Be the First with Daniel Suárez

Every now and then, someone takes a sport and breaks the door wide open. Daniel Suárez did that for NASCAR. This week, the guys sit down with the first Mexican-born driver to win at the highest level and trace the road that got him there.  A real one on representation, sacrifice, and what it takes when nobody's done it before.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:10):
Hey, everybody, This is Freddie Rodriguez and.

Speaker 2 (00:12):
I'm Wilmer Balderama. Welcome to now. We're really we're really
privileged that you're here. And it's never lost in me
how rare these opportunities can be for someone that has,
you know, such a such a demand like our guests.
You know, if you're watching, you're in for a treat.

(00:33):
If you're listening, you're gonna go through quite a journey.
And uh, but I'm very very proud to introduce Y
who's here. Yeah, well he exists. He's an EDMANO, but
he's also an icon for all of our community. Uh,

(00:54):
one of NASCAR's uh pride and enjoys and the guy
who changed the game. For changing the game introduced to
those engines.

Speaker 1 (01:02):
Thank you to someone you guys, Thank you someone for
having me. Thank you for the introduction as well. It's amazing,
super happy to be here with you guys.

Speaker 2 (01:10):
Absolutely so we well you know how much I love cars, right,
so we're gonna start. I'm gonna start an arthodie. We
can normally start at the beginning, but I'm going to
go with your collection first. We're talking about collection car collections.
So when you grow up. You're like, when I grew up,
I want that car?

Speaker 3 (01:28):
Yeah?

Speaker 2 (01:28):
What what was the car that you were?

Speaker 1 (01:30):
Like?

Speaker 2 (01:30):
When I when I came to tie myself a car.

Speaker 4 (01:33):
We're talking about you at like seven, you at like
eight nine?

Speaker 3 (01:37):
What was the car?

Speaker 1 (01:38):
So it's funny that you mentioned that wore that. Okay,
we're gonna go to the end, because to me, it's
actually the very beginning. Because a lot of people don't
know this about me, but but I didn't grow up
in a racing family or anything like that. I actually
grew up in my dad's shop. My dad is a
mechanic shop. He has a mechanic shop, so he fixes
classic cars for living. So since I was very young,

(02:01):
I always had this passion about all cars, everything vintage
and things like that. If you if you guys were
meeting the Adenniel Suarez of eight years old and you
were asking this kid, Hey, what do you want to
do for a living? I was going to tell you
I wanted to be a mechanics That's actually what I wanted. Yeah, exactly.
That's you know my father here, my hero, right like,

(02:22):
I wanted to be like him. So I remember perfect,
you know, when I was in a in elementary school,
middle school, hanging out with my bodies, and everyone was like, Hey,
what is your dream car? Everyone was like, Oh, a
Porch or a Ferrari or this. For me, I wanted
at twenty three window both baying boss, one of.

Speaker 2 (02:43):
Those kippy bosses.

Speaker 1 (02:45):
That was my dream recarm It's great. And the reason
of that is because I used to see these cars
being fixed at my dad's shop and they were like icons, right,
Like they were like super cool cars, which, by the way,
this bosses here in California, they are all, Yeah, you

(03:06):
have the compter one, you have the pickup ones that
are kind of like more industrial. Do you have the
one with a lot of windows that are more like
for families? So you have everything on this thing they have.
They are all different kind of styffs. So so, answering
your question, you know, when I was a young kid,
I wanted to have one of these bosses.

Speaker 3 (03:23):
But not nothing fast, nothing cool.

Speaker 5 (03:26):
You wanted a v WO that was very So when
you were introduced to an engine and you said, this
thing a man built, goes inside this metal.

Speaker 2 (03:42):
Case and it takes you places, when did you decide, Oh,
I wonder what happens when I like, I go, yeah.

Speaker 1 (03:50):
So I was. I was around ten years old when
I got really interested in in a speed. I would say,
the more kids boys, You know, when when you grew
up in a shop with cars, you start getting in
love with the mechanics of it. How can I drive it?

(04:11):
How can I go fast? And it was It's kind
of crazy how destiny works sometimes. But my dad had
one customer that my dad used to sell parts, and
this customer had a son that was into racing, and
once in a while they were stopping by the shop
to buy parts. Another more perfectly like this was yesterday

(04:36):
one Saturday, they stopped by the shop. They were they
were on their way to a racetrack. They were with
a little car with a mini trailer with a gokarn
on the trailer. And I was working in the shop
with my dad on a Saturday, you know, just hanging
out and enjoying the weekend. Pulls up and then dad
thing pulls up and we and my dad's customer with
his son, and I'm like and they see me working

(04:58):
on carsh and this customer of my dad asked me, hey,
do you do you like do you like racing? They're like,
oh yeah, or would you like to drive one of
these things?

Speaker 3 (05:08):
Oh?

Speaker 1 (05:08):
I would love that. Oh we're actually going to a race.
Stat And I'm like, or really, yeah, we have a
go car in there, Oh, come here so we can
see it. So I was I was staying eleven years
old the time, so I want to see the GoCar
and I thought, man, this thing is super cool. And
he told me we go every Saturday. So if next
Saturay you want to come with us, just make sure
you bring a jean jacket and some jeans and you

(05:30):
come with us.

Speaker 2 (05:31):
That's there's the Mexican races. Oh yeah, the.

Speaker 1 (05:34):
Mexican ra, the Mexican Raser, jean jacket, a Canadian taxa
exactly right. And next week Friday night, Man, Friday night,
I had my jean jacket, my jeans, my shoes, everything. Wow,
plan chow. I could not sleep. I was so excited

(05:57):
and I either a bloing. We practice all day and
I was just having fun. Right like this kid that
now he's one of my best friends. He was already
raising for a couple of years. Uh, and I was
just having fun. I did you know, I never driven
a Goka before. And I turned out to be very good,
and this customer and my dad went to my dad say, hey,

(06:18):
so Sore, where your son has been he's driven anything before,
like any other Gokar stuff. I said, no, I mean
a couple of times in rentals, you know, and they're
doing the in the pizza places and things like that,
like just little mini racetracks. He said, man, your son
is actually very good. Like if we if if you
let me take him to a few more weekends, I

(06:39):
think that he's going to be extremely good.

Speaker 2 (06:41):
So you went, so you went to have fun and
you're like, Okay, I think I know where to hit
the brakes at this turn. And I think like you're
like the science started just making sense, Like.

Speaker 3 (06:50):
What does that mean to be good? It's not just
about I go faster?

Speaker 1 (06:55):
Now now I understand. Back then I didn't understand, but
nobody told me what to do. They just told me
the other race. This is the break, this is the gospel.

Speaker 3 (07:05):
Go.

Speaker 1 (07:07):
And there is some kids that they just have something
that they can just.

Speaker 2 (07:11):
Go their feels something exactly is by Phil.

Speaker 1 (07:15):
You don't know what you don't know. There is some
kids are more cautious and then they just go a
little bit little. I wasn't doing it. I was just
going fast and nothing was moving. And then I was
looking on at a bit, and then I was going
again and I was just going by Phil and and
that's what he saw. And then he mentioned that to
my dad. And by the second Saturday that I went,

(07:36):
I was just as fast as he's on and then
and then and then they started to say hey ma
and support him. And then everything started from there and uh,
and it's already has been a beautiful journey. It wasn't
easy because since my dad had his mechanics shop, we
didn't have money, so it was very very tough for
us to really understand what we needed made it's expensive.

(08:00):
Racing is expensive. You need that tires, you need the engine, fuel,
all these different things.

