Daniel Suárez

Daniel Alejandro Suárez Garza (born January 7, 1992) is a Mexican-American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 7 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Spire Motorsports and part-time in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, driving the No. 71 Chevrolet Silverado RST for Spire Motorsports. He previously drove in the NASCAR Toyota Series in Mexico for Telcel Racing, and the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East for Rev Racing as a member of the Drive for Diversity program. Suárez is the 2016 NASCAR Xfinity Series champion with Joe Gibbs Racing, becoming the first foreign-born driver to win a major NASCAR National Series championship.

Racing career Early career

A native of Monterrey in Nuevo León, Suárez began his racing career in karting in 2002. In 2007, he won the class championship. In 2008, he moved to the preliminary category of NASCAR Mexico, Mini-Stocks, where he became the youngest driver to win a race in the series. He moved to the NASCAR Mexico Series in 2010, driving for Telcel Racing and winning the series' Rookie of the Year title. In 2011, Suárez participated in the Toyota All-Star Showdown at Irwindale Speedway, finishing in eleventh, the highest-finishing Mexican driver in the event. In the 2011 NASCAR Mexico Series, he finished the season with three poles and a podium, finishing ninth in the standings.

In 2014, Suárez returned to the K&N East and Toyota Series, winning the first two K&N East and first Toyota Series races of the season. In April, he was selected by Joe Gibbs Racing to make his debut in the Nationwide Series at Richmond International Raceway, driving the team's No. 20 Toyota;

2015: Joe Gibbs Racing In August 2014, it was announced that Suárez would compete full-time in the 2015 NASCAR Xfinity Series in the No. 18 Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing and that he would also run a partial schedule in the 2015 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series in the No. 51 Toyota for Kyle Busch Motorsports.

On July 4, 2015, Suárez won the pole for the Xfinity Series Subway Firecracker 250 at Daytona, his first career pole in the series. Suárez would go on to win two more poles at Iowa and Kentucky and won his first ARCA pole at Kansas. Suárez went on to win the 2015 NASCAR Xfinity Series rookie of the year title, edging Bubba Wallace for the award by one single top-ten finish in statistics. Suárez finished the season fifth in points.

2016: Xfinity Series champion

In 2016, Suárez's car number in the Xfinity Series was switched to No. 19. He won his first Xfinity Series race at Michigan, by passing Kyle Busch on the last lap, becoming the first Mexican-born driver to win in a NASCAR national touring series. Suárez won his second Xfinity Series race during the Round of 12 in the Chase at Dover in October. With this win, he would advance to the Round of 8. In November, Suárez won his first Camping World Truck Series race at Phoenix, taking the lead late in the race after William Byron lost an engine. In the season-ending Xfinity Series race at Homestead, Suárez dominated the race and took the lead on the final restart with two laps to go to score his first Xfinity Series championship. Suárez became the first foreign-born driver to win a NASCAR national series championship.

2017: Move to Cup Series

After the retirement of Carl Edwards, Suárez was tapped to drive the No. 19 Arris / Stanley Tools-sponsored Toyota for JGR. He was paired up with crew chief Dave Rogers. In his first Advance Auto Parts Clash, he finished 8th after starting 16th. Suárez scored a pair of 7th-place finishes at Phoenix and Auto Club. Shortly before the Martinsville race, Suárez's crew chief, Rogers, took an indefinite leave of absence. He was replaced by Scott Graves, who was Suárez's crew chief when he won the 2016 Xfinity Series championship. In May, Suárez won the final stage of the Monster Energy Open, which allowed him to advance into the All-Star Race. In June, Suárez opened the month by finishing a career-best sixth at Dover. Later in the month, Suárez joined MDM Motorsports at Sonoma Raceway for the K&N Pro Series West race, his and MDM's debuts in the series. After qualifying seventh, he finished eleventh. Later in the summer, Suárez earned a series of four consecutive finishes of seventh or better, including a third place finish at Watkins Glen and a Stage 2 winner over stage leader Martin Truex Jr.

During the season, Suárez was involved in controversy with one of his sponsors, Subway. During a publicity event with the help of NBC Sports at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway in July, he gave out free Dunkin' Donuts to fans camping in the infield and the surrounding areas of the track. Nearly two months later, Subway decided to pull out with a race remaining on their contract. After the announcement, Camping World owner Marcus Lemonis tweeted his intention to sponsor Suárez, which took place at Talladega's Alabama 500. Suárez also ran fourteen Xfinity Series races with a best finish of second at the fall Bristol race to his teammate Kyle Busch.

