A driver can dream about setting records so untouchable that future generations of racers spend their careers chasing them. Whether it’s Richard Petty’s 200 Cup wins or Kyle Busch’s 19-year win streak, the goal is to push the bar into the stratosphere so no one can rocket past it.
For Rubén García Jr., the quest to raise that bar seems endless. With five NASCAR México Series titles, García isn’t just resting on past success — he’s still writing his story and it feels like he’s nowhere near finished.
“It watered my eyes,” García shared with NASCAR.com, reflecting on his milestone achievement. “It’s something I dreamed as a kid one day, I wanted to be a NASCAR champion. And celebrating my fifth title right now, it really gets my emotions.”
RELATED: NASCAR México Series | Cup Series to head south of border in 2025
But the climb back to the top wasn’t easy. García’s fourth title came in 2022, before the introduction of the new playoff format. Under the old system, a champion was decided by season-long point totals. In 2023, NASCAR México Series adopted a playoff format that followed the Cup Series. Points were reset and drivers were eliminated after each event, narrowing the field to four. The new format ratcheted up pressure, fueling daring moves and thrilling moments when a championship was on the line in one race.
In last year’s finale, García was the highest-running playoff driver for most of the race; he flawlessly executed late-race restarts to put one hand on a fifth trophy. But as the laps wound down and cautions piled, the intensity and tempers rose. On a Lap 124 restart, García lined up fourth — just one spot ahead of his fellow title contender, Salvador de Alba Jr. As the race went back green, de Alba made contact with No. 7 of Xavi Razo, which sent García into the outside wall, bringing out a red flag and ending his hope for a fifth title in an instant.
Fast-forward to Nov. 2 of this year. García was back in the title bout for a ninth consecutive season. Determined to make up for what happened last year, he started the championship race on pole. However, it was long into the race that García went from seeing his fifth title within arm’s reach from the top spot to his windshield being filled with rear bumpers.
“My crew chief made a couple of adjustments before the race, and they really didn’t work out,” Garcia said. “I feel like it was Lap 10 and I was like eighth, and I started on the pole and fell all the way back to 12th.”
Trying not to get discouraged that another chance of championship glory was slipping from his fingers for a second consecutive season, García kept a level head with help from both of his spotters — one being his regular spotter, the other his sister — and his sports psychologist encouraging him over the radio not to let his frustrations boil over.
“They kept me calm,” García said. “They told me, ‘Wait we still have to do pit stops. We can reverse those last adjustments and get you running again. It’s a long race, don’t worry.’ But the first 15 laps, I was like, ‘Damn, we’re not even a quarter of the race in, and I already lost. There’s not much I can do running 12th.’ I see my championship possibilities getting smaller and smaller and smaller.”
García struggled with grip and could feel the balance of his No. 88 Chevrolet was off throughout the first stage. After a shock adjustment and a different tire pressure, García’s crew chief was convinced that the No. 88 car would drive through the field and be right back in the title fight.
“Most of the time, my crew chief is really accurate about the changes he does during pit stops, and [this time] he sounded very confident on the radio,” García said. “That helped me, I had a really good restart. I made up like five spots in a couple of laps, made a couple of three-wide moves, [that were] a little too aggressive, but at that moment I said, ‘I think my car’s back. I don’t know if it’s good to contend for the win, but at least I’m in the mix now again.’ So that gave me a lot of confidence.”
García’s title fight was with the aforementioned Razo, Rookie of the Year Alex de Alba and two-time champ Abramam Calderón, who were all running in the top 10. Calderón had the fastest car out of the four and was sailing away from the pack every chance he got. De Alba soon had to retire after mechanical issues, so it left Razo and García in a fierce battle for second place in the standings.
“[Razo] was in front of me for a few laps, then I passed him,” García said. “Then he found speed again late in the race and we fought for a few laps. In my mind, was like, if I’m not catching Abraham, I need to stay in second place, because if there’s a caution, I’m going to be the first one that will be able to attack Abraham.”
As laps trickled down, García’s hope of a late caution wasn’t coming to fruition.
“The track’s getting very slick. We’ve been running a lot. We all have worn-out tires with a very, very hot race track. So a mistake is very easy right now,” García recounted. “I kept in mind, I just need to stay in front of Xavi and something can happen. Cautions are very popular at this race track and I was expecting one.
“I was praying for a caution because my crew chief kept telling me, ‘You’re running the same speed as Calderón, but he’s too far away. You’re not catching him, but he’s also not pulling away.’ “
García kept hoping and defending against Razo and yet no caution had flown. García was on the verge of accepting that maybe a fifth title just wasn’t meant to be, until his sister came on the radio with three laps to go.
“He [Calderón] hit the wall, he hit the wall. Keep going, keep going, keep going,” she exclaimed.
“I saw Abraham with a flat front tire and I couldn’t believe it,” García said. “Now I don’t want a caution.”
A year can completely change the course of a driver’s career. What was a heartbreaking near-miss in 2023 turned into a triumphant redemption story for García in ’24.
“That redemption feeling was great,” García said. “But what got to me the most was how it happened, because it was a full roller coaster of emotions. It’s a complete opposite feeling as last year, and five championships is a big accomplishment for me.”
García’s fifth championship puts him in an elite class of his own in NASCAR México Series history. Two titles ahead of his idol, Germán Quiroga, who won three consecutive championships from 2009 to 2011 — a feat García watched from the sidelines, thinking, “How much more is he going to get?”
Now, García is carving his own place in the record books, determined to write his lasting legacy.
But even with five championships to his name, García’s competitive fire shows no signs of cooling off. As he prepares for another season to defend his title and aim for a sixth, his mindset remains clear: keep raising the bar and make it difficult for the next generation to catch up.
“Five is far away from the other, from the rest of the field,” García said. “I just want to win as many as I can to make it as hard as possible for [younger drivers] to break the record.”