Daniel Suarez winning the Xfinity Series race in Mexico City is a storybook ending. But Saturday’s race itself was a page-turner.
Suarez started his career in the Mexico Series before moving to the United States to compete in the sport’s highest level. Despite not speaking a word of English when he moved, he learned the language and honed his craft and is now a Cup Series race winner.
That meant, when the Xfinity Series returned to Mexico for the first time since 2008 and the Cup Series visited for the first time ever, Suarez desperately wanted to win. He took advantage of every opportunity to get it, getting a seat in the JR Motorsports No. 9 to compete in the Xfinity Series Chilango 150 race, the first of the weekend.
The weekend started off badly when Suarez crashed in qualifying. That put him in a plain gray backup car and meant he had to start from the rear. The race was an uphill battle as Suarez struggled with poor brakes and suffered some damage after getting checked up entering pit road during a round of stops early on.
But, perhaps buoyed by his desire to win this race in particular, Suarez kept fighting and made his way through the field, taking the lead for the first time in the restart to begin Stage 3 and never looked back all the way to the checkered flag.
“Did you like it? Did you have fun? Yeah! Viva Mexico!” an ecstatic Suarez yelled to the fans in Spanish before embracing his wife.
“Yeah, I mean, it’s everything about teamwork,” Suarez crediting the win to his JR Motorsports posse. “These guys work extremely hard to get this car ready, and you know, that car wasn’t supposed to be a winner! I’m looking over it right now. I can’t thank enough Quaker State, JR Motorsports, and all the people that work very, very hard for us to be here today this afternoon.
“This is a special day, and I can’t wait to enjoy it a little bit and then do it all again tomorrow!” Suarez said. He’ll be driving in the Cup Series on Sunday, hoping to sweep the weekend. But either way, this win represents a victory for all those who helped him reach his NASCAR dream.
“It’s very, very special to be here for all my people, all these people that have supported me for many, many years. They have supported me since my NASCAR Mexico days, and I’m now fighting with the big boys,” he described.
The win had some additional rough-and-tumble elements, too. Suarez got the lead initially on the Stage 3 restart. He was running on the outside into Turn 1 three wide, when Connor Zilisch on the inside washed out into Ty Gibbs in the middle, sending both cars spinning and collecting much of the field. Suarez made contact with Gibbs but was able to get away.
Then, on a final restart with five laps to go, Suarez entered the first turn to the inside of Taylor Gray and the two made contact into Turn 2, pushing Suarez off track and meaning he cut Turn 3. NASCAR determined that the move was legal, even though Suarez cut the course, since he was pushed off the track.
That’s small consolation for Taylor Gray, though. He’s looking for his first win in his first full-time season for Joe Gibbs Racing, but all he ends up with is a second second-place result.
“Just sucked, right – to come so close and I feel like have the car capable of winning, and I don’t know,” Gray said. “I’m mad, frustrated, sad, all of it at the same time, but it was a good points day overall for us.
“I can’t thank everyone at Joe Gibbs Racing enough. They brought me a really fast Operation 300 Toyota GR Supra, as fast as Xfinity Mobile. Just going to take this momentum and keep it rolling.”
Austin Hill, Christian Eckes, and Connor Zilisch rounded out the top five. Zilisch was able to continue on after the wreck to start Stage 3 and climbed through the field, but could get no higher than fifth.
William Sawalich, Austin Green, Jeb Burton, Harrison Burton, and Sammy Smith respectively all earned a top-ten finish.
The Xfinity Series returns next Saturday, June 21st at Pocono Raceway.
NASCAR Xfinity Series Race Results The Chilango 150
Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez
Mexico City, Mexico
Saturday, June 14, 2025
1. (39) Daniel Suarez(i), Chevrolet, 65.
2. (8) Taylor Gray #, Toyota, 65.
3. (7) Austin Hill, Chevrolet, 65.
4. (34) Christian Eckes #, Chevrolet, 65.
5. (1) Connor Zilisch #, Chevrolet, 65.
6. (11) William Sawalich #, Toyota, 65.
7. (14) Austin Green, Chevrolet, 65.
8. (18) Jeb Burton, Chevrolet, 65.
9. (22) Harrison Burton, Ford, 65.
10. (5) Sammy Smith, Chevrolet, 65.
11. (13) Sheldon Creed, Ford, 65.
12. (26) Dean Thompson #, Toyota, 65.
13. (29) Daniel Dye #, Chevrolet, 65.
14. (2) Ty Gibbs(i), Toyota, 65.
15. (21) Alex Labbe, Chevrolet, 65.
16. (17) Matt DiBenedetto, Chevrolet, 65.
17. (27) Kris Wright, Chevrolet, 65.
18. (10) Jesse Love, Chevrolet, 65.
19. (4) Carson Kvapil #, Chevrolet, 65.
20. (32) Josh Williams, Chevrolet, 65.
21. (38) Anthony Alfredo, Chevrolet, 65.
22. (23) Thomas Annunziata, Chevrolet, 65.
23. (6) Sam Mayer, Ford, 65.
24. (28) Josh Bilicki, Chevrolet, 65.
25. (15) Brandon Jones, Toyota, 65.
26. (37) Brad Perez, Chevrolet, 65.
27. (24) Blaine Perkins, Chevrolet, 65.
28. (36) Kyle Sieg, Ford, 65.
29. (30) Ryan Sieg, Ford, 65.
30. (16) Andres Perez De Lara(i), Chevrolet, 65.
31. (9) Nick Sanchez #, Chevrolet, 64.
32. (25) Ryan Ellis, Chevrolet, 61.
33. (20) Sage Karam, Toyota, Accident, 52.
34. (12) Justin Allgaier, Chevrolet, 50.
35. (35) Parker Retzlaff, Chevrolet, Accident, 46.
36. (19) Jeremy Clements, Chevrolet, 43.
37. (31) Ruben Rovelo, Chevrolet, 43.
38. (33) Brennan Poole, Chevrolet, Suspension, 40.
39. (3) Christopher Bell(i), Toyota, Engine, 36.
Average Speed of Race Winner: 69.278 mph.
Time of Race: 2 Hrs, 16 Mins, 14 Secs. Margin of Victory: 0.598 Seconds.
Caution Flags: 5 for 17 laps.
Lead Changes: 7 among 6 drivers.
Lap Leaders: T. Gibbs(i) 1-18;C. Kvapil # 19-23;C. Zilisch # 24-38;S. Smith 39-43;T. Gray # 44;C. Zilisch # 45-46;D. Suarez(i) 47-65.
Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led): Daniel Suarez(i) 1 time for 19 laps; Ty Gibbs(i) 1 time for 18 laps; Connor Zilisch # 2 times for 17 laps; Carson Kvapil # 1 time for 5 laps; Sammy Smith 1 time for 5 laps; Taylor Gray # 1 time for 1 lap.
Stage #1 Top Ten: 1,54,2,21,48,20,53,99,27,07
Stage #2 Top Ten: 8,54,00,20,16,10,26,48,88,19
- SVG Has a Shot at Three as NASCAR Heads to Sonoma - July 10, 2025
- SVG Punts the Rugby Ball in Chicago; Zilisch Feels Like He Got Punted - July 5, 2025
- NASCAR Heads to Chicago for a Third Time, and Potentially the Last - July 3, 2025