"For me it's a very big thing": Daniel Suarez reveals where his heart lies between the Daytona 500 and NASCAR's Mexico debut

Daniel Suarez let his feelings known when asked to choose between the Daytona 500 and the inaugural NASCAR Cup Mexico City race. Choosing the latter, the Trackhouse Racing driver said that the race at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez is something personal and a "very big thing" for him.

NASCAR is all set to make its debut in Mexico this year. After all the talks and discussions, the decision to host a Cup Series race in Mexico City was ultimately finalized. The race will take place on Sunday, June 15, of this year.

While this is enormous news for all the stock car racing fans of Mexico, it also means a lot to Daniel Suarez, who is from the North American country and the only driver from Mexico in the Cup Series currently.

Suarez recently sat down with SpeedFreaks, where he discussed everything about NASCAR. While he discussed the sport, he was asked if he would want to win the Daytona 500 or the NASCAR Cup Series race at Mexico City. Answering the question, here's what the #99 driver said:

"The Mexico race. For me the Mexico race. Honestly for me, the Mexico race is as big as the championship. It's a very big thing because I don't think anyone in the Cup Series can actually compare to this because think about it. Every driver in the Cup Series today except for myself we go either to the home state or sometimes to the home city, or somewhere very close."

"For me, it's not like this. As a pro driver, I haven't raced in my home country for over 10 years. So it's a very big deal. It's a very very big deal for me. The Daytona 500 obviously is huge, and it would be a dream (to win the) championship the same, but the Mexican race is something personal," Daniel Suarez further added. (4:56-5:56)

Daniel Suarez is a Mexican-American stock car racing driver. Even though he currently stays in the United States because of his racing duty, he hails from Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, Mexico.

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Daniel Suarez rules out fellow Mexican Sergio Perez's debut in NASCAR

Besides Daniel Suarez, there is another driver who's quite famous in Mexico, and he is the Formula 1 driver Sergio Perez. Known for his stint with Red Bull Racing, Checo is one of the stalwarts when it comes to racing in the South American country.

Sergio Perez of Red Bull Racing - Source: Getty

However, Checo is currently without a seat in F1 for the 2025 season, and that puts him in contention as a possible option in the NASCAR Cup Series race in Mexico City. However, Suarez believes there is no possibility as such since Checo would not want to try a different series now.

"It's not that easy," Suarez told SpeedFreaks when asked about Checo's chances in NASCAR. "Checo you know, is an amazing racing driver. He has done a lot of great things for Mexico and for Formula 1. With that being said, his focus is not to be racing in different series right now." (6:15-6:35)

Sergio Perez lost his Formula 1 seat at Red Bull Racing at the end of the 2024 season, following an underwhelming year where he failed to help his team retain the constructors' championship. Red Bull fired him and signed Liam Lawson as Max Verstappen's teammate.