The ‘Rough Journey’ To Daniel Suarez’ NASCAR American Dream

The road to Daniel Suarez‘ first NASCAR Cup Series win can be told two different ways.

There’s the easy way, via numbers.

Seasons – 6

Starts – 195

Teams – 4

Crew chiefs – 6 (including two separate tenures with Dave Rogers).

Years without a charter – 1

Daytona 500 DNQ – 1

That’s a lot for half a decade.

But it’s the simplistic way of describing Suarez’ experience in NASCAR in the six years between 2016, when he became the first foreign-born driver to win a national NASCAR series championship, and Sunday (June 12).

Then there’s the more personal touch, which starts almost a decade ago when Suarez was living in upstate New York racing on short tracks.

As someone who was “always dreaming about winning in the Cup Series,” Suarez remembers waking up one morning “scared.”

“I knew it was going to be a tough journey,” Suarez recalled Sunday at Sonoma. “At the time I was scared not to be able to compete because I didn’t speak English.”

Suarez, a native of Monterrey, Mexico, feared the “language barrier was going to keep me away from my goal, which was being a winner, a championship winner in the NASCAR Cup Series. I didn’t want that to happen.”

At the time, Suarez couldn’t afford classes to learn English.

“I had to in a way learn by myself by watching movies and watching cartoons and reading,” Suarez said.

Then came NASCAR’s Drive for Diversity program.

The program, which originated in 2004 under the leadership of  CEO Brian France, helped drivers like Kyle Larson and Bubba Wallace gain traction in the sport in the early 2010s.

For Suarez, who spent the years of 2009-2012 splitting time between the NASCAR Mexico Series and the K&N East and West Series, the program “saved my butt” in 2013-14.

“If it wasn’t for the Drive for Diversity, I don’t think I would be sitting here right now,” Suarez said. “I was about to come back to Mexico. They gave me an opportunity to keep racing in 2013. That kept me alive. I was able to win races that year (in NASCAR Mexico and K&N East) and keep the momentum going. Before that it was very, very tough.”

The hurdles would return.

Suarez’ two years spent with the upstart Trackhouse Racing Team come on the heels of his personal low point, when it seemed the former Xfinity Series champion might have been on his way out of the sport.

Suarez’ time in the Cup series has been a “rough journey.”

Year…