Daniel Suárez admires all the hard work his sponsor Worldwide Express performed to make Sunday’s first NASCAR Cup Series race on the Chicago Street Course a reality.
However, the Trackhouse Racing driver doesn’t want to get anywhere near the Dallas-based company’s handiwork.
The 31-year-old native of Monterrey, Mexico will be one of the favorites in the inaugural event on the a 2.2 mile, 12-turn street course.
To do that he will have to avoid the 2,200 barriers, that each weigh 9,500lbs, plus SAFER barriers and tire packs that Worldwide Express delivered to the Windy City in the last few weeks.
“We need walls and barriers to have a safe event, but as a driver we want to avoid the walls at all cost,” laughed Suárez. “I mean only Worldwide Express could pull off something like organizing the delivery of that much stuff, but my plan is to not touch a single barrier all weekend.”
Teams from across the Worldwide Express brands started working with NASCAR last Fall to organize hundreds of trucks and 24-hour deliveries needed to minimize additional traffic interruptions for Chicagoans. Worldwide Express will also assist in event tear-down and transporting the barriers back to the shipper starting immediately after the checkered flag flies on Sunday.
The Dallas-based company helped NASCAR in the shipping of barriers and other critical infrastructure for the Busch Light Clash at the Coliseum in Los Angeles on February 5.
Sunday’s race will be a new endeavor for Suárez, the drivers, as well as the entire sport. New fans are likely to attend Sunday and success could open new venues for the sport.
After a 12th-place finish at Nashville Superspeedway Sunday night, Suárez arrives in Chicago 16th in the standings with nine races remaining in the regular season.
Suárez is often one of the faster drivers on road courses and he hopes a practice day at the Detroit street course in a Trans-Am car on June 2 will pay dividends as the Cup drivers have very little time to familiarize themselves with the Chicago track.
He’ll also have an extra teammate this weekend as New Zealand’s three-time Super car champion Shane van Gisbergen joins Suárez and Ross Chastain on the Trackhouse team under the PROJECT91 banner. The Kiwi has a wealth of street racing experience he will rely on in his NASCAR debut.
Trackhouse team owner Justin Marks will make his first Xfinity Series debut since 2018 when he drives Kaulig Racing’s No. 10 Chevrolet in Saturday’s Xfinity Series race.
NBC will broadcast Sunday’s Cup Series race at 5:30 p.m. EDT.
Daniel Suárez:
What do you think about the Chicago Street Race?
“I think it is going to be one of the greatest events in NASCAR’s 75-year history! Nobody knows how the racing will turn out, but as an event I think it is going to be incredible. We just need to get time on the track and we’ll see how the race plays out. I suspect its going to be pretty crazy which the fans usually love.”
What do you think of street racing?
“I have a friend who said it best. Instead of the fans coming to the track, at a street race the track comes to the fans. I went to Detroit a few weeks ago and made laps around the street course there. It’s no different for a driver. You start thinking where can I get better, where can I make up some lap times, improve my line. Trust me as race car drivers we are going to race as hard here as on any oval.”
Are you excited about Shane van Gisbergen joining Trackhouse at Chicago?
“Yes, Shane is a very nice guy and a heck of a race car driver. He was with us in Nashville last weekend. He has a lot to learn, but he is very talented. He is going to spend a lot of time on the simulator this week. He has more experience on street courses than probably the entire starting field of Sunday’s race.”
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.
Trackhouse Racing PR
