NASCAR’s first full-time driver from Mexico

The story of NASCAR and Mexico might never have taken shape were it not for two brothers: Carlos and Enrique Contreras — two Mexicans who arrived in the world’s premier stock car division. Some might call their rise a lucky break, but to those who knew them, NASCAR seemed more like destiny.

While Daniel Suárez is the first Mexican to win in the NASCAR Cup Series and the first non-American to win a national series championship, Carlos Contreras became the first Hispanic driver to compete in a full season in one of NASCAR’s top three divisions — an achievement that once seemed beyond his dreams. 

Carlos Contreras’s life had been focused on reaching IndyCar, following the path laid out by Herdez, a Mexican sponsor that helped Mario Domínguez and Michel Jourdain Jr. make it into the open-wheel series. However, during a visit to one of Domínguez’s races — where the NASCAR Truck Series was holding a preliminary event, the Contreras brothers fell in love with NASCAR.

Making the move to NASCAR

Once this goal was set, he went for it.

The next step toward NASCAR was leaving Mexico and the local Mustang Series to debut in the Truck Series. His debut came at the Fontana oval in California at the end of the 1999 season, which is the same weekend Adrián Fernández won at that very same track in IndyCar.

“It was a weekend where I didn’t even know what I was getting into,” he told Motorsport.com. “I got into the truck without ever having practiced. I had never driven a NASCAR car, not even in the lower categories. The only thing I had driven were the Mustangs in Mexico. We didn’t race on ovals. They were 45-minute races on small circuits. I had never raced on a superspeedway like Fontana. I got in and did what I had to do. We surprised everyone in qualifying. We beat both of my teammates. In the race, we finished on the lead lap, qualified seventh, and finished 14th. That left a good impression, and that’s when negotiations started.

That performance prompted Kyle Petty to visit him in the team hauler. “In my first race, as we mentioned, he came over and entered my trailer and I was shocked when they told me, ‘You have a visitor,’ and I saw him. He shook my hand, introduced himself and said, ‘What a great job you just did. You’re not from NASCAR, I’ve never seen you before, your name isn’t familiar to me. Everyone here, everyone racing with you — I’ve known them all since they were in the lower categories.’”

Joining forces with the Petty Family

Carlos Contreras

Photo by: Earl Ma

Contreras’s strong showing led to his first full season in 2000, and if California was impressive, Daytona was even more so, finishing 13th. However, behind those results were many limitations that he himself admitted, mainly due to his lack of experience with NASCAR-style racing.

“I remember there were races where I would ask (brother) Enrique, ‘Where did you bring me?’ I wasn’t prepared for this kind of racing. I was so used to 40-minute races, but I wasn’t ready for these temperatures. I didn’t even have the proper suit, no air conditioning like the others had, not even my helmet had air vents. I didn’t have anything adequate. All those mistakes shaped me. It was a very tough adventure, where at times I felt like throwing in the towel.

“I had no experience. That first year, I didn’t know the tracks, didn’t know the banking, every track was a new adventure. I was going in blind. Still, we managed to get good results, like when we led at Watkins Glen.”

There was also another factor that was holding him back. “The lack of English. My brother didn’t speak much English. That was hard at first, but we managed to get through it,” recalls Enrique Contreras.
With those results, Carlos was signed by Petty Enterprises to race in 2001.

“It was important to race with them because they’re a legend. It was a big change for me because we came from a very humble team — great, but humble — and suddenly we were with a totally different team. Before, I had to take my Nomex suit home, wash it, and use it until it wore out. When I got to the Pettys, we had a private team plane. I remember arriving at my first practice and opening the closet to find seven suits and four helmets already painted. It was a total shift.”

However, the results didn’t come. Commercially, the No. 43 truck became very popular. “It wasn’t a winning team at the time, but when Hot Wheels arrived with the No. 43, it became an iconic team,” which also boosted Carlos Contreras’s popularity. To this day, he is still recognized by the NASCAR community in the United States.

“It’s incredible, it’s amazing, and it feels really nice,” said the Mexican driver, who unfortunately only had three full seasons through 2002, when the toy company cut its global sponsorship program.

“Sport-wise, I would’ve loved to win races. We were very green overall. Even in the third year, it was still a learning process. NASCAR is not easy. I didn’t come up through the system, and it was complicated. But when we were able to fight, we did. We had some very good races—we even led several.”

A welcoming atmosphere

Carlos Contreras

Photo by: Jack Durbin

While externally NASCAR might be perceived as a tightly closed circle due to its Southern roots with some unfortunate stereotypes hanging around it, Carlos Contreras never experienced discrimination.

“We were outsiders, because no Mexican had ever raced before, but that was it,” remembers Enrique, who traveled to every race with Carlos.

“From the moment we arrived, several people asked us what we needed. Honestly, everyone opened their doors to me. Everyone was very friendly. There was never any racism, absolutely nothing. On the contrary, there was only kindness shown to me,” added Carlos.

Contreras’s success also helped take the first step toward the NASCAR for Diversity program, as well as laying the foundation for NASCAR Mexico through his brother Enrique’s truck series project—an initiative that evolved and eventually helped bring the Cup Series to Mexico.