June 14, 2025 | By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service

Daniel Suárez scores massive Xfinity Series win at home in Mexico City

MEXICO CITY, Mexico—In all his high hopes and hard work over the last year to promote NASCAR’s return to his home country of Mexico, even Daniel Suárez could not have imagined the amazing story of his dramatic win in Saturday’s The Chilango 150 — coming from last place on the grid in a backup car and charging to Victory Lane.

After victory spinouts, the 33-year-old native from Monterrey, Mexico climbed out of his No. 9 JR Motorsports Chevrolet, stood on the car’s roof, pounded his chest and pointed upward to the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez grandstands — shouting to the thrilled crowd in his native Spanish and thanking his loyal fans for their support.

“It’s everything I was looking for, just a special day,” said an emotional Suárez, the 2016 Xfinity Series champion, who led a race-best 19 of the race’s 65 laps and beat Taylor Gray to the checkered flag by .598 seconds in a backup car the team rebuilt after he crashed in the morning qualifying session.

“It’s a very special day, very, very special to be here in front of my people, all these people that have supported me for many, many years and known me since my NASCAR Mexico days, now I’m fighting with the big boys,” said Suárez who was forced to use the “international provisional” starting position after his incident in qualifying.

And even after diligently working his way through the entire 39-car field, Suárez had to “earn” this win — by every definition. The Cup Series full-timer went door-to-door with Gray on a restart with four laps remaining, ultimately pulling away — only to have to fend off a fast-approaching Gray again on the final stretch of the very last lap.

Suárez first took the lead Saturday in a similarly dramatic fashion, prevailing on a three-wide restart with 19 laps remaining.

He emerged out front after going door-to-door with the race’s early leaders, rookie Connor Zilisch and fellow Cup Series regular Ty Gibbs. The polesitter Zilisch, who led 17 laps, wheel-hopped taking the opening corner under those crowded circumstances on the restart, spun and then hit his JRM teammate Carson Kvapil as a pile-up behind began.

Gibbs, who led 18 laps, moved forward from the initial contact and then also made contact with Kvapil’s Chevy on the next turn. The ensuing pile-up affected 13 cars in varying degrees.

Suárez drove through the melee, and you could hear the crowd’s massive cheers over the sounds of the roaring stock cars — the Mexican fans stood on their feet, arms raised, Mexican flags in the air.

Richard Childress Racing’s Austin Hill finished third, Kaulig Racing’s Christian Eckes was fourth and Zilisch recovered to finish fifth in another of the day’s more remarkable drives.

After that incident with 17 laps remaining, Zilisch fell back to 28th place with damage to the right side of his Chevy, only to move through the field at an amazing pace, up 14 positions in the three laps after the restart. He was in 10th place with 10 laps to go and then earned that top-five finishing position.

“I’m proud of my team for their effort,” said Zilisch, who leaned against his car alone on pit road, obviously disappointed with the outcome after such a strong afternoon.

“Obviously the finish isn’t what we wanted. We probably had a better car than fifth place, but we got caught up in an incident on that last restart. Just proud to be able to come here and get a decent finish.

“Congrats to Daniel [Suárez], it’s awesome to see him win here in his hometown. That’s super big for him. Really proud of JR Motorsports and we’ll get it next week.

As for the incident, Zilisch conceded, “Still don’t know what I really could have done to get to the front quicker, probably could have been a little cleaner on that last restart and gotten by guys quicker … really proud to finish top-five after day like that.”

William Sawalich, Austin Green, Jeb Burton, Harrison Burton and Sammy Smith rounded out the top 10.

There were seven lead changes among six drivers, with Kvapil winning the first stage and Smith winning stage two.

Xfinity Series championship leader Justin Allgaier had to take his No. 7 JR Motorsports Chevrolet behind the wall for repairs before the end of the first stage, ultimately settling for a 34th-place finish — 15 laps down to the winner. Fortunately for the reigning series champion, he held a 92-point advantage over Hill atop the points standings heading into Mexico City. He now leads the championship by 54 points.

