PODIUM CELEBRATION FOR THE CHILANGO 150 AT THE AUTÓDROMO HERMANOS RODRIGUEZ ROAD COURSE IN MEXICO CITY – RICHARD CHILDRESS RACING PHOTO
by Derek Jackson
The big racing story of the day was Mexican native and hometown hero Daniel Suarez wining The Chilango 150 at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodriguez in Mexico City. Suarez started his day off with a hard crash during qualifying that forced him into his backup car. The JR Motorsports team took over three hours to get his backup car ready for the race, arriving at the grid 30 minutes before start time.
The young Mexican native was then forced to start the race in the last position, where he started moving up through the field throughout the race. On lap 46 there was a huge crash in turn two that involved 13 cars, and propelled Suarez to the front where he and Taylor Gray battled for the lead for the remainder of the race. Gray claimed 2nd, Austin Hill filled out the podium, with Christian Eckes P4, and pole sitter Connor Zilisch finishing 5th.
While a hometown hero going from last to first is always a compelling story on any level, local race fans of Austin Hill in Georgia were certainly thrilled with his performance on the international road course south of the border.
Austin spoke to reporters in the garage following the race who asked about his 3rd place finish, where the Richard Childress Racing standout driver said, “With 19 to go we fired back off in 30th. The big wreck obviously happened and propelled us all the way to 13th, and from there at the restart I just put my head down and actually started driving the road course like I know how to drive road courses, and I drove all the way to 3rd”.
Looking forward to his next two races, Hill said, “Pocono we’ve won at before and every time we go there, we seem to run pretty well. I think we have a shot at winning Pocono, and Atlanta being the way Atlanta is, we’ve been so good there. When we go to Atlanta we can’t just be like, we’re going to win the race. We’ve just got to do everything right and hope that it works out there at the end.
When asked about how the Georgia to Mexico translation went, the Winston, Georgia native chuckled and said. “Haha, I was very confused. I ended up getting a translator just so I could somewhat figure out what was going on. But it was great. We figured it out and we got through it. I had a blast. I loved the racetrack. I had a ton of fun, but I am ready to get home and see my wife and kids”.
The NASCAR Xfinity & Cup Series return to Atlanta Friday & Saturday June 27th & 28th. Be sure to get your tickets now to see if Winston, Georgia’s Austin Hill can win his 6th Xfinity race at the legendary NASCAR racetrack in Atlanta! Tickets on sale now at: Focused Health 250 | Events | EchoPark Speedway