MEXICO CITY — With his home country fans cheering, Daniel Suarez went from last in a backup car to win Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez.
The crowd roared when Suarez took the lead with 19 laps to go after Ty Gibbs and Connor Zilisch crashed racing for the lead and triggering a 13-car crash.
The crowd in the stadium section of the 2.42-mile course cheered every time he drove his black No. 9 — it was supposed to be a green No. 9 but he wrecked that car in qualifying earlier in the day — by them in the lead.
“There were people jumping on the fence for Daniel,” runner-up Taylor Gray said of the atmosphere. “It was wild. I’ve never seen anything like it.”
When Suarez crossed the finish line, the fans erupted.
It was his fourth career series win. He started last in the 39-car field, the deepest starting position for a road course winner in the Xfinity Series.
Behind Suarez and Gray were Austin Hill in third, Christian Eckes and Zilisch.
