Dale Earnhardt Jr. has jokes, advice about Daniel Suárez, wedding
Dale Earnhardt Jr. gave some words of wisdom to Daniel Suárez who is getting married next month. On the Dale Jr. Download podcast, Earnhardt reacted to the news of Suárez tying the knot with his fiancée Julia Piquet and competing in a NASCAR Sprint Race in Brazil around the same time.
“Not many people can pull that off,” Earnhardt said. “‘Hey honey, we’re going to race. We’re getting married and racing.’ Daniel, you’re not living in reality.”
The NASCAR Brazil Sprint Race will take place at Autódromo José Carlos Pace, also known as Interlagos, in São Paulo Aug. 3-4. Suárez is racing and getting married in Brazil during NASCAR’s two-week break for the 2024 Summer Olympics.
“I’ve been competing almost every year pretty much since 2015. And I love it so much, that’s why I do it,” Suárez said, via Kelly Crandall of RACER. “We’re gonna be getting married in Brazil in a couple of weeks. And when I found out they were gonna be having a NASCAR Brazil race at a racetrack that is so historic, it was a no-brainer for me. I started having conversations with NASCAR and NASCAR Brazil and I got the opportunity. Super excited, I’m very fortunate to have this opportunity.”
Daniel Suárez is living the American Dream
Suárez has put together a strong career. He is the first Mexican-born driver to win in the NASCAR Cup Series and the first international champion in the NASCAR Xfinity Series (2016). Most recently, Suárez became an American citizen and talked about his journey to NASCAR.
“Honestly, a lot of people have been telling me that, and I don’t like to brag or anything like that, but I feel like it is,” Suárez said, per NASCAR.com. “If you think about it, I came from a family with no money, I grew up in a small house, it was five of us with a two-bedroom apartment, a two-bedroom house with one bathroom. Like I grew up in a very humble family and a lot of people don’t know all the details.
“But to come here from being in Mexico, going to public school in Mexico and not having really much money, and coming here without speaking English, with not having the contacts, not having really the racing background, and being able to learn the language, making it to Drive 4 Diversity, racing in NASCAR, win races, win a championship and make it to the top of NASCAR in a sport that 15 years ago, every person that I knew, they were telling me that there was no way, that it was a very American sport. I feel like it is, and hopefully, I can bring awareness to people to not let anyone tell you can’t.”
On3’s Nick Geddes and Steve Samra contributed to this story.