Daniel Suarez, first international NASCAR champ, wins Xfinity championship
HOMESTEAD, Fla.—Daniel Suarez has become the first international driver to win any NASCAR championship with his victory on Saturday night in the Xfinity Series finale.
Suarez, who hails from Mexico, won the Xfinity Series championship in his second year driving for Joe Gibbs Racing, backing up his 2015 Rookie of the Year victory. Suarez was one of four drivers competing for the Xfinity championship for the first time under four-for-one rules, along with Erik Jones, Justin Allgaier, and Elliott Sadler.
Suarez absolutely controlled the first three-quarters of the race, leading 100 of the first 150 laps, with Jones and Allgaier taking runs at the front. Sadler remained somewhat deeper in the top 10, unable to make a strong enough charge.
But on lap 137 Ryan Reed suffered a flat tire, spinning from the wall down across the track. Jeremy Clements and Jordan Anderson collided, utterly decimating Anderson’s car and bringing out the red flag:
In the laps immediately afterward, all four championship contenders ran 1-2-3-4. But soon afterward, Sadler hit the wall hard enough to believe he’d flattened a tire (he hadn’t), and he dropped back into the pack. That left Suarez in front and Allgaier and Jones battling for second. Suarez was able to extend his lead while the other two challengers battled.
With 20 laps remaining, Allgaier scraped the wall and dropped back, leaving Jones to take a run at Suarez in the lead. Suarez was able to hold off Jones and appeared headed for the championship until Ray Black Jr. spun with less than 10 laps remaining, bringing out the caution and bunching up the field.
All the leaders pitted, with Sadler opting to take two tires and coming out in the lead. Allgaier’s jack man slipped, dropping Allgaier one spot further back in the field. Cole Whitt, on old tires, was the only driver not to pit, and on the restart with four laps remaining, he spun the tires, effectively blocking Jones and allowing Suarez and Sadler the open track. Drivers not in the championship four try not to be a part of the story, but Whitt ended up having an effect, however negligible, by being in the mix yet unable to run at the same level as the contenders around him.
With Jones pinned, Suarez was able to outdistance Sadler’s older tires and put plenty of track space between himself and the field. Three laps later, he was a champion.
“I wish I would have done better on that [last] restart,” said Sadler, who finished third in the race and second in the Chase. “I’ll be woulda-shoulda-coulda’ing that for a long time.”
Suarez, who learned English from watching cartoons and emigrated to the United States at 18 to pursue his racing dream, led 133 of 200 laps and never appeared any less than in control throughout the race. He finishes the year with three wins and 27 top 10 performances in 33 races.
“I’m just wordless,” Suarez said after climbing out of the car. “My family worked super hard since I was 11 years old to get me better equipment, I’m just very proud of this team, all my sponsors, all my friends, all of Mexico. I can’t believe it.”
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Jay Busbee is a writer for Yahoo Sports and the author of EARNHARDT NATION, on sale now at Amazon or wherever books are sold. Contact him at jay.busbee@yahoo.com or find him on Twitter or on Facebook.