2018 During the 2018 season, Suárez won his first career Cup Series pole at Pocono, after Kevin Harvick and Kyle Busch's qualifying times were disallowed following an inspection. He also scored a career-best second place in the race. Suárez, however, struggled to stay consistent throughout the season with three top-fives and nine top-ten finishes. On October 9, 2018, Rogers returned to replace Graves as Suárez's crew chief.

On September 21, 2018, it was reported that Suárez removed all references to Joe Gibbs Racing from his Twitter profile, hinting that he will leave the team by the end of the 2018 season. On November 7, 2018, it was announced that Suárez would be replaced by Martin Truex Jr. in 2019.

2019: Stewart–Haas Racing Suárez's No. 41 car at Daytona International Speedway in 2019 On January 7, 2019, it was announced that Suárez signed with Stewart–Haas Racing to drive the No. 41 Ford Mustang GT in the 2019 season. In addition, Suárez brought in Arris to sponsor the team. During qualifying for the 2019 TicketGuardian 500 at Phoenix, Suárez had an on-track incident with Michael McDowell, which resulted in a fight on pit road. Despite showing signs of improvement in performance, Suárez failed to make the 2019 playoffs after finishing eleventh after an on-track incident with Matt Tifft that caused a caution at Indianapolis. On November 14, 2019, it was announced that Suárez would not return to the No. 41 car in 2020.

2020: Gaunt Brothers Racing

On January 28, 2020, Suárez officially signed with Gaunt Brothers Racing to race the No. 96 Toyota full-time in 2020. Despite being eligible, he did not participate in the 2020 Busch Clash to focus on the 2020 Daytona 500. Suárez failed to make the Daytona 500 after finishing 22nd in Duel 1 of the 2020 Bluegreen Vacations Duels when he collided with Ryan Blaney in turn 4. Suárez made his official debut with GBR at Las Vegas a week later, but he experienced mechanical issues before the opening lap, resulting in him finishing 30th with four laps down. Throughout the season, he struggled to make a decent finish, with his highest being two eighteenth-place finishes at Bristol and Kansas.

On September 14, 2020, Suárez announced he would not return to Gaunt Brothers Racing at the end of the season. On October 7, 2020, he announced that he would join Justin Marks' new Trackhouse Racing in 2021.

2021: Trackhouse Racing

For the 2021 season, Suárez joined the No. 99 car for Trackhouse Racing. The No. 99 was last used by Edwards, whom he replaced at JGR (with Edwards giving both Suárez and Trackhouse his blessing for the number). Suárez's run with Trackhouse was seen by many as his best, and very likely his last, chance at resurrecting his career after his struggles the previous few seasons. Although it took time for Suárez and the team to gel, Trackhouse quickly gained a reputation for competitiveness and on-track action during the season with Suárez behind the wheel.

During the 2021 season, Suárez scored Trackhouse's first top-five with a fourth-place finish at the Bristol dirt race. Suárez also scored Top 10's at Dover, Nashville, and Texas. In February 2022, Suárez and Trackhouse expanded a sponsorship deal with Freeway Insurance, granting the company primary sponsorship rights for five events throughout the 2022 NASCAR Cup series. At Sonoma, Suárez became the first Mexican-born driver to win a Cup Series race. Suárez was eliminated in the Round of 12 after finishing 36th at the Charlotte Roval. He finished the season at a career-best tenth in the points standings.

In the Truck Series, Suárez relieved an injured Carson Hocevar on lap 11 of the Sonoma race, bringing the No. 42 truck to a sixth place finish.

2023 Suárez started the 2023 season with a 7th-place finish at the 2023 Daytona 500. On March 29, he was fined 50,000 for intentionally bumping Alex Bowman on pit road following the conclusion of the COTA race. Suárez missed the playoffs and finished 19th in the points standings.

2024: Second career Cup Series win

On February 3, 2024, Suárez won the NASCAR Mexico Series race that took place at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

On February 25, 2024, Suárez achieved his second NASCAR Cup Series win when he finished first in the Ambetter Health 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. The end of the race resulted in the fourth closest photo finish in Cup Series history, with Suárez 0.003 seconds ahead of Ryan Blaney and 0.007 seconds ahead of Kyle Busch.