The series moves to Pocono Raceway for next Saturday’s Explore the Pocono Mountains 250 at 3:30 p.m. ET (The CW, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

NOTE: Xfinity Series post-race inspection in Mexico City is complete, confirming Daniel Suárez as the race winner. The No. 54 Toyota was found with one loose lug nut, which will result in a monetary fine.



NASCAR Xfinity Series Race Number 15
Race Results for the The Chilango 150 - Saturday, June 14, 2025
Aut?dromo Hermanos Rodr?guez - Mexico City, MX - 2.42 - Mile Paved
Total Race Length - 65 Laps - 157.3 Miles

Provided by NASCAR Statistics - Saturday, 6/14/2025 @ 10:00 PM Eastern
Fin Str Car Driver Team Laps Stage 1 Pos Stage 2 Pos Pts Status Tms Laps Playoff Pts
1 39 9 Daniel Suarez(i) Quaker State Chevrolet 65   0 Running 1 19
2 8 54 Taylor Gray # Operation 300 Toyota 65 2 2 58 Running 1 1
3 7 21 Austin Hill Bennett Transportation Chevrolet 65 4  42 Running  
4 34 16 Christian Eckes # Celsius Chevrolet 65  5 40 Running  
5 1 88 Connor Zilisch # WeatherTech Chevrolet 65  9 35 Running 2 17
6 11 18 William Sawalich # Starkey Toyota 65   32 Running  
7 14 32 Austin Green 3Dimensional.com Chevrolet 65   31 Running  
8 18 27 Jeb Burton Bommarito Automotive Group Chevrolet 65 9  32 Running  
9 22 25 Harrison Burton AirBox Ford 65   29 Running  
10 5 8 Sammy Smith Pilot Chevrolet 65  1 38 Running 1 5 1
11 13 00 Sheldon Creed Pit Boss Ford 65  3 35 Running  
12 26 26 Dean Thompson # Thompson Pipe Group Toyota 65  7 30 Running  
13 29 10 Daniel Dye # Race to Stop Suicide Chevrolet 65  6 30 Running  
14 2 19 Ty Gibbs(i) Monster Energy Toyota 65  10 0 Running 1 18
15 21 07 Alex Labbe Bella Sun Luci Chevrolet 65 10  24 Running  
16 17 99 Matt DiBenedetto Sci Aps Chevrolet 65 8  25 Running  
17 27 5 Kris Wright Wright Automotive Group Chevrolet 65   21 Running  
18 10 2 Jesse Love Whelen Chevrolet 65 3  28 Running  
19 4 1 Carson Kvapil # Bass Pro Shops/Clarience Tech Chevrolet 65 1  29 Running 1 5 1
20 32 11 Josh Williams Alloy Employer Services Chevrolet 65   18 Running  
21 38 42 Anthony Alfredo Dude Wipes Chevrolet 65   17 Running  
22 23 70 Thomas Annunziata Bayshore Mortgage Chevrolet 65   16 Running  
23 6 41 Sam Mayer Audibel Ford 65   15 Running  
24 28 14 Josh Bilicki Seguros El Rey Chevrolet 65   12 Running  
25 15 20 Brandon Jones Menards/Loctite Toyota 65 6 4 25 Running  
26 37 45 Brad Perez Sandero Provisions Co Chevrolet 65   12 Running  
27 24 31 Blaine Perkins WERNER Chevrolet 65   11 Running  
28 36 28 Kyle Sieg TRIGON COMBAT Ford 65   10 Running  
29 30 39 Ryan Sieg Sci Aps Ford 65   9 Running  
30 16 91 Andres Perez De Lara(i) Telcel Chevrolet 65   0 Running  
31 9 48 Nick Sanchez # Big Machine Label Group Chevrolet 64 5 8 16 Running  
32 25 71 Ryan Ellis Tablo TV Chevrolet 61   6 Running  
33 20 53 Sage Karam NFPA Toyota 52 7  9 Accident  
34 12 7 Justin Allgaier BRANDT Chevrolet 50   4 Running  
35 35 4 Parker Retzlaff FunkAway Beads! Chevrolet 46   3 Accident  
36 19 51 Jeremy Clements Allaince Driveway Solutions Chevrolet 43   2 Running  
37 31 35 Ruben Rovelo skarch Chevrolet 43   1 Running  
38 33 44 Brennan Poole Midas/Hackett Truck Sales Chevrolet 40   1 Suspension  
39 3 24 Christopher Bell(i) Mobil 1 Toyota 36   0 Engine  
Fastest Lap Bonus:  # lap 29 / 93.565
19                                                                   
,
Time of Race: 2 Hrs, 16 Mins, 14 Secs. Average Speed: 69.278 MPH Margin of Victory: 0.598 Seconds

