El Campeon! Daniel Suarez Becomes NASCAR's 1st Foreign Champ

It was just Suarez's third career victory, but the most important for obvious reasons

Daniel Suarez won the Xfinity Series title at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Saturday, becoming the first foreign champion in a NASCAR national series.

The 24-year-old Mexican won the season finale, besting fellow championship contenders Elliott Sadler, Justin Allgaier and Erik Jones on a restart with three laps to go.

Suarez thanked fans and his country in Spanish in the victory lane. His victory was the first of the weekend for Joe Gibbs Racing, which has two drivers — Kyle Busch and Carl Edwards — vying for the Sprint Cup championship Sunday.

"For us, after two years, to be where we are tonight is amazing," car owner Joe Gibbs said. "This is going to be a big deal for our sport. It's huge."

It was just Suarez's third career victory, but the most important for obvious reasons.

El campeon!

Sadler, who gambled by taking two tires on the final pit stop, finished third in the race and second in the standings. The former Cup driver and sentimental favorite remained without a championship at any national level in a career spanning more than two decades.

"It's the only shot we had," Sadler said. "We got close. It's so hard to come down to one race like we have here. ... It's heartbreaking, man, to be that close. I wanted to win this championship really bad."

Sadler asked Whitt to give him the top lane on the restart, but Whitt declined.

Allgaier finished sixth, and Jones ninth. Both got stuck behind leader Cole Whitt on the final restart, and when Whitt seemingly spun his worn-out tires, Allgaier and Jones fell way behind Suarez.

"The 14 didn't even attempt to go and stacked the whole line up," Jones said. "He wasn't even spinning his tires or anything."

Suarez began racing karts in Mexico and moved to North Carolina as a teenager to pursue a career at NASCAR's national level. He had to teach himself English by watching cartoons on American television and moved through NASCAR's Drive for Diversity program to land a job with JGR.

Suarez is the first D4D driver to win a championship.

Suarez has soared in his second season with Gibbs and benefited when teammate Jones, the pre-Chase favorite to win the title. Jones had a mediocre playoffs. Suarez capitalized on his opportunity, and on a return trip to Mexico with NASCAR officials last month, he was given the star treatment and celebrated like he was Dale Earnhardt Jr.

For Gibbs, it is his second driver championship in the Xfinity Series but first since Kyle Busch won in 2009.

The Gibbs organization also celebrated its fifth owner's championship in the Xfinity Series.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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