NASCAR Mexico champion Abraham Calderón ready for K&N Pro debut

Fellow Mexican Daniel Suarez has climbed the NASCAR ladder to success in the United States and now another NASCAR Mexico champion is ready to start his journey in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East.

Abraham Calderón will make his inaugural K&N race start Sunday night and eventually hopes to follow Suarez all the way up to the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series and compete in the Daytona 500.

Calderon is a two-time NASCAR PEAK Mexico Series champion (2014 & ’17), and will be driving the No. 55 PEAK / Nextgen Motorsports Toyota in the first race of the season for NASCAR’s top developmental series.

In addition to Suárez, drivers who have raced in the K&N Pro Series en route to 2018 Daytona 500 include Kyle Larson, William Byron, Chase Elliott, Joey Logano and others.

The 29-year-old Calderón won five times last year to earn his second NASCAR PEAK Mexico Series title. He returned to North America this week after racing in the prestigious Race of Champions Nations Cup in Saudi Arabia earlier this month.

Calderón’s teammate with NextGen Motorsports at New Smyrna will be Juan Manuel Gonzalez. The 18-year-old from Mexico City will also be making his NASCAR K&N Pro Series debut and will drive the No. 5 Illux-Mexico Toyota. Gonzalez won the NASCAR Challenge Series finale in Mexico City last November. The Challenge Series is the top support series for the NASCAR PEAK Mexico Series.

Calderón and Gonzalez will be joined in Sunday’s race field by Rubén García Jr., who is driving full-time in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East with Rev Racing as part of the NASCAR Drive for Diversity program. García won the NASCAR PEAK Mexico Series championship in 2014.