Stage 1 Top 10: 1, 54, 2, 21, 48, 20, 53, 99, 27, 07
Stage 2 Top 10: 8, 54, 00, 20, 16, 10, 26, 48, 88, 19

Race Comments: Daniel Suarez won The Chilango 150 at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, his fourth NASCAR Xfinity Series victory. Prior to the green flag, the following cars dropped to the rear of the field for reasons indicated: No. 9 (backup car), Nos. 16, 35, 42, 44, 70, 91 (unapproved adjustments)

Failed to Qualify: None.

Caution Flags: 5 for 17 laps; Laps: 4-5 (#41 incident turn 10 [None]); 22-25 (Stage 1 Conclusion [None]); 42-46 (Stage 2 Conclusion [70]); 48-51 (#00, 1, 4, 8, 18, 19, 20, 28, 35, 39, 41, 70, 88 incident turn 3 [42]); 60-61 (#2 incident turn 15 [71]).

Lead Changes: 7 among 6 drivers; T. Gibbs(i) 1-18; C. Kvapil # 19-23; C. Zilisch # 24-38; S. Smith 39-43; T. Gray # 44; C. Zilisch # 45-46; D. Suarez(i) 47-65.

(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series

Next Race: June 21, 2025 - Pocono Raceway

NASCAR Integrated Marketing Communications @ P.O. Box 2875, Daytona Beach, FL 32120-2875


NASCAR Xfinity Series Points Report
Aut?dromo Hermanos Rodr?guez
The Chilango 150

UNOFFICIAL Provided by NASCAR Statistics - Saturday, 6/14/2025 @ 09:11 PM Eastern UNOFFICIAL

