Concord, North Carolina – The combination of racing on a historic 0.625-mile track, awarding $1 million to the winner and points implications should make for a dramatic 39th annual NASCAR All Star Race Sunday night at North Wilkesboro (N.C.) Speedway.
“I can’t wait to see what happens,” said No. 99 Trackhouse Racing driver Daniel Suárez whose June victory in Sonoma earned him a starting spot in the 26-driver All-Star Race.
“Few of us have ever raced at Wilkesboro and this is also the first time for an All-Star race on a track this small, so it’s going to be a pretty wild night. It would be cool to drive back home that night with a trophy and a big check.”
The 200-lap race will include a competition break at or around lap 100. Both green-flag and caution laps will count, and overtime rules will be in effect.
The starting lineup for the race will be set by a pair of 60-lap qualifying heats, on Saturday. The finishing order of Heat 1 will make up the inside row in the feature; Heat 2 finishers will occupy the outside row in that order.
The starting order for those races will be set by a Friday night pit-stop competition for each team. Each team’s qualifying time will be based on the speed of a four-tire pit stop, with timing lines marked one pit stall behind and one pit stall forward of the designated pit box.
“Our pit crew has been great all year so I’m expecting I’ll have a good starting spot,” said Suárez. “After that who knows what will happen. I guess we will have to stay out of trouble and be there at the end to race for the million dollars.”
The Wilkesboro track, a 90-minute drive north of Charlotte, is not only small by All-Star race standards but includes a unique uphill backstretch and downhill frontstretch.
The track opened in 1947 and hosted 93 Cup races with the last race in 1996. It has received help from a near $20 million remodel.
The winning driver will receive a trophy designed after the moon shine-making process famous in Wilkes County. NASCAR has roots in the illegal moonshining trade in the early to middle of the 20th century.
The trophy is a copper replica of a still with “Born to Shine” written on the middle piece and attached to a slab of engraved wood. It will take two people to carry it to the All-Star Race winner.
FS1 will televise the All-Star race at 8 p.m. EDT.
Suarez’s No. 99 To Carry Trackhouse Motorplex Paint Scheme Sunday
If you want to race wheel-to-wheel against a professional race car driver or just want to have fun in a go kart there are few better racing facilities in America than the Trackhouse Motorplex in Mooresville North Carolina.
Just ask No. 99 driver Daniel Suárez whose Chevrolet will carry a Trackhouse Motorplex paint scheme Sunday night when he’ll race for $1 million in the 39th-annual NASCAR All Star Race held for the first time at North (N.C.) Wilkesboro Speedway.
“We all started in go karts, or legends or some lower form of racing,” said Suárez whose love of racing began when a friend’s father put him in a go kart.
“I wasn’t rich, and my family didn’t have a lot of money. But, I was given a chance and they saw that I was pretty good and my racing career just grew from there. If it wasn’t for go karting, I wouldn’t be racing in the NASCAR Cup Series today.”
Suárez moved up through the ranks in Mexico before he moved to America, learned English and became the first Mexican driver to win the Xfinity Series title in 2016 and a Cup Series race when he won at Sonoma in 2022.
Last month, Trackhouse Entertainment Group announced that the track formerly known as GoPro Motorplex was renamed Trackhouse Motorplex.
A few times a month Suárez visits the 0.7-mile track honing his skills on the 11-turn layout based on the renowned Kartdromo Parma circuit in Italy.
It isn’t limited to the professionals.
The track offers an advanced, high-adrenaline racing experience to kart drivers ages 16 and up, who can rent karts at the facility or bring their own.
The Motorplex also hosts some of the largest professional touring karting series races in the country, making it the leading source for all things karting at every level of the sport.
The line of rental karts at Trackhouse Motorplex are made by world-leading kart racing company CRG and can reach speeds of up to 55 mph. The original cement curbing from the Parma track in Italy is now part of Trackhouse Motorplex’s Victory Lane.
In addition to the racing track, Trackhouse Motorplex has a 2,400-square-foot indoor meeting space to accommodate groups of all kinds. The facility has several upcoming special events for the public, including The Stars Championship Series, May 4 through May 6, 2023.
Suárez Racing In ASA and CARS Tour This Week at North Wilkesboro
To prepare for a chance to win $1 million at Sunday’s NASCAR All-Star Race held for the first time at the historic North Wilkesboro (N.C.) Speedway, Daniel Suárez will race in the ASA STARS National Tour event on Tuesday and in Wednesday’s CARS Tour Late Model Stock race on the .625-mile oval.
“I have never been to North Wilkesboro nor really spent much time driving a late model,” said Suárez. “Every little bit helps. Plus, it is going to be a lot of fun going short track racing. Getting familiar with the track will help our program a lot.”
Suárez will drive the No. 99 Jockey Chevrolet in the ASA race for Rackley W.A.R. of Nashville, Tennessee, and in the CARS race for R and S Race Cars from South Boston, Virginia.
The Jockey partnership with Trackhouse began last year and was the first such team sponsorship in the 147-year history of the apparel brand. At the core of the partnership was the launch of the brand’s Made in America* Collection – an effort aimed at delivering premium quality product, support reshoring American manufacturing jobs, supporting families and farmers in local communities, and providing a more sustainable option for American consumers.
The CARS Tour debuted in 2015 and features Late Model Stock Cars and Pro Late Model divisions. At the end of the 2022 season, an ownership group consisting of Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kevin Harvick, Jeff Burton, and Trackhouse Entertainment Group founder and owner Justin Marks purchased the series.
Marks will drive the pace car in Wednesday’s CARS race.
Flo Racing will broadcast the late model events.
Suárez Notes
Suárez, 31, became the first driver from Mexico (Monterrey) to win in the NASCAR Cup Series on June 12, 2022 at Sonoma (Calif.) Raceway.
He became the fifth different driver all-time not from the United States to win a NASCAR Cup Series race; joining Marcos Ambrose (Australia), Juan Pablo Montoya (Colombia) Earl Ross (Canada) and Mario Andretti (Italy).
Suárez drives for the third-year team Trackhouse Racing – a team owned by former racer Justin Marks and partner Pitbull.
Trackhouse Racing won three races in 2022 and placed both Suárez and teammate Ross Chastain in the 2022 playoffs. Suárez finished a career-best 10th in points.
Suárez, came to America to race. He did not speak English when he arrived in Buffalo, New York.
He is the only Spanish-speaking driver in the NASCAR Cup Series.
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 at Michigan, Dover and the championship finale at Homestead-Miami.
He was the 2015 NASCAR Xfinity Series Sunoco Rookie of the Year – the first Mexican driver to win the award.
In 2013, Suárez finished third in the ARCA Menards Series East final championship standings, the highest finish for an international driver in series history.
Suárez and fiancé Julia Piquet were engaged in November 2022.
Suárez received the National Series Driver Award during the NASCAR Diversity Awards in Los Angeles in February.
Suárez is a fan of the Mexican Soccer team Tigres UANL – he grew up playing soccer.
