CONCORD, N.C. -- Daniel Suarez will spend part of the two-week Olympic break getting married in Brazil. He will also spend part of his honeymoon competing in one of NASCAR's international series.
Suarez met with media members Tuesday morning at the NASCAR Production Facility and announced that he will compete in the NASCAR Brasil Series' Special Edition. This tournament runs parallel to the NASCAR Brasil Series schedule and features three races over two days at the Autódromo José Carlos Pace.
"I'm very convinced that (fiancee) Julia loves racing, either more or the same (amount) that I do," Suarez said. "I mean, she loves it so much. She's with me at all the races."
The opportunity to compete at the historic Autódromo José Carlos Pace, better known as Interlagos, was not something that had been in the works for a long time. Suarez hasn't yet met the team fielding his car.
Suarez and Piquet even had to rearrange their flight home to the United States so that he could take part in the NASCAR Brasil Series races.
"Excited that we can let Daniel spend his honeymoon at Interlagos after getting married," Chad Seigler, vice president and chief international officer at NASCAR, joked during the media session. "That took some selling."
Seigler explained that adding Suarez to the driver lineup for this competition is big for multiple reasons. First, Suarez is a multi-time winner in NASCAR's national series, and he is an Xfinity champion. He can help bring additional exposure to NASCAR's newest international series.
The other reason is that Suarez can provide hope for the drivers down in Brazil. They can see that Suarez went from racing in the NASCAR Mexico Series to winning an Xfinity championship and then multiple races in the Cup Series.
The NASCAR Brasil Series Special Edition will be the next challenge. Suarez has every intention of contending for the win at the track in which his experience is solely limited to the "Gran Turismo" video game series.
Suarez's first opportunity to test out the car will be during a practice session. He will then qualify on the 2.67-mile road course on Saturday, Aug. 3, before competing in the first of three races. The last two NASCAR Brasil Series races take place on Sunday, Aug. 4.