"Means so much to me": NASCAR insider hails organization for celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month

NASCAR has made great waves in diversifying the sport over the years, not the least of which consists of celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month, which is held from mid-September to mid-October. A higher-up in the sport is pleased to see her culture being honored within the sport.

Krista Jasso, a social insights manager for NASCAR, recently sat down in an interview posted to NASCAR's X account to discuss her role in the sport and her thoughts on celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month.

"NASCAR celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month means so much to me, both from a personal aspect and from a professional aspect," Jasso said. "It is one of my favorite times of the year, personally, just because I love celebrating my family, my culture, where I come from, just anything that really resonates with what built me and what grew me to be the person that I am today."

Jasso went on to say she works with people in the social and marketing teams at NASCAR. Her job is to show them what they're doing well on social aspects of the sport and whether or not their campaigns are working.

Before working at NASCAR, Jasso knew very little about the sport and wasn't a fan. Having lived in Charlotte, she knew it was a NASCAR-heavy city, and once she began working in the sport, she realized there were many people within the sport that she shared things in common with.

"Once I really started to dive into this company and dive more into my role, I found out that there were people like me and they had similar backgrounds. That I think really helped me."

Jasso believes NASCAR has done a great job at being inclusive to the hispanic ocmmunity. She added that the sport has created a litany of opportunities to ensure other communities also find the sport.

"I think NASCAR is doing a great job at being more inclusive and more welcoming to the Hispanic community. I think that initiatives like the LA Clash and having the Mexico Series out there and the way that the trophy was built by Hispanic artists, I think opportunities like that are great because it's showing exposure to our communities."

Jasso said it's a pleasure to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month, even more this time because NASCAR is celebrating it, too, allowing her to introduce her co-workers and others to her culture. She added:

"Being able to celebrate it in a company and a job that I love is something that is even more special to me because I can share it with my co-workers and open them up to our world a little bit."

Daniel Suárez's rise through NASCAR as the only Mexican-born driver in the premier series.

Daniel Suárez burst onto the NASCAR scene in 2015 when he began driving for Joe Gibbs Racing in the Xfinity Series. It didn't take long for the Mexican-born driver to find success, as he became the sport's first international champion by winning the Xfinity Series championship in 2016.

Suárez replaced the retiring Carl Edwards in the Cup Series for JGR the following year, where he spent three seasons. He then ran for Stewart-Haas Racing in 2019 and Gaunt Brothers Racing in 2020 before settling in with Trackhouse Racing in 2021.

In 2022, Suárez became the first Mexican-born driver to win a Cup Series race when he won at Sonoma Raceway. This season, he edged out Ryan Blaney and Kyle Busch in a three-wide photo finish at Atlanta for his second career victory.