suarez said. “It’s something that just started as an idea and is now a reality. I am very happy to be a part of this. Of course, without help from the race tracks and NASCAR and Coca-Cola and a lot of people, this wouldn’t be possible. I feel very fortunate to be able to bring new fans to the race track.”

Suarez is wearing a special helmet designed by Dallas-based artist Agustin Chavez, who is from Suarez’s home state of Nuevo Leon. The helmet, feature the image of a “sugar skull,” was created in celebration of the “Dia de los Muertos” (Day of the Dead), which is celebrated Nov. 1 and 2.

“This weekend is Dia de los Muertos in Mexico and is a very important holiday for every Mexican,” Suarez said. “We celebrate all those people, family members that have passed. It is a big holiday in Mexico.

“For years now I had an idea of doing a Dia de los Muertos helmet. It has skulls and flowers and is very colorful. A friend of mine did a really cool design and we decided to put it into reality onto the helmet and it turned out amazing. It’s pretty cool to see the outcome of the helmet and a lot of people like it so far.”

SHORT STROKES

Having re-signed with Joe Gibbs Racing for the 2020 season, Brandon Jones is relieved to get the business aspect of racing out of the way. “It’s a big weight off of our shoulders,” said Jones, fresh from his victory at Kansas, his first NASCAR Xfinity Series win. “Any driver right now is fighting to get some stuff going, and that was really big for us to be able to come back for 2020.”…

Stewart-Haas Racing on Friday announced a technical alliance with GoFas Racing, through which SHR will provide chassis, data and technical support for the No. 32 Ford next year. GoFas will maintain its relationships with Ford Performance and Roush Yates Engines. “2020 will be an exciting year at GFR with the addition of SHR cars and their technical assistance,” said GFR owner Archie St. Hilaire. “I can’t thank all of the great people at SHR for the opportunity to align with them. “GFR has improved every year in our six years in the NASCAR Cup Series and I believe that the best is yet to come for this little team and our great group of employees.” Corey LaJoie currently drives the No. 32 Ford, but the team has not named a driver for 2020…

Stewart-Haas Racing drivers topped the speed charts in Friday’s two Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practices on Friday. Clint Bowyer paced the first session with  lap 188.679 mph. Aric Almirola was fastest in Happy Hour at 188.561 mph.

Greg Engle