Speaker 3 (08:05):
You needed your own go card at that and then we.

Speaker 1 (08:07):
Bought our on go card. It was a used one
and that's how we can. We got rolling at first,
but even we use stuff, it was just expensive.

Speaker 2 (08:16):
You know.

Speaker 1 (08:17):
The helmet, I remember, I remember provid I still have
this helmet. My dad and I we went to a
place where they sell motor cycles and I needed I
needed to buy a helmet. So we went to check
the check out the helmets, and they had the wall
full of helmets and they were very expensive. I remember
perfect there were like two thousand pestles, which at the
time was a lot of money. And then they had

(08:37):
right next door, like around the corner. They had the
clearance they always So we went to the area and
we spent like five hundred pesos, which is like twenty
for a helmet, and I grabbed the helmet man, and
I love it so much. I brought it home and
I stopped putting it on and once, you know, I
was putting all the helmet and I said that something

(08:58):
is happening.

Speaker 2 (08:59):
Well they let.

Speaker 1 (09:06):
Because it was because because it was so old.

Speaker 2 (09:08):
The heaven was so exactly you know you know what
I mean, cracket and they're dry.

Speaker 1 (09:15):
And exactly every time was going on around my favor
was full of sponge. So we have to put newest
points in the helmets. So these things that I still have,
the helmet, I raised with that helmet for like four years.

Speaker 2 (09:28):
You know, I know that story so well because because
you know, when when you grow up in a Latin
American countries and they buy you something, you wear it
and totally like disintegreees, you know, what I mean, you
don't buy new helmets. They're like, oh, it's still good.

Speaker 1 (09:45):
I just take it. Yeah, there's always black tape.

Speaker 2 (09:49):
There's got a whole shoes put duct tape, this trap
old shoes.

Speaker 1 (09:55):
Yeah, totally agree. So so that's kind of like, how
how my my my career, Well, I say career now,
but at the time, I didn't know it was going
to get to this point, Like I never thought I
was gonna get to this level.

Speaker 2 (10:08):
So when you were racing, we're you're still thinking like, oh,
I can always be a mechanic like my dad.

Speaker 1 (10:13):
When I started racing. I'm gonna tell you this is
this is why the support from parents is extremely important.
When I was raising, I was just raising for fun,
and yes, I wanted to be a mechanic, and I
was just I was good and I was winning and
I was doing all these different things. And there was
one time that I was already like twelve, it was

(10:36):
maybe a year or two after I started racing, and
we just won the race and my dad came to
me and he said, hey, Daniel, do you would you
like to be a professional racing driver One day? And
I told my dad, So, Dad, I'm already a professional
racing driver. My dad laughed a little bit and he said, well,
they're very good. But if you work hard, if you're

(10:57):
a discipline, you can actually do this as a job,
like the cars that we see on TV. So at
the time, I used to watch a lot of races
on TV and NASCAR from a one in the car,
and I used to see all those drivers like superheroes,
like something that wasn't really real, right, And and when
he told me that, when my dad opened that door

(11:18):
for me, for me to understand that it was a
possibility for me to be like those guys, that changed
my life because at that moment, I told in my mind,
if I work hard, I can be like that, and.

Speaker 2 (11:32):
That's what I want to have to do the math,
the work and actually can have yes.

Speaker 1 (11:37):
But but before that little comment, I thought that it
was impossible. But it's crazy because my dad that that
conversation that had with my dad, he has a stake
stuck with me for the rest of for for the
last twenty years. Of course, my dad doesn't even remember
the conversation.

Speaker 2 (11:55):
He doesn't even remember, so I literally have to same
they were, you know, my dad, my dad told me
you know, I think I had good grades in school,
so I was like, yeah, I think I want to
do this acting thing. It's like okay, cool, and and
he's like what are your let me see your report card?
And like I was pretty good ba's you know at
the beginning, and then uh and then I lost my

(12:17):
module in school very quickly. But but he when he
when I said I think I can do this thing,
my Dad's like, okay, ma, I think you can do it.
You know, it's always like this weird moment where it's
just like he kind of gave me permission to think
that way, like he opened the door. Then you're like, oh, okay,
well if my dad thinks I can do this, then

(12:38):
like how hard can it be? Yeah? And speaking about
how heart can it be? So that so it opens
the paradigm for you and you're thinking like, oh maybe
I can be that guy. So like what do I
need to do next? Like how how what was that
transition into getting into a position where you had the shot?

Speaker 1 (12:57):
Yeah? So ob really it was. It was a journey.
Right when I was thirteen, fourteen, fifteen years old, I
was already we didn't have money, so I already had
to be in the position where I have to look
for responsors. I have to work as a mechanic of
gogers to pay for my view, for my inscription for

(13:19):
the race, for my tires, and things like that. So
I always had this thing that I had to work
to stay in racing. And then eventually I got to
a point where, you know, more people wanted for me, like, hey,
can you train my kid? And I pay you. And
I was using that money to pay for my racing
and stuff. So in a way, I was using that

(13:41):
to help my dad not to have to, you know,
completely break his business. But I always had this thing
that I always felt a little bit not a little bit,
but quite unlucky or unfortunate because I used to see
all this. So the kids in racing, and all of

(14:02):
them were in private schools, they were had super nice cars,
the best go cars. They were living in the very
very nice neighborhoods in Mexico, and all these different things.
And I and I and I felt that almost like
if I was a stranger because I went to public school.

(14:25):
You know, if I was telling these kids what school
I was going to, they had no idea which school
it was. My neighborhood, no idea, my friends, no friends
in common. It was like two completely different words. So
at that point, I always felt very unlucky because I thought, man,

(14:47):
what's a shame that my dad doesn't have the means
to give me a nice go card or these kind
of things. Because I always felt like I had to
work extra hard to be able to compete with them.
I had all I have a five seven year old
Gokra and they had like two new ones, one primary,
one backup. So I always had to work extra hard,

(15:08):
and I always talked to myself, Man, how unlucky I am,
you know, to have all these different things. And as
I start growing, you know, a lot of sacrifices went
into it. My dad sold his business to support me,
put a mortgage my dad. If I didn't have the
dad that I have, I would have not make it.
I was not gonna make it because because my dad

(15:31):
he went all in. Like we're talking about Jessica, right,
Like my dad when he saw something in me and
he said, man, I'm gonna go all in on this kid,
and he saw his business. We still needed a little
bit more. Morning, he put a mortgage on the family home.
We were only in and you know, fast forward. Eventually
I came to us and all these things, and I
started maturing, and I started to realize that all those

(15:54):
moments of having a difficult time because I had all
their stuff, because my go car was breaking, and all
these different things, life was preparing me for something bigger. Right.
The reason why I'm the first Mexican to do this,
the first non American to do that in all this world, Oscar,
I can almost guarantee you that if I didn't have

(16:15):
the past that I had, I was not gonna make
it because I wasn't gonna be tough enough. You know,
my mind wasn't gonna be tough enough. The pressure wasn't
I wasn't gonna be able to hold the pressure the
way that I do. So I believe that that background,
that tough background, really built the person that you guys
know now to be able to do to raise.

Speaker 2 (16:35):
Any thing people people don't realize. You know that that mentality,
you know that that immigrant mentality, which I think about
the immigrant world as like a state of mind. Right,
you know you're gonna go to a different place. You
know you're gonna do things that are far removed from

(16:55):
who you are, but you always better on yourself because
that's what we do as a culture. That's what Latinos do.
We figure it out, you know. And if they opened
the door a little bit this week, bro, just open
the whole thing up. Let's go, you know. And I
think there's something to be said about your hustle, your
appreciation for your story, the way your dad wanted the

(17:19):
best for his son, you know, he wanted to put
him in the best shot, and the fact that your
dad like sold the business, got you know, the funding
that you needed, you know, to just get you a proximity.

