NASCAR star Daniel Suarez reveals struggles after moving from Mexico to the USA

Daniel Suarez has opened up on his early years in the US, which he admitted contained some real struggles.

The Mexican NASCAR star is set for his dream race this weekend, with the Cup Series set for its first ever points-paying race south of the border in Suarez's homeland.

READ MORE: NASCAR star addresses health concern ahead of Mexico City race

Suarez, who became a US citizen last year, opened up to The Athletic's Jeff Gluck about a 'really challenging' time in his life, admitting that learning English was the biggest challenge of his racing career.

The 33-year-old has spoken in the past about how he used films and TV to help learn the language, often leaning more on cartoons as he found the dialogue clearer and easier to follow.

Suarez opens up on personal struggle

Suarez became the first foreign-born driver to win a major NASCAR National Series championship when he won the Xfinity Series in 2016, and is currently looking to make the Cup Series playoffs for the third time in four years.

Asked to name a challenging time in his life which he felt he responded to well, he said: "That’s a very easy question for me. In 2011, I came to the United States and I didn’t have anything. I was living with friends of friends, and I couldn’t even rent an apartment because I didn’t have Social Security and I didn’t speak English.

"Somebody asked me, 'Hey, what has been the biggest challenge in your racing career?' And they didn’t believe me when I said to them, 'learning English'. I’m being serious.

"I’ve had a lot of very, very big challenges, but learning English was the one challenge where I was a little bit scared. … I knew I didn’t want the language to be the reason why I wasn’t going to have a real shot at it."

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