In the Xfinity Series, Suárez drove the JR Motorsports No. 9 car to victory lane at Mexico City.

2026: Spire Motorsports

On October 22, 2025, it was announced that Suárez will drive the No. 7 Chevrolet for Spire Motorsports for the 2026 season, replacing Justin Haley. He started the season with a 13th place finish at the Daytona. Suárez scored his first win with Spire Motorsports at Charlotte, after rain canceled the rest of the race.

On April 1, it was announced that Suárez would return to the Craftsman Truck Series for the first time since 2021 at Bristol, driving the No. 71 for Spire.

Personal life Suárez resides in Huntersville, North Carolina. In 2022, Suárez became engaged to Julia Piquet, daughter of three-time Formula One World Champion Nelson Piquet. The couple married on July 30, 2024, in Brazil. On April 5, 2026, it was announced that the couple was expecting their first child.

On April 29, 2024, Suárez announced via social media that he had passed the U.S. Citizenship Exam. On June 18, 2024, Suárez officially became a dual citizen of Mexico and the United States after completing the Oath of Allegiance.

In popular culture In 2017, Suárez voiced the character Daniel "Danny" Swérvez in the Pixar film Cars 3.

In 2019, Suárez made a cameo in the movie Stuber.

In 2020, Suárez appeared on The Bump, a video podcast that is part of the WWE Podcast Network. Suárez spoke in a segment that included Rey Mysterio.

From 2022 to 2023, Suárez appeared on the Today Show two times. On the October 14, 2022, episode, Suárez participated in an interview with Tom Llamas about his first NASCAR Cup Series victory. His second appearance came alongside Jeff Gordon on January 25, 2023, where they did an interview to promote NASCAR's 75th season.

Motorsports career results

NASCAR (key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

Cup Series NASCAR Cup Series results Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 Pts Ref 2017 Joe Gibbs Racing 19 Toyota DAY ATL LVS PHO CAL MAR TEX BRI RCH TAL KAN CLT DOV POC MCH SON DAY KEN NHA IND POC GLN MCH BRI DAR RCH CHI NHA DOV CLT TAL KAN MAR TEX PHO HOM 20th 777 2018 DAY ATL LVS PHO CAL MAR TEX BRI RCH TAL DOV KAN CLT POC MCH SON CHI DAY KEN NHA POC GLN MCH BRI DAR IND LVS RCH ROV DOV TAL KAN MAR TEX PHO HOM 21st 674 2019 Stewart–Haas Racing 41 Ford DAY ATL LVS PHO CAL MAR TEX BRI RCH TAL DOV KAN CLT POC MCH SON CHI DAY KEN NHA POC GLN MCH BRI DAR IND LVS RCH ROV DOV TAL KAN MAR TEX PHO HOM 17th 846 2020Gaunt Brothers Racing 96 Toyota DAY LVS CAL PHO DAR DAR CLT CLT BRI ATL MAR HOM TAL POC POC IND KEN TEX KAN NHA MCH MCH DRC DOV DOV DAY DAR RCH BRI LVS TAL ROV KAN TEX MAR PHO 31st 365 2021 Trackhouse Racing 99 Chevy DAY DRC HOM LVS PHO ATL BRD MAR RCH TAL KAN DAR DOV COA CLT SON NSH POC POC ROA ATL NHA GLN IRC MCH DAY DAR RCH BRI LVS TAL ROV TEX KAN MAR PHO 25th 634 2022 DAY CAL LVS PHO ATL COA RCH MAR BRD TAL DOV DAR KAN CLT GTW SON NSH ROA ATL NHA POC IRC MCH RCH GLN DAY DAR KAN BRI TEX TAL ROV LVS HOM MAR PHO 10th 2272 2023 DAY CAL LVS PHO ATL COA RCH BRD MAR TAL DOV KAN DAR CLT GTW SON NSH CSC ATL NHA POC RCH MCH IRC GLN DAY DAR KAN BRI TEX TAL ROV LVS HOM MAR PHO 19th 756 2024 DAY ATL LVS PHO BRI COA RCH MAR TEX TAL DOV KAN DAR CLT GTW SON IOW NHA NSH CSC POC IND RCH MCH DAY DAR ATL GLN BRI KAN TAL ROV LVS HOM MAR PHO 12th 2226 2025 DAY ATL COA PHO LVS HOM MAR DAR BRI TAL TEX KAN CLT NSH MCH MXC POC ATL CSC SON DOV IND IOW GLN RCH DAY DAR GTW BRI NHA KAN ROV LVS TAL MAR PHO 29th 611 2026 Spire Motorsports 7 DAY ATL COA PHO LVS DAR MAR BRI KAN TAL TEX GLN CLT NSH MCH POC COR SON CHI ATL NWS IND IOW RCH NHA DAY DAR GTW BRI KAN LVS CLT PHO TAL MAR HOM -* -*