Speaker 1 (17:30):
You know.

Speaker 2 (17:30):
I heard somebody said, I think it was Viola Davis.
I just you know, received an award, and she said, like,
what separates you know, her community, you know, from winning
an Oscar, winning an Emmy is proximity opportunity. You know.
If you have an opportunity and you can get with

(17:51):
him striking distance and you put it on a Latino's hens,
guess what's gonna happen. It's gonna get done. It's gonna
get done, you know. And I think, and I want
to say this so much because our audience, you know,
we have such an incredibly diverse of audiences. You know,
they're from all over the place and all over the world,
and a big supporter of our podcast is obviously our

(18:14):
Latino community, you know, and sometimes there are there is
a young kid out there, or most of the time
it's a young kid or a young adult who's waiting
to either have the universe tell them the one ingredient
they need. What is that one thing they need to
hear for them to lock in in these conversations, and
your story, you know, really can unlock that possibility for

(18:38):
some other young Daniel Suarez, you know, some kid out
there who's like, oh my God, like hear his story
and be like, that's where I'm at. I can do
that too.

Speaker 1 (18:49):
That's exactly what it is, man, because it's everything about
being a good example of a good role model and
be able to to always tell people, you know, representation
is extremely important. If I can represent my people, my
community in the sport and NASCAR, more people is gonna
want to come to this world or inspire them to

(19:13):
say hey, if they know they didn't speak English, they
didn't have money, and he was able to make it
to that point, I can do it too. And it
doesn't matter if it's soccer, baseball, acting, whatever that may be.
Because something that I've learned is that the ingredients for
success they are the same for whatever it is that
you want to do, right, it doesn't matter what it is.

(19:34):
So yeah, I mean it's been important for me to
really realize that, relate that message, and make people realize
that that they can do it. They can do it.

Speaker 2 (19:57):
So one moment did you realize, oh, ship, I'm doing it?
What was that one moment that you were like, you
put on the suit, you pran a helmet, and you're
at the track. Yeah, You're like, like, what was that
transition to that?

Speaker 4 (20:13):
Because it doesn't just go from a gold card to that, right,
I mean, that must have been this whole period in
between that.

Speaker 1 (20:19):
You know. That's a great question, But I don't think
that there's only one race, because it's almost like it's
the steps. Like for example, when I when when my
family sold the business and the house and everything, I
was able to make it to the biggest series in Mexico.

(20:39):
My dad's goal was for me to make it with
the biggest team in Mexico, National National Mexico, and and
you know, do well make a little bit of money
and and I have an okay life. Well, everything was
going well until I got to that point. I was
already with the biggest team, with a good sponsor, everything,

(21:02):
and then six months later somebody said, hey, I think
you're two good men. I think you should go to
the United States. So what happens then? You know, the
journey is still all over again. So I thought that
my family was going to be able to see that
and relaxed a little bit, and here we go again
for another journey. So it's one like every step has
a different thing, you know. I remember when I won

(21:24):
the championship in twenty sixteen. I became the first non
American to win a championship in the NASCAR Series. I mean,
you know, like I felt like I was on top
of the world right, like the president of Mexico, Richia
like everything. It was like super cool. Yeah, but guess
what the next year, I got moved from that series

(21:45):
to the highest level of NASCAR because I was that
was the second division. So I went to the highest
level and you have to start.

Speaker 2 (21:52):
The journey all over again. So it's someone like, yes,
you have about all the guys racing video, You're like,
there're also at that level too, like really your leveling up,
your mentality and your skills also have to continue to
grow the place.

Speaker 1 (22:04):
Yeah, because it's someone like, yes, I don't feel like
there was one particular race, but it's someone like that
is a journey, right, Like you make one step. I
always tell people that when you get to the top
of the mountain, it's only the beginning of the next one, right,
And I felt like when I was making it to
the top of the mountain, we enjoy it, but I

(22:25):
was back in back in base one, right Bay zero
and uh, but definitely winning the championship. I felt like
that here in the United States, that's what put me
on the map, and everyone wanted to be you know,
associated with me at the time and doing all these
different things. And I felt like we started working to
bring Latinos to racetracks and this kind of stuff.

Speaker 4 (22:47):
So, so what was that journey like when when you
were in Mexico and you were killing it and you
were winning the races, and then they were like, you
got to go to the United States, right, and then
you made that decision.

Speaker 3 (22:58):
What was that journey like from Mexico to the United States.

Speaker 4 (23:01):
Because you can't just say I'm going to become a
NASCAR and then and then show up to the office
and say, hey, I'm a driver, right like, so, like,
what's that journey to go. I'm a big shot the
I'm the big fish in the small pond in Mexico
and now I want to come to the United States
and I want to become a professional driver.

Speaker 1 (23:18):
That's one of the toughest decisions I have had to
make in my life. Because my family, just like every
Latino family, we're very tight, you know, We're very very
family oriented kind of people. And my mom, my mom
at the time, she has never been in a plane before.
My sisters, you know, you know, they're young, and we

(23:44):
were just starting to kind of like it'starting to get
a little bit better because when I'm telling you that
I grew up in a very humble family ten years ago,
I was very ashamed to share these kind of things.
But now I'm very proud because what I am today.
But like, we grew up in a two bedroom house,
one bedroom, uh, sharing the bedroom with my with both

(24:08):
my sisters. Man, I got these images in my in
my mind when when the person that I don't know
the words in the electricity company. They came to a
house to call the electricity because it was due. The
same thing with the water, like all these different things,
like we grew up like strolling. And when I decided

(24:31):
to come to the United States, I didn't want to
do it. Well, when I said I decided, when when
the opportunity came for me to come to the United States,
I didn't want to do it because my family was
in a very compromise position and I was finally able
to be a little bit more stable myself and I
was trying to support them a little bit, and coming

(24:54):
to the United States it was like starting the journey
all over again. And I didn't speak the language. I
didn't speak English, I didn't have anything, so to me
the odds of making it. And this is the other
thing is that in Mexico, nine out of ten people
that wanted me to be successful, they were telling me, Daniel,

(25:14):
stay in Mexico and be the best driver in Mexico
because in the United States, you're not going to have
a real opportunity, like he's going to be.

Speaker 2 (25:23):
Very ever seen anyone ever do it exactly.

Speaker 1 (25:25):
Like they were telling me Daniel, for a Mexican driver
to be successful in NASCAR in the United States. It's
very tough. Nobody has done it before. And you will
never believe who was the only person that told me, Daniel,
let's do it man, your father. That was my dad.
He was the one that said, maybe all that and
if it was a war, you can always come back.

(25:45):
You're so good, you can always come back. You're gonna
have a seat here. So we went over there. I
grabbed the car that I had, the only car I had,
a nineteen eighty four Beetle, which I also have. We
drove all the way from Montre, Mexico to Charlotte, North Carolina,
in the snow. In Atlanta, it was, oh, yeah, you
talk about journey.

Speaker 2 (26:01):
That's really yeah, the lower the rings journey.

Speaker 1 (26:04):
Yeah. And when I said nineteen eighty four Beetles, I'm
not talking about the new Beetles, like the old one,
the metal ones.

