Meet NASCAR’s breakout driver Ruben Garcia Jr.

Rubén García Jr. is a Mexican professional  racing driver. Garcia currently competes full-time in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East, driving the No. 6 Toyota Camry for Rev Racing. He was in Phoenix promoting the upcoming TicketGuardian 500 NASCAR race at ISM Speedway March 9^th-11^th.

How many speeding tickets do you have?

Garcia- “(Laughs) I have no speeding tickets in the US, but I might have 2 or 3 in Mexico.”

Why racing?

Garcia- “I’ve been racing since I was inside my mother’s womb! As a child I grew up going to the races with my father (former international Mexican race driver Ruben Garcia Sr.)  and spending a lot of time in speedways and around race cars.

When I was 5 years old, I began driving Go Karts and started really liking it. When I turned 14, that’s when I decided to race professionally.”

What are the differences between racing in Mexico and in the United States?

Garcia- “Quite a few, even though the race cars look the same they are different. In Mexico they are less complicated, have less horsepower and are lighter. In the US they are the opposite, bigger engines, more horsepower, heavier with more adjustments. Also, the way you communicate with your crew chief is different.”

You have an engineering background; does that help you to communicate with your Crew Chief better?

Garcia – “Very much so, 50 percent of how successful a driver can be, is based on communication. You can drive a race car very fast, but sometimes it doesn’t respond the way you want it to. That’s when my engineering background allows me to communicate to my crew chief how I feel the car is responding so we can make the necessary adjustments.”

Looking back to when you started, where did you see this journey originally taking you?

Garcia- “I always focused on NASCAR and once NASCAR came to Mexico to start the NASCAR Mexico Division, that’s when I set a goal of winning a championship, which I did in 2015. And it gave me the visibility and exposure to move into racing in the United States. Where I had to start all over again and move up the ranks.”

What advice do you have for Latinos whom want to follow your footsteps?

Garcia- “It’s a big step, requires a lot of hard work, passion and dedication but I promise all will be worth it once you see all the progress you have made.”

Until next time,

Sandra

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