Mexican Daniel Suárez staged a spectacular comeback to win the Xfinity Series race at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez, despite starting in last place. He brought joy to the thousands of fans who hailed him as a hero after a remarkable comeback in the second-highest category racing this weekend in his home country.
The Monterrey native used a spare JR Motorsports car after crashing into the barriers in qualifying, forcing him to start at the back of the field. This allowed him to avoid races and consistently overtake, moving into the top positions by the second third of the race, culminating in a celebration on the podium.
His last Xfinity Series victory came at Homestead-Miami in 2016, right at the end of the season in which he won the championship. He then moved on to the NASCAR Cup Series, where he will compete on Sunday. He was followed on the podium by Taylor Gray and Austin Hill after a bumpy final third of the race.
The other two Mexican competitors were less fortunate. Andrés Pérez de Lara finished 30th, although he put in a satisfactory performance, while Rubén Rovelo, a NASCAR Mexico regular, only completed seven laps after running out of tires.
At the start, Suárez was alone until the end of the straightaway, hoping to make a comeback, while up front, Ty Gibbs and polesitter Connor Zilisch entered the first corner together, the first of what would be many times they would meet on the circuit, with neither relinquishing their position.
At the end of that first lap, Gibbs was in the lead and Zilisch dropped to fourth, while Daniel Suárez was already in 28th place (out of 39). The first major crash came from Sam Mayer before the stadium entrance, though he rejoined, only to have to pit for slick tires.
After 10 laps, Daniel was already in 16th place, while Gibbs and Zilisch continued the fight for first place. Christopher Bell, who was in third, overshot the stage exit and fell back.
Pit stops began on lap 17 (of 65). Suárez was one of the first to stop, but experienced a tense moment when he couldn’t get off quickly after colliding with Dean Thompson’s car and even hitting one of the tires recently changed by the American driver’s mechanics.
With the pit stops, Gibbs fell behind Zilisch, although the lead was provisionally taken by Carson Kvapil, who took all 10 points from the first Stage, followed by Taylor Gray (9), Jesse Love (8), Austin Hill (7), Nick Sánchez (6), Bradon Jones (5), Sage Karam (4), Matt DiBenedetto (3), Jeb Burton (2), and Alex Labee (1).
At the start of Stage 2, Suárez placed third, behind Zilisch and Bell, but was later overtaken by Gibbs. Pérez de Lara also had a strong fight to move up to 25th in his category debut.
After another pit stop, Dani dropped to 22nd as he was once again one of the first to stop, while Zilisch and Gibbs piled up more points at the front of their intense race.
At the end of that leg, the points went to Sammy Smith (10), Gray (9), Sheldon Creed (8), Brandon Jones (7), Christian Eckes (6), Daniel Dye (5), Dean Thompson (4), Nick Sanchez (3), and Zilisch (2).
But the crucial moment of the race came at the restart: Daniel beat Gibbs to the start and took the lead, while the other NASCAR Cup driver was hit by Zilisch, his partner for the entire afternoon, causing a multi-car accident and bringing out a yellow flag, as the local driver escaped.
In a new start, Eckes challenged Suarez for the lead, but the Mexican easily regained it, leaving Gray in second place, while the black car with the number 9 cruised to an unexpected victory in the category where Daniel was champion almost a decade ago.
Source: espndeportes