Daytona 500 Year Team Manufacturer Start Finish 2017 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 19 29 2018 17 37 2019 Stewart–Haas Racing Ford 23 33 2020 Gaunt Brothers Racing Toyota DNQ 2021 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet 15 36 2022 21 18 2023 24 7 2024 13 34 2025 36 13 2026 Spire Motorsports 15 13

Xfinity Series NASCAR Xfinity Series results Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 Pts Ref 2014 Joe Gibbs Racing 20 Toyota DAY PHO LVS BRI CAL TEX DAR RCH TAL IOW CLT DOV MCH ROA KEN DAY NHA CHI IND IOW GLN MOH BRI ATL RCH 46th 54 RAB Racing 29 CHI KEN DOV KAN CLT TEX PHO HOM 2015 Joe Gibbs Racing 18 DAY ATL LVS PHO CAL TEX BRI RCH TAL IOW CLT DOV MCH CHI DAY KEN NHA IND IOW GLN MOH BRI ROA DAR RCH CHI KEN DOV CLT KAN TEX PHO HOM 5th 1078 2016 19 DAY ATL LVS PHO CAL TEX BRI RCH TAL DOV CLT POC MCH IOW DAY KEN NHA IND IOW GLN MOH BRI ROA DAR RCH CHI KEN DOV CLT KAN TEX PHO HOM 1st 4040 2017 18 DAY ATL PHO CAL TEX BRI RCH TAL CLT DOV POC MCH IOW DAY KEN NHA IND IOW GLN MOH CHI KEN DOV CLT KAN TEX PHO HOM 94th 0 20 LVS BRI ROA DAR RCH 2018 18 DAY ATL LVS PHO CAL TEX BRI RCH TAL DOV CLT POC MCH IOW CHI DAY KEN NHA IOW GLN MOH BRI ROA DAR IND LVS RCH ROV DOV KAN TEX PHO HOM 93rd 0 2023 Kaulig Racing 10Chevy POC ROA MCH IRC GLN DAY DAR KAN BRI TEX ROV LVS HOM MAR PHO89th 0 SS-Green Light Racing 07 DAY CAL LVS PHO ATL COA RCH MAR TAL DOV DAR CLT PIR SON NSH CSC ATL NHA 2024 14 DAY ATL LVS PHO COA RCH MAR TEX TAL DOV DAR CLT PIR SON IOW NHA NSH 103rd 0 DGM Racing 36 CSC POC IND MCH DAY DAR ATL GLN BRI KAN TAL ROV LVS HOM MAR PHO 2025 JR Motorsports 9 DAY ATL COA PHO LVS HOM MAR DAR BRI CAR TAL TEX CLT NSH MXC POC ATL CSC SON DOV IND IOW GLN DAY PIR GTW BRI KAN ROV LVS TAL MAR PHO 104th 0

Craftsman Truck Series NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series results Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Pts Ref 2014 Win-Tron Racing 35 Toyota DAY MAR KAN CLT DOV TEX GTW KEN IOW ELD POC MCH BRI MSP CHI NHA LVS TAL MAR TEX PHO HOM 98th 0 2015 Kyle Busch Motorsports 51 DAY ATL MAR KAN CLT DOV TEX GTW IOW KEN ELD POC MCH BRI MSP CHI NHA LVS TAL MAR TEX PHO HOM 85th 0 2016 DAY ATL MAR KAN DOV CLT TEX IOW GTW KEN ELD POC BRI MCH MSP CHI NHA LVS TAL MAR TEX PHO HOM 81st 0 2021 Young's Motorsports 02 Chevy DAY DRC LVS ATL BRD RCH KAN DAR COA CLT TEX NSH POC KNX GLN GTW DAR BRI LVS TAL MAR PHO 107th 0 2022 Niece Motorsports 42 DAY LVS ATL COA MAR BRD DAR KAN TEX CLT GTW SON KNX NSH MOH POC IRP RCH KAN BRI TAL HOM PHO N/A – 2026 Spire Motorsports 71 DAY ATL STP DAR CAR BRI TEX GLN DOV CLT NSH MCH COR LRP NWS IRP RCH NHA BRI KAN CLT PHO TAL MAR HOM -* -*

