Daniel Suárez sends warning to NASCAR field ahead of Mexico City race

This weekend, the NASCAR Cup and Xfinity Series are racing in Mexico City at Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez. Daniel Suárez, the only Mexican-born driver to win at the Cup Series level, believes that the rest of the field doesn’t realize how difficult the races are going to be.

Mexico City stands 7500 feet above sea level. That is a big deal for a series that calls Charlotte, North Carolina, home most of the year, only 750 feet above sea level.

For NASCAR drivers, that kind of extreme elevation is going to take a toll on their bodies. It is going to change the way the cars perform as well. The air is thinner at 7500 feet. Daniel Suárez isn’t sure that drivers are prepared for what is coming.

“Yeah, the elevation is going to be a big deal. A lot of people think I know the race track, and I actually don’t,” Suárez said at Michigan, via Dustin Long of NBC Sports. “I’ve never been in that configuration. I have raced there several times in the oval configuration, but never in the road course configuration the way that we’re going to race it, so it’s going to be something new for everyone.

“The elevation definitely, that’s going to be a challenge. I hope people don’t underestimate that because it’s a little bit tricky. I have had a lot of conversations with my team about it. I’m personally training different to prepare for that because it’s going to be different. I don’t think many people here in NASCAR, driver-wise, have experienced competing in that altitude and elevation. So, it’s going to be different, for sure.”

Daniel Suárez is right, NASCAR drivers need to be ready

Daniel Suárez is right. The elevation of Mexico City is not going to be kind to these drivers. Many have been asked if they have done any training to prepare for it, and many of those drivers have shrugged it off for the most part.

I’m sure that Josh Wise with the Chevy Driver Performance program is getting his drivers prepared for the intense elevation change. However, not everyone is going to be ready for it.

To put it into perspective, elite distance runners in cross country and track & field try to train at elevation as much as possible. There are many professional teams and athletes who spend their summers training in Flagstaff, Arizona (6,821 feet), Boulder, Colorado (5,430 feet), and other cities in order to prepare their bodies for races at elevation and at sea level.

The air is thinner, your blood oxygen levels are lower, and that matters. NASCAR drivers are essentially endurance athletes. Races can last three to four hours over the course of 300 to 600 miles, depending on the event/track.

To Daniel Suárez’s point, there are even conversion charts for running events from elevation to sea level. A time of 15:00 in a 5,000m race at 7,500 feet above sea level converts to roughly a 14:08 at sea level. That’s a big difference. We will see those same effects react differently on these drivers this weekend.