Daniel Suárez Trackhouse Racing AdventHealth 400 Race Advance

No. 99 CommScope driver Daniel Suárez – the only Mexican driver in the NASCAR Cup Series – was in Miami visiting friends at the Formula One race last Thursday on Cinco de Mayo.

But that didn’t stop his Trackhouse Racing team back in North Carolina from celebrating the date of the Mexican army’s May 5, 1862 victory over France at the Battle of Puebla during the Franco-Mexican War.

While it is a relatively minor holiday in Mexico, in the United States, Cinco de Mayo has evolved into a commemoration of Mexican culture and heritage, particularly in areas with large Mexican-American populations.

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Mariachi Band Celebrates Cinco de Mayo at Trackhouse

Trackhouse Racing hired Mariachi Grullense De Charlotte to play during lunchtime while its 140 employees enjoyed tacos and authentic Mexican cuisine.

The six-piece mariachi band serenaded in the team cafeteria then walked around the shop floor playing music before ending their concert in front of Suarez’s No. 99 Chevrolet for pictures with their favorite driver’s car.

“I was in Miami and all of a sudden my phone started blowing up with pictures and videos of the mariachi band playing for everyone back at the shop,” laughed Suárez. “It looked like a really good time. I hated to miss it but we had planned our Miami trip to watch F1 a long time ago.”

Jose Blasco & the Mariachi Band at Trackhouse Racing

Mexico was well represented even without Suárez.

Team Engineer Jose Blasco was there to make song requests and posed for pictures with the band members. Blasco served as Suarez’s interim crew chief at Atlanta in 2021 making the first NASCAR Cup Series driver/crew chief combination from Mexico since brothers Pedro and Ricardo Rodriguez worked together for one race in 1959.

The afternoon was part of the young team’s effort to build a strong culture at race shop.

“Though we have experienced some success, Trackhouse is still very much in its infancy. As we grow, an important part of that will be to stay connected to the people and stories of everyone on the team. A story that we are all incredibly grateful to be a part of is the journey of Daniel Suárez, from Monterrey, Mexico to our team here in the Southeast. Daniel brings an entire nation full of culture, incredible passion and has been the heartbeat of Trackhouse Racing from the beginning,” said Mike Metcalf, the team’s vice president of culture.

“We wanted to take this opportunity to celebrate Daniel but it also represents that journey that all of us made to make Trackhouse what it is today. And frankly, its pretty hard to have a bad work day when a mariachi band is playing in your office.”  

Suárez returned to his team at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway on Saturday and finished 10th on Sunday – his best career finish at Darlington.

He hopes the Cinco de Mayo and good fortune at Darlington continue this weekend in Kansas when the Cup Series races in the AdventHeath 400 at Kansas Speedway.

FS1 will televise Sunday’s race at 3 p.m. EDT

 

CommScope Ignition Program In Charlotte

Daniel Suarez will visit a Charlotte high school this week as part of of CommScope’s Ignition Program.

The program leverages the excitement of motorsports racing to advance STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) learning across the United States while offering solutions to increase access to reliable networks, including public Wi-Fi.

Suárez and his Trackhouse Racing team will spend Friday morning delivering the message that an education in STEM can help them become tomorrow’s motorsports engineers, car designers, and crew chiefs.

The program shows the students how technology plays a huge role in motorsports racing, and the future of our sport depends on inspiring the next generation to see what STEM can do for them.

Suárez and the CommScope Ignition Program has traveled to schools in Phoenix and Austin this year spreading the STEM message. For more information on the program, please visit the CommScope Ignition Program page.

For more information on how CommScope is addressing the digital divide, visit the CommScope Digital Society page. 

Trackhouse Racing PR