LOUDON, N.H. — NASCAR driver Daniel Suárez took an oath this past week and became a United States citizen, then listened as his mother Rosaline Garza made a surprise confession.
The 32-year-old native of Monterrey, Mexico, learned he almost became an American much, much earlier.
Suárez’s parents flirted with the idea of traveling to the United States in 1992 ahead of his birth so he could be a natural-born citizen. The cost was too prohibitive, so the idea was scrapped.
“In Mexico, I don’t know how expensive it was, but it was cheaper,” Suárez said, laughing. “It’s really funny how my parents, they had that thought before I was born, about being born in the United States, I guess to have more opportunities. They didn’t do it.
“And now, I guess I did it my way.”
Suárez indeed did it his way, and he was one of 48 citizens representing 28 countries sworn in during a ceremony on Tuesday at the field office of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services in Charlotte, North Carolina.
“The most special part of everything was you see so many people there,” Suárez said Saturday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, where he will compete in Sunday’s Cup Series race. “I was not expecting it. I was not expecting to see so many people.”
His fiancée Julia Piquet, members of his Trackhouse Racing team, and even NASCAR president Steve Phelps were among those who watched Suárez complete his journey of becoming a U.S. citizen (he will hold dual citizenship with Mexico). Phelps was a surprise guest and delivered the keynote speech at the naturalization ceremony.
“I didn’t think many people were going to really care about it,” Suárez said. “A lot of people really did.”
Suárez never actually considered becoming an American citizen as he grew up in Mexico. He just wanted to race.
His father packed his car and trailer with Suárez’s karting gear for the U.S. the first time when they went to Las Vegas for an event. Just 12 years old, Suárez finished strong enough to further fuel the idea he could have some sort of racing career.
As the younger Suárez grew fascinated with stock cars, Alejandro Suárez knew he needed to raise the whopping amount of money needed to support this pricey new venture. He sold his auto restoration business, and Suárez’s stock car career soon took off in Mexico. Suárez had a ride in NASCAR’s Mexico Series (winning five times in 2014) and NASCAR’s regional K&N Pro Series East in the U.S., and he morphed into a teen sensation back home.
He eventually moved to the U.S., was the NASCAR Xfinity Series rookie of the year in 2015 and the following year won the season title on that second-tier circuit to become the first foreign champion in a NASCAR national series.
He is now in his eighth season on the top-tier Cup Series and his fourth with Trackhouse after also competing for Joe Gibbs Racing (2017-18), Stewart-Haas Racing (2019) and Gaunt Brothers Racing (2020). He earned his first win in June 2022 at California’s Sonoma Raceway and his second earlier this year at Atlanta Motor Speedway in a three-wide photo finish with Ryan Blaney and Kyle Busch, a pair of former Cup Series champions.
As he rose through the NASCAR ranks, Suárez at first was focused on his career more than becoming a citizen.
“It wasn’t a dream of mine,” he said. “I came to this country to race and compete. I had been working really hard to try and go to the next step and be more competitive. In a blink of an eye, I’ve been already here 12 years.”
As he got older, Suárez realized the significance of becoming a citizen. About six years ago, he became determined to start the process that would make him an American. He was quizzed by his team in April at Delaware’s Dover Motor Speedway during race weekend ahead of his citizenship test on that Monday.
He crushed it.
“If something bad happened to myself in the street, an accident, whatever it may be, with a green card, I could get kicked out at any time,” Suárez said. “I felt like it was the right time to start this process. Slowly, I’m getting more and more responsibilities in my life. It was the right time to feel more secure, that I belong here.”
He’s set to get married next month in Brazil and perhaps, in the next few years, start a family.
First, he has to get to the altar.
“As we speak, I can’t leave the country,” Suárez said. “I don’t have my green card, and I don’t have my American passport yet.”
For a rainy day
Cup Series points standings leader Chase Elliott will start in pole position in the Hendrick Motorsports No. 9 Chevrolet on Sunday after rain washed out Saturday’s qualifying session.
Blaney, who won last Sunday night at Iowa Speedway in that track’s first NASCAR Cup Series race, joins Elliott on the front row as the reigning Cup Series champion starts second in the Team Penske No. 12 Ford. Hendrick’s William Byron, Christopher Bell in a Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota and Hendrick’s Alex Bowman will complete the top five in the starting lineup.
Elliott, the 2020 Cup Series champion who has one victory this year after a winless 2023 season, has one runner-up finish at New Hampshire but has never won on the 1.058-mile track.
“We’d rather have an actual pole, for sure,” Elliott said. “But you know, circumstances being what they are, fortunately our team has been performing at a really solid level over the past couple of months. The reality of it is that it put us in a position to have a good starting spot for a rainout situation.”
With more rain in the forecast Sunday — a year after weather pushed the Cup Series race at New Hampshire to Monday — NASCAR moved up its green flag time to 2:06 p.m.