Speaker 2 (26:09):
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 1 (26:11):
And I started the journey man. And at the time,
you know, I couldn't even run that apartment. I think
have sub security, so I couldn't run an apartment. I
was living for like six months. I was living with
friends of friends and just starting and then trying to
learn the language. Because I didn't speak English. I had
to learn English English by washing cartoons. And I'm always yeah, because.

Speaker 2 (26:31):
This story it's crazy because it's like speaking to me
in so many ways. There's so many people that are
listening right now that are just like, man, either that's
where I am, That's where I was, that's what it happened, like,
it's a it's a it's a beautiful story of of
I really could.

Speaker 3 (26:46):
What cartoon in particular, if I.

Speaker 1 (26:48):
Mean SpongeBob, you know, you know, you know, you know
something that I learned. Is that the reason why I
pick cartoons. Sometimes it was easier for me to understand
cartoons over movies because they speak very slow and they're
better for kids. So I was learning more in cartoons.
But I had the cartoons in English, but with sotatles

(27:11):
in Spanish, so I can I knew kind of what
they were saying. And then once I knew, because there
were some movies I wasched like fifty times, and once
I already knew what they were saying, I put the
sub tatos in English as well, so I can learn
the how to smell things. Name one, my favorite movie
is Gone in six Seconds. Of course, yes, of course question, yeah,

(27:34):
gone in second, I love that movie, and I just
you know, that's kind of like how I learned. And
then then just thinks started working out slowly, but it
was tough when I moved to US. It was in
twenty eleven. From twenty eleven all the way to twenty
thirteen the most difficult years of my life because I
was alone. I didn't have money, I was struggling. My

(27:55):
family couldn't come visit me because it was expensive. It
was hard. It was very, very bad. I had a
horrible time, and at times I was like, man, I
just this is not for me, Like I don't want
to be out of my country with.

Speaker 2 (28:07):
My my family. I kept you holding on the.

Speaker 1 (28:10):
Sacrifices that my family did for me. Since since the beginning,
that has been my fire, because to me, it was
like I cannot give up, Like my family has give
up so much for me. I'm not giving up. I
have to make it work, and I always kept moving.
It was tough, and then one day I was down,
but then I was like, thinking about these sacrifices, the mortgage.

(28:33):
My dad said his winness, I'm like, I'm not staying
in the middle of the road and I just kept
going and kept going. And I'm going to tell you this,
the biggest, the biggest pleasure I have ever had in
life is that once I met it in twenty fifteen sixteen,
I started doing well. I started I got my first
big contract and stuff. Once I start making money, you know,

(28:55):
I was living in an apartment. I didn't need a
lot of money to live because I was always living
with nothing. So once I started making money, I was like,
what am I going to do? So the very first
thing I did was to give my dad his shot
back and I buy my house. And that's for me,
the biggest thing, because you have to always remember where

(29:16):
you came from and the people that gave you a
hand when nobody else even knew you. So for me, yeah,
so my dad, my dad didn't have his shop at
the time. He was just working some other things with
some people. And uh, and I told my dad say, hey, uh,
let's let's go together and we partner and let's put
your shop back the one that you sold them and
we did it. Where is it he has now? That's

(29:38):
what he does for living in Mexican and Mexico told
a Mexican.

Speaker 2 (29:42):
Because you know the thing about Latino dads is that
they don't ever want to retire.

Speaker 6 (29:47):
No, no, no, this guy, I actually I was It's
funny you mentioned that because just a few months ago
I was talking to him I said that you maybe
choose slowan a bit in the shop and you may
come to some races or do something else, because yeah.

Speaker 1 (30:04):
I man, I'm working on it. I'm trying to sit on.
But the guy doesn't. I mean, he's the kind of
guy that he's cleaning the car and he's he's wiping
the floor, he's just doing everything.

Speaker 2 (30:12):
You know. Yeah, yeah, he's.

Speaker 1 (30:15):
The kind of guy that he's micromanaging the whole thing.
And how does he know? He's young? My dad is
uh fifty six, that's correct, Yeah, he RETI no, no, no, no,
he has plenty of energy.

Speaker 2 (30:28):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (30:28):
Oh the guy is super free. Now the guys. Yeah,
here's a stump.

Speaker 4 (30:41):
So so you you make the journey, You're in your VW,
You're you're here, you're learning English, watching SpongeBob and gone
in sixty seconds.

Speaker 3 (30:49):
How does someone in your position?

Speaker 4 (30:51):
I would imagine that you have your record behind you write,
your record that you brought from Mexico. Right, So how
does someone like you walk into the offices of NASCAR
and say, I want to raise for NASCAR.

Speaker 3 (31:03):
Well, because the average person can't do that.

Speaker 1 (31:07):
Yeah, well neither. I was able to do that because
the way it works is that NASCAR probably is kind
of like it's kind of like the league rights like
the NFL, but then you have all the teams. So
even though the NASCAR wanted to help me, the one
that I actually they were actually going to harm me
were the teams. So NASCAR was trying to help help

(31:29):
me a little bit to the Drive for Diversity program
and and helping me with some support, some media training
and things like that, but I needed the teams to
hurt me and uh and that's.

Speaker 2 (31:37):
When I needed to be drafted exactly.

Speaker 1 (31:41):
So that's kind of like how it works. And a
NASCAR was always good because NASCAR really wanted a Latino
in in in in Oscar, especially a Mexican right because
there's a lot of Mexicans here. So so I feel
like that that helped a little bit. But something that
I also realized is that once I start making it
into National Series, which is the National Series, we have

(32:02):
three series in NASCAR. The cop level, which is the
highest one, and then you have the rally series, which
is the one that I won the championship with, and
then you have the truck series. So to make it
into these three series is very difficult because there is
just thousands and thousands of drivers are trying to go
into this into this funnel. And when what I started
to realize is that it wasn't easy to get to

(32:25):
this series. And then once I got there and I won,
and I went to the copy level, the best of
the best are in the coup level. The best drivers,
the best engineers, the best mechanics, the best of the best.
And in my mind, I'm like, I'm just as talented
as anyone else, so I'm gonna be just fine. But
this is where the lack of experience of not having

(32:47):
that maybe a dad or an uncle or a grandpa
with racing experience kicking because once I met into a
cop level, I started to I thought that my talent
and my work and everything think was going to be
plenty of you to be able to get to that point.
But I started to realize that if you didn't have
a good group of people around you, you're not going
to win. So I start to realize that in the

(33:10):
cup level. It's not enough to be a very good driver.
You have to be a very good leader. You have
to have good contacts. You have to have good a
good team around you. And that's the part I struggle
the most.

Speaker 2 (33:21):
For years.

Speaker 1 (33:22):
I struggled because as a Mexican driver, I didn't have
the contacts. I didn't have the relationships.

Speaker 2 (33:29):
You know, I was going to it's a little political.
It's a little bit of a country club.

Speaker 4 (33:34):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (33:34):
It's always it's almost like like, yes, we want you
to be there. I have a little bit of success,
not a lot, you know, pay yeah, a little bit.
So for me, it was always a little difficult to
be able to to to kill it because I wanted
to kill it, but there were always be patient and
said no, but we have to get these people. And

(33:56):
I just always always but for a long time I
liked the express in some relationship with the people to
be able to put things around just like everything right. Yeah,
And that's the part of that took me a long
time to figure it out. Because once you get to
a level, you're as good other people around you.

Speaker 2 (34:13):
So I remember when you when you got to the league,
I you know, I used I was such an askcar
friend for so many years, and I would go to
the because they had such interest in Latinos watching and
being part of the sport. They always invited me. They're like,
you know, can you do this in Spanish and English?