Rank Driver Car Starts GL Points Ldr Nxt Race Wins Stage Wins Playoff Pts
1. Justin Allgaier 7 15 0 587 0 0 3 6 21
2. Austin Hill 21 15 0 533 -54 54 3 6 21
3. Sam Mayer 41 15 0 488 -99 45 0 1 1
4. Jesse Love 2 15 0 460 -127 28 1 1 6
5. Connor Zilisch # 88 14 0 430 -157 30 1 2 7
6. Sheldon Creed 00 15 0 416 -171 14 0 0 0
7. Carson Kvapil # 1 15 0 409 -178 7 0 1 1
8. Brandon Jones 20 15 0 404 -183 5 1 0 5
9. Jeb Burton 27 15 0 397 -190 7 0 0 0
10. Sammy Smith 8 15 -3 378 -209 19 1 2 7
11. Harrison Burton 25 15 0 377 -210 1 0 2 2
12. Ryan Sieg 39 15 2 374 -213 3 0 0 0
13. Taylor Gray # 54 15 -1 374 -213 0 0 0 0
14. Nick Sanchez # 48 15 2 359 -228 15 0 1 1
15. Daniel Dye # 10 15 0 330 -257 29 0 0 0
16. Dean Thompson # 26 15 0 315 -272 15 0 1 1
17. Christian Eckes # 16 15 -1 310 -277 5 0 0 0
18. Josh Williams 11 15 0 276 -311 34 0 0 0
19. Brennan Poole 44 15 0 275 -312 1 0 0 0
20. Jeremy Clements 51 15 1 266 -321 9 0 0 0
21. Anthony Alfredo 42 15 -1 249 -338 17 0 0 0
22. Aric Almirola  6 1 238 -349 11 1 1 0
23. William Sawalich # 18 15 -2 227 -360 11 0 0 0
24. Matt DiBenedetto 99 15 0 220 -367 7 0 0 -5
25. Parker Retzlaff 4 14 2 214 -373 6 0 0 0
26. Blaine Perkins 31 15 -1 198 -389 16 0 0 0
27. Ryan Ellis 71 15 1 197 -390 1 0 0 0
28. Kyle Sieg 28 15 0 190 -397 7 0 0 0
29. Kris Wright 5 15 0 156 -431 34 0 0 0
30. Josh Bilicki 14 9 -1 124 -463 32 0 0 0
31. Garrett Smithley  11 1 111 -476 13 0 0 0
32. Leland Honeyman  8 0 97 -490 14 0 0 0
33. Joey Gase  7 0 87 -500 10 0 0 0
34. Mason Massey  7 0 74 -513 13 0 0 0
35. Corey Day  3 0 66 -521 8 0 0 0
36. Nick Leitz  6 0 60 -527 6 0 0 0
37. Thomas Annunziata 70 6 -2 59 -528 1 0 0 0
38. Mason Maggio  7 1 56 -531 3 0 0 0
39. Justin Bonsignore  4 1 54 -533 2 0 0 0
40. Alex Labbe 07 3 -3 54 -533 0 0 0 0
41. Brad Perez 45 4 -4 37 -550 17 0 0 0
42. Greg Van Alst  8 2 33 -554 4 0 0 0
43. Caesar Bacarella  2 2 31 -556 2 0 0 0
44. Jordan Anderson  1 2 30 -557 1 0 0 0
45. Austin Green 32 4 -32 30 -557 0 0 0 -5
46. Myatt Snider  3 2 26 -561 4 0 0 0
47. Cj Mclaughlin  3 1 24 -563 2 0 0 0
48. Kasey Kahne  1 1 23 -564 1 0 0 0
49. Jeffrey Earnhardt  2 1 23 -564 0 0 0 0
50. Patrick Staropoli  1 1 21 -566 2 0 0 0
51. Ryan Truex  1 1 20 -567 1 0 0 0
52. Jesse Iwuji  1 1 17 -570 3 0 0 0
53. Logan Bearden  1 1 14 -573 3 0 0 0
54. Sage Karam 53 2 -2 14 -573 0 0 0 0
55. Vicente Salas  1 0 13 -574 1 0 0 0
56. Carson Ware  2 2 12 -575 1 0 0 0
57. David Starr  1 2 11 -576 1 0 0 0
58. Jj Yeley  1 2 9 -578 2 0 0 0
59. Dawson Cram  2 2 7 -580 2 0 0 0
60. Ruben Rovelo 35 1 64 1 -586 6 0 0 0
61. Preston Pardus  1 0 1 -586 0 0 0 0
62. Baltazar Leguizam?n  1 0 1 -586 0 0 0 0
63. Kyle Larson(i)  3 2 0 -587 1 2 2 0
64. William Byron(i)  2 2 0 -587 0 1 3 0
65. Alex Bowman(i)  1 3 0 -587 0 0 1 0
66. Chase Elliott(i)  1 3 0 -587 0 0 0 0
67. Riley Herbst(i)  2 3 0 -587 0 0 0 0
68. Ross Chastain(i)  3 3 0 -587 0 0 0 0
69. Corey Heim(i)  3 3 0 -587 0 0 0 0
70. Patrick Emerling(i)  5 3 0 -587 0 0 0 0
71. Austin Dillon(i)  1 3 0 -587 0 0 0 0
72. Ty Gibbs(i) 19 1 73 0 -587 0 0 0 0
73. Chase Briscoe(i)  1 4 0 -587 0 0 0 0
74. Christopher Bell(i) 24 2 4 0 -587 0 0 0 0
75. Andres Perez De Lara(i) 91 1 76 0 -587 0 0 0 0
76. Katherine Legge(i)  4 5 0 -587 0 0 0 0
77. Carson Hocevar(i)  1 5 0 -587 0 0 0 0
78. Tyler Tomassi  0 5 0 -587 0 0 0 0
79. Glen Reen  0 6 0 -587 0 0 0 0
80. Daniel Suarez(i) 9 1 65 0 -587 0 1 0 0
81. Jake Garcia(i)  0 4 0 -587 0 0 0 0

-Ldr/-Nxt = Points behind Leader/Next higher, (i) Ineligible for driver points in this series