The young driver from the capital triumphed in the Nus-Káh Querétaro Grand Prix on Sunday, May 8 at the Querétaro Race Track, venue for the second date, out of a total of 12, of the NASCAR Mexico Series, the series with the greatest development and growth in our country. and Latin America, and recognized by NASCAR EU (The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, Inc.).
And he did it in just his second race this season with Jimmy Morales’ team and with Escudería Telmex Telcel (raising the marks of the sponsors CommScope, Infinitum and Telcel), before almost 10 thousand spectators in the stands (in an unprecedented event for the return of the public), crossing the finish line in first place overall (winning in its category, NASCAR Challenge, and above NASCAR Mexico, premier category), on a grid of 33 cars in total.
Andrés Pérez de Lara (who started in seventh place overall and second in his category) completed 121 laps of the 1.275 meter oval in 1 hour 43 minutes 00.098 seconds and reached 159.392 kilometers per hour at his best speed.
The triumph of Andrés Pérez de Lara is outstanding because, at just 17 years of age (in a complicated race, with nine yellow flags, and a demanding oval), he prevailed over experienced drivers, a fact that shows his talent and ability to rise to the top of NASCAR EU.
By the way, since 2019 the NASCAR Mexico Series and NASCAR Challenge categories have run together, but with separate results and scores, a strategy that has given good results to the organization, to the benefit of the show and the competitiveness between young and experienced drivers. And only twice before had a NASCAR Challenge driver won the overall standings, ahead of the NASCAR Mexico drivers.
Andrés Pérez de Lara was the 2020 Trucks Mexico Series Champion at the age of 15, Top 4 and 2021 NASCAR Challenge Rookie of the Year at the age of 16, and is currently the leader of the 2022 NASCAR Challenge championship at the age of 17 –as already was cited-, and is part of the Drive for Diversity Development Program of NASCAR United States.
Andrés has talent in his veins and has a great future ahead of him. He comes from inheritance, since his father, Ricardo Pérez de Lara, is an iconic figure in our midst (among his extensive track record, it is worth noting that he is North American Ferrari Challenge Champion and Ferrari World Champion in Abu Dhabi). And his older brothers are also pilots and cut from the same cloth.
Andrés Pérez de Lara is ready for Chihuahua, the third race of the season, which will take place on June 4, 2022.
«I’m very happy. We achieved first place overall and in the Challenge category. It was a great performance from the whole team to take us this great victory. It was a very long competition, with many interruptions, but fortunately we managed to get into the leading group and were able to manage the competition from there, without getting into trouble. We suffered a bit with the temperature, but apart from that we had a great race”
– ANDRÉS PÉREZ DE LARA