(34:34):
You know, like always the media it was like can
you do this with an A And I always was
like yes. So like I think Latino should discover that
this is for them too, because I just think it
was such an exciting new moment. And so when you
around or remember immediately as soon as I got to
this race and if you remember this, so so there

(34:55):
was a little bit of nervous energy and they were
like they're like, we really love for you to work
with us over to uh this activation. We have our
Mexican driver that we love for you to take a
picture with. And when I was like no, but it
was like they were so excited to like bring like

(35:17):
you know, you know, whether it's an actor, whether it's
a musician whatever, to be like we have one, you know.
And NASCAR was so proud to have their their Latino driver,
and they were doing all kinds of activations. Obviously the sinko, the.

Speaker 1 (35:30):
Miles and no thing like it's great.

Speaker 2 (35:34):
So it was great and they had like a whole
activation for for dinner when I went there, you know,
they had us meet and I was I was just
filled with so much pride. And I think you should
know that as someone who who loves NASCAR and loves
racing and loves the sport and all loves cars, that
was a big moment for me personally, because, you know,

(35:57):
because we understand what is all so like to be
the only Latino in the room, you know, and as artists,
we've always been the one brown person either in the
movie or in the TV show or producing or directing,
like we don't have a you know, we we at
that time when we first started, there was no such

(36:19):
thing as a community. I can only imagine, but you
know what you're experiencing in a community that's like you're literally,
quite literally the only one. But I think the idea
that you know that you were giving, you know, you
were giving such a platform to kind of uplift and
inspired and to pioneer was a great deal of pride

(36:43):
for all of us, you know, and I think you
know that moment it was like now I'm really watching
that and I remember I was there one of the
races when you wanted and like and it was just
I mean, like my father in law like started email me,
you know, because that texted me because he was watching

(37:03):
it at home. My dad was watching her home, and
everyone was calling me, and I'm like celebrating. My phone's
ringing people at home. So you know, like I was
there and people are going crazy and I got to
like put out a tweet and put out an Instagram.
They're like Latinos one this thing too, you know, and
it was like it was such a moment in alignment,

(37:25):
but like celebrating there and then having the Patriots and
the Latinos in my family called me because they were
so proud to see you win from home and there
weren't even other rays. But it's like, imagine how you're
connecting the Latin American in the United States who's never
thought that was their sport and said like now I'm in, Like, yeah,

(37:48):
it's a really interesting So now NASCAR, I think has
a great deal of pride for that. They really are excited,
they appreciate you, and I think they're really investing in that,
and I think it's been it's been beautiful to see
if you see that by have you felt that energy?

Speaker 1 (38:02):
Man? First of all, I want to say this the
biggest pride and the biggest honor that I would be
forever thankful with life. I'm very I feel extremely blessed
is to be Mexican and to be able to represent
not just Mexico but Latin American sport. I feel like
that's the one thing that I wouldn't trade for anything.

(38:24):
I would give up all my wings, everything, that thing.
I will never tread it because for me, you have
no idea how many people comes to me every single
week to tell me in Spanish Daniel Bemo's NASCAR for
theos a key august As amicangus ion Latino. That breaks

(38:46):
my heart because because I know how hard it has
been to be able to get to this point. But
I'm going to tell you something that NASCAR has been
amazing because NASCAR has embraced along with me, you know,
or culture, and they try very hard and we're always
working together to try to find different ways to connect
with our people. But I'm going to tell you something

(39:07):
that I especially in the last couple of years, I've
been trying to do a lot of species in high
schools of kids, you know, to try to motivate them
to do well, especially having Hispanic you know, communities, And
the one thing that I tell them is that a
guys for me, was very difficult to break this barrier

(39:27):
right of NASCAR, just like my friends in Mexico were saying,
you know, like it's going to be very tough for
Mexican to be successful. Well it was. It was very difficult.
But the one thing that I learned is that once
I was able to break that barrier, they were a
war of opportunities, a war of opportunities, and not just opportunities,

(39:50):
but opportunities that only I could take advantage of, you know,
because and I'm saying this in the more in the
most humble way, but if anyone in ASCAR today want
to do something in the Spanic market, there's one guy.
If anyone wants to do something in Spanish, there's one guy.

(40:12):
Every time that we get to Hispanic Heritage Month, everyone
wants a little piece of me, so, you know, and
it's a it's an asset, you know way, And this
is what I told these kids in high school, like
being different is not a disadvanished it's an asset, and
you have to see it like that, and if you
see it like that, you start to understand that, yes,
it may be difficult in the beginning, but once you

(40:33):
break the barrier and you understand that you are one
on one or one of a few, and you're more unique,
you're more special. So it's important for people to understand
that that, yes, it may, it may. It kind of
like the same thing that I was talking earlier about
me feeling unlucky. Well, if it wasn't for those experiences,

(40:53):
for those moments, I was not gonna make it here.
So how many times I cannot tell you how many
times you know, people in general, including myself, we feel like, man,
why do this happened to me? Why this thing is
so difficult? We never know what life is trying to
teach us, right, and what is the next thing? Is
trying to prepare us for something else, something bigger. And
this is kind of like what I'm trying to tell

(41:14):
these kids, for them to always understand that if things
are difficult, it's because he's preparing you for something. You know,
life is not going to try you something that you
can handle. And yeah, I mean I really NASCAR has
been amazing to me and I feel like we have
really made a change in the sport with our community
that it hasn't happened in the last seventy five years, right,

(41:37):
you know, do the sport.

Speaker 2 (41:38):
Do you feel that.

Speaker 4 (41:41):
You know, of course you're from Mexico and you're the
first to break through NASCAR, Right, did you feel though,
at the end of the day, you're like, look, I
may be Mexican, I may be from anywhere in this world,
but you but.

Speaker 3 (41:55):
Your skill spoke for itself.

Speaker 4 (41:58):
Right, So do you feel that the ethnicity was a
barrier that you had the cross or do you think
that maybe that was just sort of a blip and
then ultimately they saw what you can do, and they
saw that you can compete against anybody else, and so
then that became sort of in the in the in
the background.

Speaker 1 (42:17):
You know, I think that's a great question the way,
but I think that it has to be a combination
of things. You know, definitely the skill, because you have
to have the skill, but you have to have the wheel. Right, Like,
there is one kid that I'm helping, you know, that
is trying to come through the through the ranks right
now from Mexico and I and I tell him, I said, man,

(42:37):
you have to want it. You have to go for
it. It only works if you want to be there, exactly,
you have to want it, Like how bad do you
want this? Are you willing to pay the price? Because no,
everyone is willing to pay the price, you know, Like
a lot of people want to be successful, but sometimes
they don't want to do what is required to be sulful.
So so you have to want it. And I feel
like that the skill is very important, but the wheel is.

Speaker 3 (43:00):
That's what gets you there exactly, what gets you all
of it, all of it, you know.

Speaker 1 (43:03):
Yeah, So I always tell people like, you have to
like you have to really really want it.

Speaker 4 (43:10):
So do you feel that those are the things that
you need to teach the kids in Mexico or any
or anywhere else in Latin America? Right that that's not
necessarily about their ethnicity, but it's.

Speaker 3 (43:20):
Their ability to want it.

Speaker 4 (43:21):
It's their ability to put the work in as their
ability to put the work into into the skill, right,
it's it's I think.

