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In what can only be described as a storybook ending, Mexican driver Daniel Suarez won Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series race in front of a home crowd in Mexico City. But after a bit of controversy, some fans believe the series rigged the race in Suarez’s favor.
The NASCAR Cup Series is set to run its first points race outside of the United States in 67 years on Sunday. But before that can happen, the Xfinity Series, which serves as a developmental series for NASCAR, returned to the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez for the first time since 2008.
DANIEL SUÁREZ WINS IN MEXICO CITY! 🇲🇽 pic.twitter.com/UgfLoKVgyw
— NASCAR Xfinity (@NASCAR_Xfinity) June 14, 2025
Suarez, a Cup Series regular and 2016 Xfinity Series champion, made a one-off appearance racing for Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s JR Motorsports team. He started the race in the back after a crash during Saturday morning’s qualifying session.
But the 33-year-old from Monterrey slowly worked his way up through the field, and when leaders Connor Zilisch and Ty Gibbs crashed late in the race, Suarez found himself at the front of the pack.
Late Race Incident Causes NASCAR Fans To Allege Mexico City Race Was Rigged
However, on a late race restart, Suarez made contact with fellow driver Taylor Gray, pushing him off the track. Some fans believed that Suarez cut the corner of the track, giving him an unfair advantage to retain the lead. But NASCAR deemed that the contact with Gray left Suarez no other option, so they did not penalize him for the move.
From there, Suarez held onto the lead and crossed the finish line just ahead of Gray to pick up the win in front of a raucous home crowd. The victory didn’t set well with everyone, however. Fans on X quickly to began to speculate that the race was rigged.
Those same fans, of course, were quiet when a similar incident occurred earlier in the race and NASCAR did not hand down a penalty. Sadly, it’s just the latest example of blatant racism and xenophobia surrounding the Mexico City race. Thankfully, the weekend itself has thus far been a resounding success, and crew members, drivers,and media members have discussed at length how much they’ve enjoyed the experience.
As for Suarez, the first and only Mexican driver to win a Cup Series race, he’ll look to add a third win to his resume on Sunday when he starts in the top 10 in front of his home fans.