By Angelica Medina
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) -Daniel Suarez became the first Mexican driver to compete in the NASCAR Cup Series on home soil and while he had hoped for better than his 19th-place finish in Sunday’s inaugural Viva Mexico 250 at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez he said the experience had left him craving more.
“We wanted to battle for the win, yet it didn’t happen. However, I’m pretty happy for everything about this weekend, the people, the fans, the sponsors, the excitement and the energy,” Suarez told reporters.
“I hope that we come back many, many times,” said the Monterrey native, whose weekend had begun with a victory in Saturday’s second-tier Xfinity Series race.
The contrast between Suarez’s result and that of his victorious Trackhouse Racing teammate Shane van Gisbergen — who got some tips from three-time Formula One world champion Max Verstappen — highlighted the technical nuances of NASCAR’s international expansion.
“Sometimes they are good decisions, sometimes they are not. We don’t have exactly the same race cars. And then the strategy was different too. Today the strategy didn’t work out.’ Suarez said.
However, for the 33-year-old driver the disappointment failed to overshadow the broader significance of NASCAR’s historic race.
“Hopefully we’ll improve enough in the next 10 weeks to make it into the playoffs, and hopefully I’ll be back next year here with my people” he added.
(Reporting by Angelica Medina in Mexico City; Editing by Peter Rutherford)
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