Speaker 1 (43:28):
So because I know I know a lot of a
lot of very very talented drivers from from Mexico. I'm
helping a couple of kids also from from Argentina, from
from Brazilo as well, and but sometimes also the mental
aspect is something very important that a lot of people
talks about, you know, and I have learned, especially in

(43:49):
the last handful of years, that the mental part of
the ability of the wheel is extremely important because if
you can believe in your mind that you can do it,
your you have with there follows yeah, you already half
with there and uh and and that's the one thing
that I try to, you know, talk to the next
generations to to but sometimes, you know, sometimes it's tough,

(44:11):
you know, like I feel like I feel like sometimes
you have to experience some things on your own terms
to be able to understand, you know, how important is this?
Because important is the will, How important is the skill?
And all these different things, right because because it's just
so many different things, right like, there is a lot
of temptations always uh and and and and it's important

(44:34):
just to stay in track and and continue to put
one food in front of the other.

Speaker 2 (44:46):
So bringing you now to present day, Okay, a couple
of I have to by the way, I'm gonna just
say I'm gonna I'm gonna say a couple of weeks
ago because it's because whenever this areas it would be
a couple of weeks ago, but really happened last week.
You had a very so a couple of weeks ago,
you had a very meaningful race and it was a

(45:09):
moment that took not just media but the sport by
storm for a number of reasons. One because Latinos saw
you celebrate a win again. Right, you were holding a
Coca Cola refrigerator.

Speaker 1 (45:23):
Super cool. It's a beIN touching you know, talking about
Ben touch items. I love that thing.

Speaker 2 (45:27):
Yeah, so Freddy the trophy, Yeah, it's well, so the
race is like a Coca Cola sponsor race, right, so
a big race, but what they get is not a cup,
is like a vintage Coca Cola refrigerators.

Speaker 1 (45:42):
That's the one race that we get like four trophies.
Like we get the vintach machine refrigerator, we get a ring,
we get a trophy, we get a wash, I mean
we get.

Speaker 2 (45:56):
So so that was a very challenging race. I mean
there was a other different elements, you know, a couple
of spinouts, right and all that. So do you mind
taking us a little bit to your mental of what
was happening because that was a fight.

Speaker 1 (46:10):
It was a fight. Let me start with saying that
to me, that's the most special race of the year.
And the reason of that, the number one reason of
that is because there's the one race that my family
comes every single year because it's that race is in Charlotte,
North Carolina. So they come, they stay with me at
the house, and then we got to a racetrack. So

(46:32):
to me, it's like a family union. It's a family
runion and we only do it once a year. So
for several years that has been the most special race
of the year for me. Plaus I've been part of
the collaboraising family member for ten years now, so you know,
the collaborationing.

Speaker 2 (46:51):
We also needed to give you a point at a
point so I don't know, we don't have a c
Cola years was holding something.

Speaker 1 (46:57):
Yeah, oh yeah, check point Yeah the check.

Speaker 3 (46:59):
Point, Yeah, said to Timmy the Coca Cola.

Speaker 1 (47:02):
Well call it is one of my sponsors. Yeah. So,
and this race is a very very famous it's called
the Cola six hundred. So it's the longest race of
the year and it's one of the most important races
of NASCAR, and you know, and then you add all
these different things and then as you mentioned Wilmer, Like
the race started that we were fast, but then in

(47:22):
the first pistol we had a loose will, and then
we had a loose will. We had issues there. I
had to pit. If I wasn't pitting, I was gonna
the wheel was gonna break and I was gonna crash.
We pit it. We had to recover from that, and
then we had a tire going apart, so and then
we recovered from the first wheel, and then the tire
came apart, so we went backwards again. So I have

(47:43):
to recover from that. And then the radios were not working.
You're gonna think. You're gonna think, by the way, we're
making a movie out of this race, okay it trust me.
Several people have told me. Then you know this, this
is like the movie. Like if you wrote that's the movie,
you wouldn't believe that.

Speaker 2 (47:56):
Really what happened to a driver?

Speaker 1 (47:58):
Do you guys want to know why the radio isn't work?
It's crazy And I could never believe it until they
told me because they were trying to find out what
happened with the them radios. So starting in the like
thirty percent in the race, NASCAR, I guess hired a
company to fly some drones and do some figures with

(48:18):
lights and stuff, and they were flying for hours. So
those drones have a signal. Apparently it's almost impossible to
have the same signal or very close signal. Well, it
was the same thingnal that I actually, so for two
hours three hours I didn't have radios because those them
drones were flying, they were intense intercepting my signal. So anyway,

(48:40):
that was very bad. And then I started having issues
with the transaxle, something with some weird noises in the transaxle.
I mean, it was a race of adversity. Everything happened
to us. Everything happened to us. At one point I
was frustrated, but the car had been the speed. I
don't know if it were good enough to win it
straight up, but we had good enough speed to be
in the top ten until the very end. We recover

(49:02):
all these and we were back in the game. And
then Australity play. We put two tires instead of four tiles.
We get track position. We knew the rain was coming,
we had a couple of good restars, got a couple
of good restores, and we were able to keep those
guys behind and then when they were winning that thing.
But the most special thing of everything that I just
mentioned was that Kyl Bush, Yeah, just passed away unexpected

(49:28):
a few days before the race. Super difficult week, very
very roller coaster of emotions for a lot of people,
for the entire industry, some people more than others.

Speaker 2 (49:40):
It shook the sport. I mean, it was so crebly
an aspect.

Speaker 1 (49:43):
It was huge for me. It was very touching because
in twenty fifteen, and you know, we were just talking
about the skill on the wheel in two thousan fifteen,
I was just getting into this NASCAR thing and the
first year for me in the National Series, and Calbush
was part of my team. He was in my direct teammate,

(50:05):
but he was in my organization, so he was super good.
So one day I texted him, say, can I give
you a call? Say, I was wondering if you can
give me some advice, you know in the race show.
Because back then, ten years ago, we didn't have data,
We didn't have all these different things that we have
today to be able to study all the cars and
things like that. So back then a lot was by experience,

(50:27):
by knowledge and just experience on different race tracks. So
I called him. He gave me some advice and I
at the end of the cause, hey, would you mind
if I call you next week to talk about the
next race? Because we race every week? Right He said, yeah, man,
you assume me a Texan Wednesday and we connect Wednesday
or Thursday. Well, long story short, twenty fifteen. Carl was

(50:51):
helped me every single week, giving me advice for the
entire year, and I ended up becoming very strong, and
eventually my wing came. He was raising in that race
and I passed him the very last lap in Michigan.
It was this win was in Michigan, and I remember
perfect he came to be two lane, he congreed to

(51:12):
he came a hawk, and he said, hey, no more
phone calls. No more phone calls.

Speaker 2 (51:18):
So my job here is done.

Speaker 1 (51:20):
But the reason why I'm saying this is because a
lot of people knew Carl as a lady of a
racing driver, not a lot of people knew him as
a person. And the fact that he took the time
every single week, twenty thirty minutes to help this Mexican
kid that didn't have anyone. He didn't have to help me,
and he gave me a hand when I needed the

(51:41):
most from a freaking legend to me, look like goosebone,
Because to me, that meant the word to me because
at that point I knew not just who he was
as a driver, but who he was a person, which
he was even more impactful. So since then, you know,
I had a huge amount of respect for him. And
then and then we became competitive and teammates, and and
then we'd raise very hard, but we were always good friends.

Speaker 2 (52:04):
You know.

Speaker 1 (52:04):
I went through my text with him last week and
it was very very shocking, you know, having a good time.
We partied together in Mexico after the Mexico race, and
just he was a good person and and and then
fast forward to a race, very emotional race to be
able to win that race for my team obviously, but

(52:26):
for him. On honoring him, it was to me, you know,
something that I could have all the dream of.

