Daniel Suarez does not see Spire Motorsports‘ rise in the NASCAR Cup Series as an accident. The Mexican driver said every step forward the team has made has come through years of hard work.
Suarez sits eighth in the Cup Series points standings heading into the 18th race of the 2026 season, marking one of the strongest starts of his Cup career. He has one win, two top-five finishes and an average finish of 13.65 so far.
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During an interview with Fox Sports’ Bob Pockrass, Suarez dismissed the team’s success as luck.
“Surprising or just how do you view that? Yeah, I mean nothing, nothing happens by luck, right? I believe that a lot of people, as part of motorsports, have been working extremely hard even before my time to be able to get to this point and having two cars strongly in the top 10 right now. So super proud to be part of this team. Everyone is doing a good job,” Daniel Suarez said.
“With that being said, we know that there is still room for improvement, right? We’re not the fastest team just yet. There is some cars out there that are a little bit faster now. So that’s that we’re putting our side and trying to get a little bit better every week.”
Suarez, who joined Spire this season after five years with Trackhouse Racing, also scored his best road course finish of the season in San Diego last weekend. The 13th-place finish kept him in eighth in the standings with a 116-point cushion over the cutline.
Sunday’s Cup Series race is scheduled for 2:50 p.m. CT at Sonoma Raceway, where Suarez earned his first Cup victory in 2022. He qualified 21st for the Toyota/Save Mart 350. His Spire teammates showed impressive speed, with Carson Hocevar qualifying second and Michael McDowell fourth.
“I’m rooting for Mexico, and then Brazil, the United States” – Daniel Suarez revealed his World Cup picks
Daniel Suarez, who became a dual US citizen in 2024, is rooting for Mexico in the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
When Bob Pockrass asked which teams he was supporting, the 34-year-old ranked three countries in order of preference. He also revealed that his wife, Julia Piquet, who is the daughter of Brazilian former F1 driver Nelson Piquet, is supporting the Netherlands.
“I’m rooting for Mexico, and then Brazil, the United States, second place. It’s been a lot of fun. I’ve been watching games every single day, at least one or two games. … It’s funny because my wife, actually, she’s rooting for Netherlands. Because she’s 25% Dutch,” Daniel Suarez said.
Suarez won the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway this season in the No. 7 Chevrolet. It was his first crown-jewel victory and the third Cup Series win of his career.
Edited by Palak Gupta