Long: Daniel Suarez completes long journey to first Cup win

Daniel Suarez learned to speak English by watching cartoons more than a decade ago. What he screamed after winning his first NASCAR Cup race Sunday at Sonoma Raceway was something that could not air on any children’s program.

His exclamations revealed relief and the reward of a journey that has challenged Suarez in ways he could not have imagined before he arrived in the U.S. from Monterrey, Mexico.

“Every NASCAR driver has had a tough journey,” said Suarez, whose win came in his 195th series start. “Everyone has a different journey. 

“But my journey is definitely the most different of everyone else, leaving my family, my country, and just coming to a different culture, different language.”

Never had a driver come from Mexico and won a Cup race. Suarez became only the fifth foreign-born driver to win a Cup race in series history, joining Mario Andretti (Italy), Juan Pablo Montoya (Colombia), Earl Ross (Canada) and Marcos Ambrose (Australia).

It was a long time coming.

“Very few people know how much work, sacrifice, tears, sweat this has cost me,” Suarez said after leading 47 of the 110 laps at Sonoma. “So we have to enjoy it. After a few days, we’re going to keep working because we want more.”

Suarez could not have gotten to this point without his family. When he was 16, Suarez’s father sold his car restoration business to help continue his son’s racing in Mexico.

“For whatever reason, he just put everything on the table for me,” Suarez told NBC Sports in 2017.

Suarez said that his father’s action “was for me, a lot of pressure. Luckily, things worked out, and I started winning races in Mexico.”

His success created an opportunity to run in the U.S. 

Suarez arrived in the U.S. in 2011 and went to the Buffalo area, living