Speaker 2 (52:31):
It's a beautiful, like I said, moment for you too.
And you know it also comes in the hills of
we We got a privilege to kind of unite forces
and do a documentary and on you know, his trajectory,
his life. We were able to you know, see him
go to Mexico and and also take NASCAR for the
first time in history to Mexico City, so we're able

(52:51):
to be there for that. And like, I'm not going
to tell anyone what happens in the documentary because there's
a lot of like beautiful stuff that you talk about
the moments of like you can't write it in a movie,
but like when it happens, you're like, oh my god,
this was like a movie that really happened in real life. Yes,
we had the privilege in the honor of having you know,
down in his beautiful family and trusting us with a

(53:15):
snapcat of his journey. And our goal in my biggest
since I met you, has been to like how do
we immortalize you know, your story for the next generation.
And and then this is the documentary. You know, it's
premiering at the Leap, you know, obviously a massive festival
for for not just the film industry and for Hollywood.

(53:37):
Right it's like a great place to discover stuff, you know,
obviously as a festival, but it's a big moment for
la It's a big moment for Latinos. Yes, you know,
so you know he has a Friday night premiere and
it's it's just great that we get to see it
on a big, big screen and all the beautiful people
are coming to support the first time you see yourself
on the big screen. Yes, yes, yes, but also so

(54:00):
kind of because you were in cars Yeah.

Speaker 1 (54:02):
Well my friend wasn't in it though.

Speaker 2 (54:06):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (54:07):
I was in Cars three, so I was like I
was a race card. My voice was in it, yeah yeah,
my head. Yeah. So that's that's why that's what my
has to a little bit because Cars three comes, I
don't know, but but no, I'm super excited. It's super
very blessed. I can thank you know, Wilmor for for

(54:27):
trusting uh myself, and for believing in me and my
journey and and and like he said, and the way
that everything play out in Mexico. Hm, it's almost like
he was scripted.

Speaker 2 (54:40):
It was.

Speaker 1 (54:40):
It was so beautiful and and I just can't wait
to people to see it and hopefully people see this
and say, you know what, I want to do it too,
you know, whatever it is that I want to do,
because my dream has always been racing. You know, that's
my passion. That's what I live for. But it doesn't
have to be you know, it can be baseball, it
can be so Okay, it can be Ascar, it can

(55:01):
be an engineer, it can be an electrician, whatever that is.
But to inspire or people or community to say, hey,
I can do it too, and I'm gonna do it.

Speaker 2 (55:10):
Yeah, and it's it's it's really beautiful. And I I
you know, I also say you're a beautiful family because
we talk about the next generation, you know, And I
believe I think the world knows you're expecting your first child.

Speaker 1 (55:24):
We're expecting.

Speaker 2 (55:27):
Yeah, I can't wait. And we don't know it's a
boy or girl yet.

Speaker 1 (55:32):
We don't know. We know it's a baby, and we
know it's one. Okay, yeah, yeah, but here's a crazy question.

Speaker 2 (55:40):
Here's like the big crazy question. Is he or she
going to be a driver? You know?

Speaker 1 (55:48):
I have always had this thing in my mind. I mean,
Julia's family, my wife. They actually come from racing. Like
everyone has raised the blood, every blood. This is a
Formula One champion. The brother has raised everything, very successful
and everyone. So in my mind, I just don't want

(56:10):
to push him or her to do something. I would
love to.

Speaker 2 (56:17):
Wait.

Speaker 1 (56:18):
I think it's gonna ended up there because it's all
like that's gonna be the war, right, But I would
love for him or for to her to come to
me and and ask for it.

Speaker 2 (56:30):
Right, I want to make sure that this is I
really want to do this.

Speaker 1 (56:34):
I want to make sure that is wanted. This is
what they want to do, and not no, what I
want to do, of course, because you know we're just
talking about the skill, right, and about the will. I
felt like I have I have my entire life, I
have wanted to do this, and I have had this
fire instead of me and I have had this will.

(56:57):
So I felt like if I push my kid to
do something, may it may lack a little bit of
the wheel. So I feel like it has to come
from no.

Speaker 2 (57:04):
That's and then you can then you support, and.

Speaker 1 (57:06):
Then I want to support whatever it is that I
want to do.

Speaker 2 (57:08):
That's incredibly fair. I mean, I I have this weird
thought that they're gonna be like, you know, I really
want to be a mechanic, exactly what you were gonna be.
You know.

Speaker 1 (57:17):
It's like that's why I think I think the odds
are that that this this little human is gonna it's
gonna be related with colors, because you know, there is
a lot of cows in the house. On my style
of the other family of the family. But I think
we'll have to wear.

Speaker 2 (57:33):
I look, you guys don't know, but I'm gonna put
my bed. I'm gonna put my bed. I think it's
gonna be a girl.

Speaker 1 (57:40):
Yeah, yeah, I need you.

Speaker 2 (57:42):
We're gonna say that, because every time that I kept talking,
I kept wanting to say she and it was happening.
It was like eight years. I don't know, but she
doesn't know. No one knows. Are do you feel Do
you feel the same? I know, you know.

Speaker 1 (58:00):
For me, I think I think that the first one
is gonna be a girl, and I think the second
one is gonna be kind of like you. And I
think that the first girl is gonna like she's gonna
be like I'm gonna be the fire crackers. Oh my god,
you have.

Speaker 2 (58:16):
To if they ever decide or if she or whoever
once decides that that they want to be racing. I
just I feel like we have to do another documentary
on you racing against each other. That's gonna be imagine crazy.

(58:37):
Oh my god, I get it. I have a daughter,
so I'm like, oh my god. The moment that my
daughter and I are on setting, they say action and
she's like performing up. My brain's gonna melt.

Speaker 1 (58:49):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (58:49):
Yeah, it's pretty amazing. But congratulations and all that, man,
And obviously to your beautiful wife, you know, she's you know,
she's such a huge part of our documentary and you
know she's she's, you know, such an incredible support to you.
And you guys have inspired each other in so many
different ways. And uh, it is really beautiful to see
that it really is a family endeavor. You know, like

(59:12):
if it's in order for your family to achieve extraordinary things,
you all have to to be alligned aligned on one
to sacrifice two what it takes in three you have
to love it for it to be worth it, right,
because no matter how hard it is, if you're really
enjoying what you're doing, I think it's worth the fight,

(59:32):
you know. And and you guys are going to be
incredible parents. You're gonna be so so so fun. And
I'm just wondering who's going to be the police and
who's gonna be the party.

Speaker 1 (59:44):
I think I think she's gonna be the police. I
think it's I think that's gonna come to me for
the j uh. I think I think it's important to
mention also that I feel like I have had at
a thousand sets backs, right, Like, It's just it's paralyzed

(01:00:05):
about the sports. And that's why it's very important to
have your circle of people, family, very very tight with
you to leave your back up and now really help
my family in Mexico. But Julia has been every single
step of the way there with me, especially in twenty twenty.
Twenty twenty, it was a very tough year for me

(01:00:25):
because I went to a new team and the team
was strolling, and then the pandemic hit and the team
pretty much, i mean almost it almost this disappears and
it was very tough. And that was Julia was with
me in the journey, and I felt like if it
wasn't for her, probably I wasn't going to be able
to push through that.

Speaker 4 (01:00:44):
You know.

Speaker 1 (01:00:44):
It was almost that person that just kept me alive.
So it's just extremely important, you know, to keep that
circle and to always give support, you know, because sometimes
I'm down and she brings me back up. Sometimes she's
down and it's my job to bring her back up.
So that's that's what partners do well.

