Daniel Suárez Trackhouse Racing Sonoma Race Advance

He arrives in Sonoma after finishing seventh at World Wide Technology Raceway near St. Louis on Sunday.

He’ll be one of the favorites Sunday given his performance at the season’s only other road course race at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas where he spent most of the race in the top-five until he was wrecked in the second overtime battling for the lead.

Fox will broadcast Sunday’s race at 3:30 p.m. EDT.

Daniel Suárez:

Does arriving in Sonoma after a good run at St. Louis give you even more confidence?

“Definitely, man. Every time we head to a road course, whether it’s Sonoma (Raceway), or somewhere else, I am excited. I feel at home and I am excited to go back to a place where we had great memories last time and hopefully we can repeat it. Sunday’s race at St. Louis was great for us. It was a good solid run from start to finish. We just need to build on it.”

Can you win again on Sunday?

“Of course we can. We have a very good road course program. You saw how fast we were at COTA. We are going out to Sonoma with plans to sit on the pole, lead every lap and win the race.”

What do you remember about Sonoma last year?

“It was such a crazy day and I had so many thoughts in my head. I mean, it was a rough road getting to victory lane but that moment was so worth it. Not just for me but for my family, Julia, these guys believe in me – Trackhouse Racing, Justin Marks, Ty Norris. Everyone that helped me to get to this point. A lot of people in Mexico – Jay Morales and Carlos Slim. My family, they never give up on me. A lot of people did, but they didn’t. I was just very happy we were able to make it work.”

What were the final laps like last year?

“I was just trying to stay calm. I knew that it was a big stake on the line, but I was trying to stay calm. I was silent. I wanted to do my thing. I didn’t want too much noise on the radio. I knew what I had to do. I would say after the white flag is when I got out of control. I just start crying inside the helmet, just thinking about it. Especially because I had a big gap. If it wasn’t a big gap, I would be focused. Since I had a big gap, I was just thinking about every single moment that has cost me to be here. 

“It’s been a different journey. Every NASCAR driver has had a tough journey. Everyone has a different journey. But my journey is definitely the most different of everyone else, leaving my family, my country, and just coming to a different culture, different language.

“Thinking of all those things, it makes it very, very, very special.”

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.

Career Statistics

Watch Suarez Talk About St. Louis Race

A Piquet Returns to the Driver’s Seat

Julia Piquet Ready to Race in Better Half Dash

Julia Piquet and Larry McReynolds at Trackhouse Motorplex

When your father is three-time Formula One World Champion Nelson Piquet Sr. and your brother Nelson Piquet Jr., is a NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series winner to go along with his starts in just about every major racing series in the world, Julia Piquet has to have some driving talent in her blood.

Hanging around fiancé Daniel Suárez the last few years hasn’t hurt either.

She proved the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree when she finished second in the 2021 Better Half Dash then contested on iRacing.

On Tuesday, she’ll climb behind the wheel of her No. 99 Quaker State go kart at Trackhouse Motorplex in Mooresville to race in the 2023 Better Half Dash. She qualified second in last week’s qualifying session.

“Talk about pressure,” Piquet laughed. “I think I’m going to get lots of advice from Daniel, family and friends. It’s going to be weird being the person everyone is watching instead of me watching Daniel or our family racing.”

She’ll get help in other areas as well.

America’s Crew Chief Larry McReynolds will join Piquet as her crew chief during the race. McReynolds served as a crew chief from 1985 to 2000, amassing 23 Cup wins, 21 poles, 122 top-five and 209 top-ten finishes.

“I know enough from my time on the pit boxes watching races to know its always best to listen to your crew chief,” said Piquet. “Larry is a pretty good person to listen to.”

The Better Half Dash highlights many strong women in and around the sport that bring stability and positivity to the NASCAR community and the Better Half Dash became an opportunity to share their stories and celebrate their contributions.

Benefitting Motor Racing Outreach, the original Better Half Dash was run in Bandoleros on the small track at Charlotte Motor Speedway and it continued on as an annual tradition for several years. During Covid, the Better Half iRacing Dash was born. Tuesday marks its first race at Trackhouse Motorplex.

The winner of Tuesday’s race will earn $10,000 to the driver’s favorite charity. Piquet will donate to the Charlotte Humane Society.

Suarez presented Charlotte Humane Society with a check for $44,520 through Coca-Cola’s “Chug for a Cause” program last year.

FS1 will broadcast the race on June 14 at 6 p.m. EDT