Till now, only Hollywood studios were known to pull off moments like these. The kind that starts with an underdog, some mechanical misfortune, a battered racecar, and then, poof, magic. Days of Thunder gave us Cole Trickle, the hotshot rookie who crashed, burned, and came roaring back to win against all odds. But on Saturday, life outdid fiction.

Daniel Suárez didn’t just win in Mexico; he rose from the ashes of a wrecked car, starting dead last in a backup, to cross the checkered flag first in front of a hometown crowd. What happened at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez wasn’t just another race. It was cinematic. The stakes, the noise, the emotion, you could feel it in the air! And Suárez could too. A moment so powerful, it stunned a man with two decades of racing experience into speechless awe.

Daniel Suárez finds his moment in Mexico

Daniel Suárez cut his teeth in the NASCAR PEAK Mexico Series before moving to the U.S. and climbing the ladder through ARCA, K&N Pro, and the Xfinity Series. In 2016, he made history as the first Mexican-born driver to win a NASCAR national series championship. And later, he became the first Mexican to win at the Cup level. Yet, nothing he’d accomplished before quite matched what happened on that sunlit Saturday in Mexico City.

“In more than 20 years of a career, I have never experienced what I experienced today,” said Daniel Suárez after winning Saturday’s Chilango 150. It wasn’t just a throwaway line, it was the emotional release of a driver who’s journeyed from karting on the streets of Monterrey to becoming a Mexican trailblazer in American stock car racing.

“When I took the lead, I was able to hear the people like they were right here, especially not just in the stadium. The stadium was huge, but also in corner number one and two, and three. It was unbelievable.” That lead came on a chaotic restart with 19 laps to go, when Suárez avoided disaster as frontrunners Connor Zilisch and Ty Gibbs tangled in Turn 1. That moment opened the door. Daniel Suárez walked through and never looked back, fending off Taylor Gray in a dramatic finish. The roar from a stadium that can accommodate over 100,000 fans? Deafening, in a good way!

“It was unbelievable. I got goosebumps, and I felt so blessed. I have never had that feeling in my life… I mean, this race was very special,” Suárez remarked. But the win was historically significant, too. Suárez became just the eighth driver to ever win a NASCAR national series race from the last starting position, and the first ever to do it on a road course. The win marked his fourth in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, but this one, on home soil, hit different.

It was also timely. Daniel Suárez’s 2025 Cup Series campaign has been rocky, plagued by inconsistency and pressure amid looming contract uncertainty. Many questioned whether he still had the fire. “I know it’s Xfinity, the good one is tomorrow,” Suárez concluded. With that, he teed up the biggest moment yet: the Mexico Cup race.

Suárez now sets his sights on Cup Series glory

“We’re making history together,” Daniel Suárez had promised ahead of NASCAR’s return to Mexico. One day later, he’s already delivered a powerful first act. Now, with a euphoric Xfinity win in his rearview mirror, the Monterrey native has his eyes locked on an even bigger target. It’s the Sunday NASCAR Cup Series race – the Viva Mexico 250. And, if Saturday was emotional, Sunday could be seismic.

Driving the No. 99 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet, Suárez qualified 10th for the Mexico Cup race with a lap time of 1:33.061. It wasn’t the fastest, but it was strong. Most importantly, it places him ahead of many heavyweights like Ryan Blaney, Bubba Wallace, and more, still adjusting to the unfamiliar terrain of the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez. For Suárez, however, this circuit is home. And he just mastered it from last to first.

Despite his woes in the 2025 season, with just 3 top-10 finishes and 14 laps led in 15 Cup races, Daniel Suárez has not been a pushover on road courses. His 2022 Cup Series victory at Sonoma was no fluke. Then, he has six top-5 finishes on road tracks, but consistency is where he struggles. His last 9 road course Cup races have seen 4 top-15 finishes but 5 outside the top-20. However, more crucially, Suárez has momentum. Race-winning momentum.

Not many in Sunday’s field can say the same, as last week’s winner, Denny Hamlin, will not be racing due to parental duties, and only Kyle Busch and Michael McDowell have ever won races on this track from our current grid. Add in the emotional fuel from a home crowd and the track familiarity after Saturday’s Xfinity showdown, and it’s clear Suarez holds a rare mix of technical, tactical, and emotional advantage.

Can Suárez translate the magic of Saturday into a Cup Series breakthrough on Sunday? That’s the question now. And if the roar of Mexico has anything to say about it, we might just get an answer for the ages. We just have to wait till 3 p.m. Sunday, when the green flag drops. Who do you think will win the inaugural Viva Mexico 250? Let us know in the comments!