Speaker 2 (01:01:01):
I mean, you are not just an example of greatness
to the sport and also an icon that's going to
live forever in the minds, in the hearts of Latinos
saying we we remember the first one, and then you know,
I guess the world, how beautiful will it be for
you that you know, on the last and the last

(01:01:24):
years of your career, you know that you look to
the left, to the right and the mirror and there's
a few Latinos kind of just chasing you, exactly, And
that would be a beautiful gift to actually have to say, okay,
now you guys can pass me and and keep going forward,
you know, And I think that's that's there's something really
before about that totally.

Speaker 1 (01:01:41):
But the way I see it, I want that to
be the case on the entire industry. The driver power
of it is very important, but the entire industry, you know.
A couple of weeks ago, I was calling a race
on the booth in one of the truck races, which
is the third division. So I was of the of
the commentators in the race, and they came and asked

(01:02:04):
me to Sai Daniel, so you really love this to
do this, and I say, yeah, I like a lot.
He said, so that's the reason why you do it?
And I say well, no, so why is that? I said, Well,
the reason why I do it is because I want
people like me to see me here representation. Right. When
people see me here, they think, hey, this guy didn't
even speak English ten years ago. I want to be

(01:02:26):
like that. So my goal is to be able to
use my platform as most as possible to use to
represent our community, and hopefully I can bring more Latinos
to drivers, seats, to broadcasts, to commentators, to mechanics speakers,
and hopefully ten years on the road when I said,

(01:02:48):
you know what, this time for me to stop doing this.
I can look back and I can see Latinos everywhere. No,
just in driving for me is wired.

Speaker 2 (01:02:56):
And also there were so many careers that that four
touches and Promonte drivers. Yes, I mean it. There's so
many entry points. If you want to be a part
of NASCAR, there's so many different roles. You don't have
many just drive.

Speaker 1 (01:03:09):
You know, so many things. And the other part that
I always talk to these kids in high school that
you know, when they took up racing, the first thing
that they come to mind, it comes to mind is
the driver, right, But it's marketing. There is engineers, there
is aeroynamics. There is, uh I mean, you know, mechanics, there.

Speaker 2 (01:03:27):
Is, I mean the science and it's maths, prtist.

Speaker 1 (01:03:31):
Media, market and everything sales, yeah, broadcasting, I mean that
is if you there is there.

Speaker 2 (01:03:39):
Is one of my my my father in law's dream,
one of his dreams because he was he was a
truck driver. He's retired, but he was a truck driver.
His dream as a little boy was to drive one
of those eighteen wheelers. He wanted to yeah yeah, But
he then drove a car, but not he didn't drive cars,
but he would he drove eventually of a truck and

(01:04:00):
he would go across country and it was about you know,
it was that generation that was like, I want to
see the world through the windshield of one of those
big trucks. Are calling some stuff whatever, And I know
that it would have been a dream for him to
be to drive one of these supercars in the back,
you know, with the part of a team. I mean,
he would have he would have loved it.

Speaker 1 (01:04:20):
I mean, it's so funny you mentioned that because my
truck driver one. We have to chat and Anthony because
they they kind of like share the right. These guys
were crazy after we won the Colasi is hundred. I
mean they were crazy. I mean the energy, the pride,

(01:04:40):
because these guys get to take the trophy, you know,
they take it on the car, on the on the truck,
they take every things. We don't think about all these
little things. And this guy, I mean he was like
like I always told I always told you, uh, poma
the festival so uh And and for me, it's such

(01:05:04):
a pride thing. You know to see all the happy
faces in the team.

Speaker 2 (01:05:08):
And they all have such a contribution to having you
have a ride, a safe and fast ride. You know that.
I think it's it's everyone's win, so you know, and
it's it's really amazing.

Speaker 1 (01:05:19):
It's like I told them, it's a team effort. Yeah,
I couldn't do what I do with all them. It's
a team effort. You know. Everyone has to do their
part for us to be able to be successful or
to have a shot or to win right or whatever
that may be. And and that's what is beautiful with
sports is that is that you have to be everyone
has to be synced and everyone has to be on

(01:05:41):
point that specific day to be able to to win.

Speaker 2 (01:05:46):
Yeah, no, thank you for all that. I appreciate you
spending so much time with us here today and and
then you know, also to your growing family and really
excited we're gonna be staying to it because I think
I'm gonna put some beds with Amanda. We're going to
figure out who wins, because you have it in that.
But you're gonna you're gonna get to meet her tonight,
so so you'll get to see her and see what
see what happens there. But but yeah, I mean, congratulations

(01:06:07):
and are successed weapon Oh congratulations to Freddy too. Okay,
that's a good point. I mean I was gonna let
him do it, but man, you're letting me now. Now
I lost my my sentence. Okay, thanks, Okay, So just

(01:06:37):
thank you so much for spending this time with us today. Man,
it's obviously, uh not just it's not it's not lost
in us. You know how how busy you guys are,
and it's a family and now incubating the baby one,
you know, because it's a really great chapter for you guys.
I wish you nothing but uh but a safe continuing
safe rights and uh and adjustin in a beautiful arrival

(01:06:59):
to to your baby.

Speaker 4 (01:07:00):
Absolutely, and I just want to say congratulations. You know,
it's funny I look at you and and woman and
I have had this conversation and we always talk about
the actors that we saw when we were kids that
made it possible for us, right we we we talked
about the Jimmy Smith's of the world, and the John

(01:07:21):
Leguizamos and the people who came before us that we
saw that that right that inspired us, that that made
it seem possible for us to do what we do
right and and it's because of them that we do
what we do.

Speaker 3 (01:07:36):
And and then we became those.

Speaker 4 (01:07:37):
Guys right and then and then and then there are
actors who came after us who were watching us and
and you are that guy.

Speaker 3 (01:07:44):
Man, you're that guy. Now, You're you're the guy.

Speaker 4 (01:07:47):
That that all the young drivers in Mexico, all the
young drivers all across Latin America are looking at and saying, oh,
it's possible. Now I'm going to start racing go karts
and doing and having the the the tenacity and the
uh and and the focus to to to make it so.

Speaker 3 (01:08:03):
Congratulations and and I'm very proud.

Speaker 4 (01:08:05):
To be here with you and and to see where
your career continues to go.

Speaker 1 (01:08:09):
Yeah, thank you guys. I promise you I don't take
that for granted. Yeah, I think it with with a
lot of responsibility and uh and I hope that that
that that the sport continues to grow with diversity international
and uh and we continue to bring our community uh
more and more into the sports and uh and thank

(01:08:29):
you guys, thank you so more for inviting me. This
place is amazing, amazing.

Speaker 2 (01:08:37):
I'm Wilmer Valdorama, I'm Freddie Rodriguez and this was Three
Amigos amigoss.

Speaker 4 (01:08:44):
Yes, Those Amigos is a production from w V Sound
and iHeartMedia's Michael to That podcast network, hosted by Me,
Freddie Rodriguez and Wilmer Valdorama.

Speaker 2 (01:08:57):
Those Amigos is produced by Cooper Mole and Sophie Spencer Snavels.

Speaker 4 (01:09:01):
Our executive producers are Wilmri Valderrama, Freddie Rodriguez, and Leo
Clem at WV Sound.

Speaker 2 (01:09:07):
This show is mixed and mastered by Sean Tracy and
original music by Madison Devenport and Hala Boy.

Speaker 4 (01:09:14):
For more podcasts from My Heart, visit the ir Heart
Radio app, Apple podcast, or wherever you listen to your
favorite shows.

Speaker 2 (01:09:20):
See you next week,