The 2024 NASCAR campaign has already been a special one for Daniel Suarez, after collecting a win in the NASCAR Mexico Series at the LA Memorial Coliseum in February, and just a couple of weeks later, his second NASCAR Cup Series win at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
Suarez, the first Mexican-born driver to win a NASCAR Cup Series event, will look to add another division to his unique list of victories, confirming Tuesday that he’ll compete in the NASCAR Brasil Series event at Autódromo José Carlos Pace (Interlagos) on August 3-4.
The 32-year-old racer will already be in Brazil during NASCAR’s two-week break for the 2024 Olympic Summer Games in Paris, getting married to fiancé Julia. So, with the NASCAR Brazil Series competing in São Paulo during that time, entering the race seemed like the perfect fit.
“We’re going to be getting married in Brazil in a couple of weeks and when I found out that they were having a NASCAR Brasil Race in Interlagos, a racetrack that is so historic, so much history in that racetrack, it was a no-brainer for me,” said Suarez. “So, I started having conversations with NASCAR and NASCAR Brasil and I got an opportunity.”
Launched in 2022, the NASCAR Brazil Series is the fourth international series for NASCAR — joining the NASCAR Euro Series, the NASCAR Canada Series, and the NASCAR Mexico Series — the first of which will take place in South America. The series began competition in 2023 as a partnership between NASCAR and the GT Sprint Race series in Brazil.
“We are extremely excited to have Daniel join us once again for an international race,” said Chad Seigler, Vice President, Chief International Officer at NASCAR. “As NASCAR continues to grow and expand on a global scale, we want to showcase that our international series provide the competition level, resources, and industry connections to help the most talented competitors advance their careers.”
Brazil’s strong motorsports culture has extended into NASCAR over the last two decades, with three Brazilian-born drivers competing in NASCAR in the United States — Christian Fittipaldi, Nelson Piquet, Jr., and Miguel Paludo.
Fittipaldi has 15 NASCAR Cup Series starts to his credit, Paludo has made 81 appearances across the Xfinity and Truck Series, and Piquet, Jr. has started 83 starts across NASCAR’s top-three divisions — scoring three victories.
“It’s a pleasure to welcome Daniel Suárez to our race, a driver with such a great story, who has already qualified for the 2024 NASCAR Cup Playoffs”, said Thiago Marques, NASCAR Brasil representative. “His presence puts a great deal of value on our grid. Based on his profile, I think he will get along with everyone and have a great weekend at Interlagos.”
Siegler discussed the further importance of NASCAR Cup Series drivers making appearances in some of the sport’s international divisions.
“It’s critical, anytime we can have a Cup driver participate in one of our international series, Daniel obviously did it at the Clash earlier this year, at the LA Coliseum, some of you probably followed Chase Briscoe racing in [the NASCAR Canada Series] just a few days ago, so anytime we have that opportunity to really just bring that additional exposure to what we do internationally, it’s huge,” said Siegler.
“It’s an opportunity from several sides — one for us on the NASCAR side internationally, to try and grow the brand, to try and have people have a better understanding of stock car-style racing and NASCAR-style racing,” he added. “So that’s big for us but then I think another piece is for the young drivers coming up, no different than if you’re a driver that comes up in our weekly and touring series in the US, to have that driver like Daniel Suarez in front of them to show them if I want to go racing in the US, there’s a path.”
Suarez will make his NASCAR Brasil Series debut at the historic Interlagos racetrack in early August, before returning from a two-week break to make a run at the NASCAR Cup Series title, having already secured a berth into the post-season.
Photo: Craig White, TobyChristie.com
