Daniel Suárez Trackhouse Racing Nashville Race Advance

The world famous honky tonk will certainly be a hangout of Trackhouse team members during the weekend and the site of a victory party Sunday night if Suárez wins the trophy.

He arrives in Nashville after an off weekend when he returned home to Mexico to visit family. In the two races before the off weekend, Suárez had notched a 22nd-place finish at Sonoma and a seventh-place finish at World Wide Technology Raceway near St. Louis.

The Nashville area is Trackhouse Entertainment headquarters. The weekend will be busy with three days of track activity on and off the track as well, beginning with practice on Friday, qualifying Saturday and the race Sunday.

The 1.33-mile track in Lebanon, Tennessee hosted its first Cup Series race in 2021 where Suárez started 22nd and finished seventh.

NBC will broadcast Sunday’s race at 7 p.m. EDT.

Daniel Suárez:

What is going to happen in these next 10 races?

“There are a lot of things still to happen. We have a lot of wildcard races coming up like the Chicago Street Circuit, road courses, things like that. I think we will be OK. We are getting better and better. Points wise we are about the same as we were last year, but speed wise we are probably a bit better. Our challenge has been execution this year. We have been fast at 90-percent of the tracks.”

Are you thinking about points and playoffs?

“No, I try not to even think about those things. My belief is if you focus on today, not tomorrow or next week or next year, then everything will take care of itself. If we run good Sunday and follow it up with more good runs then we will be fine playoff and points wise.”

How do the short practice times impact race weekends?

“When you have limited practice there are two things that matter. The drivers don’t have much time to familiarize themselves with the track and you have little time to make major setup changes. That’s why you see drivers entering the Xfinity, truck and ARCA races some weekends. We also put a lot of time in the simulator back at the shop. As for making changes, the winning car usually shows up at the track that way. We put a lot of work into getting the car right before we get to the track. You can make changes at the track, but it it’s the work at the shop that matters most.”

2023 Playoff Standings (Pts/Wins)

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.