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Mexican driver unfazed by NASCAR CEO's endorsement of Donald Trump

Jeff Gluck
USA TODAY Sports

LAS VEGAS — Mexican driver Daniel Suarez said he was unfazed by NASCAR chairman and CEO Brian France’s recent endorsement of Donald Trump, who made harsh comments about Mexican immigrants last year.

Daniel Suarez

France declared his support for Trump during a Monday rally in Georgia, along with drivers Ryan Newman, David Ragan, Chase Elliott and Hall of Famer Bill Elliott. But Suarez said it didn’t make him feel uncomfortable to be in NASCAR.

"I’m happy where we’re at right now and I feel at home in NASCAR," Suarez told reporters from USA TODAY Sports and ESPN.com on Friday. "I think Brian can do everything he wants on his own, but NASCAR is different. I’m in NASCAR, I’m not in Brian France whatever. I’m in the NASCAR Xfinity Series and I feel at home here. I’m not going anywhere."

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Suarez, 24, moved to the United States more than four years ago to pursue a career in motor sports. He is backed by Mexican businessman Carlos Slim Domit, whose family’s TV production company cut ties with Trump last year after the Republican presidential candidate’s comments.

Last June, Trump said many Mexican immigrants were criminals and rapists. He has made Mexico a central issue of his campaign, promising to deport all undocumented immigrants and build a wall on the border which Mexico would pay for. Many people have taken offense to Trump’s comments.

NASCAR announced in July it was pulling its Xfinity and Camping World Truck series awards banquets from Trump's Doral resort near Miami. The banquets were held elsewhere in South Florida, though NASCAR seems to have mended fences with Trump through France's recent endorsement.

Chase Elliott, accompanied by Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, left, and NASCAR Chairman and CEO Brian France, second from left, speaks at a Trump rally at Valdosta State University in Valdosta, Ga., Monday.

But Suarez, who drives for Joe Gibbs Racing, said he’s “not very big into politics” and doesn’t “pay a lot of attention to all this stuff.” The only reason he knew of France’s endorsement of Trump, he said, is because his public relations representative told him.

He predicted all of the controversy regarding France and Trump would blow over within a month.

"I’m very proud of all the work, all the support I have received from NASCAR, from the United States," he said. "I’m very proud to be Mexican, to be a Latin American driver, to be a Latin American person. Because who knows? Maybe without being Mexican, who knows if I’d have all the support I’m having from the United States and from NASCAR?

"Overall, I feel like everyone makes their own decisions and there’s nothing we can do about it."

Follow Gluck on Twitter @jeff_gluck

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