NASCAR driver Daniel Suarez recalls father's advice to get stronger fueling his early racing career

Trackhouse Racing driver Daniel Suarez pondered upon his father's "get stronger" advice during his teenage days that propelled his early racing stint.

In 2002, at the mere age of 10, the Mexican driver ventured into the realm of motorsports by kicking off his racing career in karting. Six years later in 2008, Daniel Suarez became the youngest driver to claim the NASCAR Mini-Stocks series in Mexico. In 2015, the then 23-year-old entered the Xfinity Series and the Truck Series and drove in those categories for two years before marking his switch to the highest form of stock car racing, the Cup Series.

Until now, Daniel Suarez has amassed 11 wins in the NASCAR PEAK Mexico Series, a solitary win in the Truck Series, three in the Xfinity Series, and two victories in the Cup Series, with the most recent coming from the 2024 Ambetter Health 400 at the Atlanta Motor Speedway.

The mettle to stand level with the big guns in any field was imbibed into the Mexican driver by his father, Alejandro Suárez. Since Daniel's teenage days, his father has encouraged him to hit the gym and be strong.

Ahead of the Cook Out 400 at Martinsville Speedway, while recalling his father's precious inputs, Suarez posted a throwback image on his Instagram, detailing Alejandro's contribution to his jacked body at just 15 years of age.

"When I was a young kid I spent most of my time racing with kids or men older than me in karts and beetles… so when I was 13-14 years old my dad told me to get into the gym to get stronger so here I was at 15! 💪🏻😄," wrote Suarez.

Daniel Suarez issues a stern warning to Josh Berry after an avoidable wreck at Richmond

The caution-riddled Toyota Owners 400 witnessed Denny Hamlin profiting from a late race pitstop under caution, followed by a jump start during the final restart, etching his name as the winner at Richmond Raceway. On the flip side, his teammate Martin Truex Jr. ended his run at P4 that could've finished at P1 had he not fallen victim to the late race wreck between Kyle Larson and Bubba Wallace.

Another sufferer from the race was the Trackhouse Racing driver who got nudged by Josh Berry during Stage 1 of the 407-lap run. From the video tweeted by NASCAR on NBC, it's evident that since there was ample space in proximity of the SHR driver, the contact could've been avoided had Berry maintained some gap over Suarez during the turn.

Nevertheless, the wreck by the #4 Ford Mustang spun out the #99 Chevrolet Camaro and frustrated the victim. Shortly after the Richmond run got done and dusted, Daniel Suarez shed light on the repercussions of the contact, saying (via Frontstretch on X):

"He spins me out in stage 1, we're not even in the bottom of the racetrack...if tomorrow that happens the other way around there won't be any conversation because he's going to be expecting it." (0:15)