Meet NASCAR's next star, and Donald Trump's worst nightmare

[jmowreader]

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/sports/nascar-auto-racing/thatsracin/article134739089.html

http://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/Journal/Issues/2016/07/25/Marketing-and-Sponsorship/~/media/D42F3CD5BC334A7287F83C5F1F3FD353.ashx

Daniel Suarez was born in Monterrey, Mexico, and is a citizen of Mexico. He decided at a very early age he wanted to be a race car driver. After kicking ass and taking names on the Mexican racing circuits, he moved to the US. Last year, he was NASCAR Xfinity Series (the second-tier series, just below what is now Monster Cup) champion - the first foreign-born NASCAR champion, while driving for the top-tier Joe Gibbs Racing organization.

At the end of last season, Gibbs' primary driver Carl Edwards retired from racing. Suarez took his seat.

Yesterday was the Daytona 500, the biggest race on the NASCAR calendar. Suarez qualified midfield (a very good spot for a guy in his first race) and was running well until he was taken out in a Lap 130 crash.

It will be a glorious day to see the First Slumlord's tweetstorm after this kid wins his first race, and it'll probably happen before midseason.

[MichMan]

1. Don't expect him to win for awhile

Daniel Suarez is a talented driver. but IMO moved up a little too soon. He won three races last season in the NASCAR Xfinity series and the season championship, but the NASCAR Sprint Cup drivers generally win most of the Xfinity races (they were excluded from the championship) Competition in the Cup series is a lot tougher, so it will take him some time to get acclimated. Rookies very seldom win races for at least a year (or more) That being said, he is driving for Joe Gibbs Racing, one of the top teams in the sport.

He came with some controversy as popular driver Carl Edwards announced his retirement very unexpectedly and was replaced by Suarez immediately. The general opinion by a lot of people is that the sponsor of the car wanted Suarez in and paid Edwards off to retire early. While nothing has been proven, the timing was very suspect as athletes usually retire at the end of a season, not just before the new season is ready to start.

Typically, the fans of Joe Gibbs Racing in Cup are also fans of the team in Xfinity. The NASCAR fans were certainly accepting of him in Xfinity, but the sudden departure of Edwards is alienating many of those who were stunned to see their favorite retire so suddenly.