Following his second-best NASCAR Cup career season in 2024, Daniel Suarez has taken a well-deserved break, soaking up Japan’s sights with his wife, Julia Piquet. He has been actively posting updates from their trip. However, one of his recent posts caught the eye of NASCAR fans, who playfully ribbed him for the same.
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The Mexican driver recently offered fans a peek into his day when he visited sumo wrestlers in the early morning. He shared a glimpse of the same captioning it, “Sumo wrestling morning practice.”
While Suarez aimed to highlight an aspect of Japanese culture, fans couldn’t resist pulling him into the mix, turning a simple cultural showcase into a light-hearted exchange.
Sumo wrestling morning practice 🙅🏽♂️🇯🇵 pic.twitter.com/v6yPzdgSiq
— Daniel Suárez (@Daniel_SuarezG) December 9, 2024
Fans, seizing the moment for a bit of fun, chimed in with light-hearted banter. One fan teased, “Bro you puttin in some weight in the off season???” while another playfully asked, “You trying out for the sumo squad?”
Comments continued with one taking a jab at Suarez with: “You look different.”
Are you on the left or the right?
— William Ruiz Cooper (@Warc48) December 9, 2024
Another humorously suggesting Suarez might be learning sumo techniques to clear Hendrick Motorsports cars off the track, asking, “Learn anything you can try behind the wheel to move the Hendrick cars out of the way?”
Last week, the Trackhouse Racing driver also shared selfies from his visit to Super Nintendo World, a theme park inspired by Nintendo’s iconic Super Mario World, which opened its gates in Japan in 2021.
Initially exclusive to local Japanese visitors during the COVID-19 travel restrictions, the park is now fully accessible. With the barriers lifted, Suarez thoroughly enjoys the theme park adventures with his wife.
Why was 2024 a landmark year for Daniel Suarez personally?
On the professional front, Suarez wrapped up the season at P12 in the driver standings. Although his peak performance was back in 2022 when he climbed to P10 after winning a race at Sonoma, 2024 saw its share of highlights.
He took the checkered flag in the season’s second race at Atlanta, and with four top-5 finishes and nine top-10 placements, Suarez carved his path to the round of 12.
On the personal side, during the NASCAR break for the Summer Olympics, Suarez tied the knot with his longtime girlfriend, Julia, on the 30th of July in her hometown of Brasilia. During this off-season, the couple is currently celebrating their honeymoon in Japan.
The timing proved fortuitous for his professional pursuits as well. He secured a top-10 finish [P8] at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the final race before the break, and continued his strong performance with a P10 at Richmond, the first race post-break.
He maintained this momentum, achieving another top-10 finish the following weekend, marking back-to-back top-10 placements around his wedding.