Just like the fairytales, right?
Mexico’s own Daniel Suarez scored his first NASCAR Xfinity Series victory since 2016 in his home country at Autodromos Hermanos Rodriguez in Mexico City on Saturday (June 14).
Suarez originally started last in a backup car following a crash in qualifying — he and JR Motorsports had to rely on one of the two international provisionals from NASCAR to make the field. The win is just the fourth of Suarez’s Xfinity career.
”It’s very, very special to be here in front of my people,” Suarez said after the race. “All these people have supported me for many, many years. They have loved me since my NASCAR Mexico [Series] days, and now fighting with the big boys. It feels good.”
Taylor Gray finished second, followed by Austin Hill in third. Christian Eckes and Connor Zilisch finished fourth and fifth, respectively.
Zilisch started on pole with Ty Gibbs next to him. Gibbs and Zilisch battled hard for the first two laps before Gibbs scooted away with the lead. The first caution of the afternoon came out on lap 3, when Sam Mayer lost control entering turn 1 and slid into the outside wall.
Gibbs, Zilisch and Christopher Bell battled hard with each other on the restart, staying nose to tail until Bell looped his No. 24 in turn 14 on lap 13.
Point leader Justin Allgaier entered pit road on lap 14 with a mechanical issue, later discovered to be a transaxle problem. He made the difficult turn behind the wall on lap 16, just as Sammy Smith got spun by Jesse Love — this wouldn’t be the first time these two made contact with each other.
With varying pit strategies at the end of stage one, it was Carson Kvapil who took the green-checkered flag to pick up the stage victory. Zilisch cycled back to the front after those who didn’t pit before the stage end made their stop under caution.
Zilisch proceeded to dominate stage two, but again flipped the stage along with Gibbs and Bell — unfortunately for Bell, an apparent engine issue left him stranded at the entrance to pit road and out of the race.
Meanwhile, Kvapil and Zilisch’s JR Motorsports teammate Smith got in the action of leading, picking up the stage two victory in the process.
Gibbs and Suarez started on the front row for the final stage restart. Zilisch put them three-wide entering turn one and lost control, partially spinning his No. 88 before catching it. He was then caught in a four-wide squeeze with Mayer and the two of them punted Smith off the track.
As they all gathered it as best they could, Kvapil, who had gotten around Gibbs for second, was then spun by Gibbs, taking both of them into the outside wall. Parker Retzlaff then piledrove Gibbs’ No. 19, destroying both racecars. Sheldon Creed and Ruben Rovelo were also among those who took damage in the melee.
The carnage allowed Suarez to take the lead in front of his home fans, and was greeted with monstrous cheers as he passed by grandstands. He then pulled away with ease on the ensuing restart. He maintained about a one-second gap on Gray, but the caution came out again with seven laps to go after Love spun off the bumper of his old friend Smith in the final corner after a fierce battle.
Gray was able to stick with Suarez on the final restart, and even made contact and shoved the No. 9 off track. Suarez re-entered the track, gave up the track position he gained by cutting the course to avoid penalty, and still managed to pull away from Gray. Despite a last-ditch effort from Gray to move Suarez in the final corner, he managed to hang on to take the homecoming victory.
As Suarez exited his racecar, the track became engulfed in raucous cheers from the fans. He then addressed the fans in Spanish before speaking to Dillon Welch of The CW.
”It’s been a very special day,” Suarez said. “I can’t wait to enjoy it for a little bit, and then do it again [in the Cup Series race] tomorrow.”
Despite the dominance from Gibbs and Zilisch, it was Suarez who fittingly spent the most time out front, leading 19 of the race’s 65 laps.
Chilango 150 Results
The NASCAR Xfinity Series heads back to the United States and toward the northeast, where Pocono Raceway awaits on Saturday, June 21. Coverage begins at approximately 3:30 p.m. ET on The CW, or head to Motor Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio for radio coverage.
Anthony Damcott joined Frontstretch in March 2022. Currently, he is an editor and co-authors Fire on Fridays (Fridays); he is also the primary Truck Series reporter/writer and serves as an at-track reporter. He has also assisted with short track content and social media, among other duties he takes/has taken on for the site. In 2025, he became an official member of the National Motorsports Press Association. A proud West Virginia Wesleyan College alum from Akron, Ohio, Anthony is now a grad student. He is a theatre actor and fight coordinator in his free time.
You can keep up with Anthony by following @AnthonyDamcott on X.