Season still in progress Ineligible for series points

K&N Pro Series East NASCAR K&N Pro Series East results Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Pts Ref 2011 Lori Williams 12 Dodge GRE SBO RCH IOW 23rd 888 X Team Racing 16 Toyota BGS JFC LGY NHA COL GRE NHA DOV 2012 BRI 16th 259 14 GRE RCH IOW BGS JFC LGY CNB COL NHA DOV GRE CAR 74 IOW 2013 Rev Racing 6 Toyota BRI GRE FIF RCH BGS LGY COL VIR GRE NHA DOV RAL 3rd 494 69 IOW IOW 2014 6 NSM DAY BRI GRE RCH IOW BGS FIF LGY NHA COL IOW GLN VIR GRE DOV 17th 397

K&N Pro Series West NASCAR K&N Pro Series West results Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Pts Ref 2011 Lori Williams 86 Dodge PHO AAS MMP IOW LVS SON IRW EVG PIR CNS MRP SPO AAS 54th 225 X Team Racing 76 Toyota PHO 2012 PHO LHC MMP S99 IOW BIR LVS SON EVG CNS IOW PIR SMP AAS PHO 52nd 41 2017 MDM Motorsports 12 Toyota KCR TUS IRW IRW SPO OSS CNS SON IOW EVG DCS MER AAS KCR 43rd 33 2018 DGR-Crosley 54 Toyota KCR TUS TUS OSS CNS SON DCS IOW EVG GTW LVS MER AAS KCR 33rd 41

Mexico Series NASCAR Mexico Series results Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Pts Ref 2009 SC Racing 04 Chevy AGS TXG SLP PUE QRO GDL ZAC SLP PUE MTY QRO MXC TXG AGS 32nd 406 2010 AGS QRO SLP MXC PUE 13th 1684 4 TXG Equipo Telcel 3 Dodge GDL MTY SLP MXC QRO PUE TXG AGS 2011 MTY SLP AGS TUX QRO PUE MXC SLP MTY QRO PUE SLP AGS MXC 9th 1769 2012 03 MTY 3rd 504 3 SLP QRO MXC PUE AGS MXC SLP QRO AGS PUE MTY CHI MXC 2013 Toyota PHO SLP MXC QRO CHI AGS PUE MTY QRO MXC SLP PUE AGS TUX MXC 2nd 1190 2014 PHO MXC TUX MTY SLP QRO MXC AGS QRO PUE CHI SLP AGS TUX PUE 6th 1177 2024 Jimmy Morales 99 Chevy LAC SLP TUX CHI AGS MTY PUE SLP QRO AGS CHI PUE MXC - -

Brasil Series NASCAR Brasil Sprint Race results Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Pts Ref 2024 Singus Competition 91 Chevy MS1 MS2 GO1 GO2 PR1 PR2 MG1 MG2 SP1 SP2 SP3 PR1 PR2 RS1 RS2 MG1 MG2 MG3 -* 0

ARCA Racing Series (key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.) ARCA Racing Series results Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Pts Ref 2014 Venturini Motorsports 66 Toyota DAY MOB SLM TAL TOL NJE POC MCH ELK WIN CHI IRP POC BLN ISF MAD DSF SLM KEN KAN 74th 220 2015 15 DAY MOB NSH SLM TAL TOL NJE POC MCH CHI WIN IOW IRP POC BLN ISF DSF SLM KEN 35th 690 55 KAN

CARS Late Model Stock Car Tour (key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led. ** – All laps led.) CARS Late Model Stock Car Tour results Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Pts Ref 2023 R&S Race Cars 99S Chevy SNM FLC HCY ACE NWS LGY DOM CRW HCY ACE TCM WKS AAS SBO TCM CRW 61st 18

ASA STARS National Tour (key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led. ** – All laps led.) ASA STARS National Tour results Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Pts Ref 2023 Rackley W.A.R. 99 Chevy FIF MAD NWS HCY MLW AND WIR TOL WIN NSV 52nd 70

Superstar Racing Experience (key) Superstar Racing Experience results Year No. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Pts 2023 99 STA STA MMS BER ELD LOS 12th 0