Joe Gibbs Racing’s signing of Mexican driver Daniel Suarez this week represents the most important achievement yet in NASCAR’s diversity efforts, and that’s saying a lot for a sport that has seen several landmarks in the past year.

Darrell Wallace Jr.’s October win in a Truck Series race at Martinsville Speedway made him the first African-American driver to win a national series race in 50 years.

In May, Wendell Scott – the first black driver to win a race – was elected to the NASCAR Hall of Fame.

And Sprint Cup Series rookie Kyle Larson, who is of Japanese descent, became the first graduate of NASCAR’s first Drive for Diversity program to win a pole position earlier this month at Pocono Raceway.

But the 22-year-old Suarez represents something more: a chance to change the face of NASCAR and its fans. If he’s successful – and all signs indicate he has plenty of talent – then Suarez could help NASCAR tap into the Hispanic demographic it dearly wants to attract.

“It’s huge for the sport,” NASCAR executive vice president Steve O’Donnell told USA TODAY Sports. “â?¦ We’ve got to continue to make efforts for our sport to more closely reflect where America is and where it’s going. The Hispanic fan base, the culture is very passionate about racing and very passionate about family. Those are obviously right in the wheelhouse for NASCAR, so we feel there’s a really strong match there.”

Suarez is the product of a decade of work to grow stock car racing in Mexico, and it’s proof NASCAR’s efforts are successful.

A Nationwide Series race in Mexico City (2005-08) served as a catalyst for the fledgling Toyota Mexico Series to become more competitive, and O’Donnell said the series now visits a dozen tracks and draws a quarter-million fans per season.

As a 20-year-old in that series, Suarez won two races and was third overall in 2012 – good enough to get an invitation to NASCAR’s diversity program. In 2013, he was second in the Mexico series but third in the more competitive KN East Series, which is filled with young talent on their way up the NASCAR ladder.

This season, he’s won twice in KN East and four times in Mexico, where he leads the standings. Now he’ll have the chance to drive one of the best cars in the Nationwide Series – NASCAR’s version of Class AAA baseball – and is much closer to achieving his ultimate goal.

“Daniel is here because he has fought to be here,” said Mexican businessman Carlos Slim Domit, who has partnered with JGR to build its roster of diversity drivers. “When we spoke with him when he was very, very young, we said, ‘How do you want your career to develop? Do you want to go to formula cars?’

“He said, ‘No, my life is in stock (cars). I’m going to be the first Latin champion in history in a Cup car.’ He’s starting to reach that dream.”

Suarez’s commitment to stock cars is exactly what NASCAR hopes to achieve on an international level.

NASCAR also has series in Canada and Europe, where young drivers with F1 family connections have decided to race. If the circumstances were right, O’Donnell said NASCAR would consider starting development series in places like China, Brazil and India.

Someday, NASCAR hopes those feeder systems will produce drivers from several continents to race in Cup and supplement the American drivers who the sport was built on. It’s all part of what O’Donnell said he hoped would “change the racing culture around the world.”

In that sense, Suarez is just the first step.

“It’s not the end,” he said. “Danny is one of many drivers we hope to see come through the system and continue to progress hopefully on their way toward a Cup championship.”

So is he up for the challenge? Suarez certainly has all the tools to succeed. He has backers who believe in his ability – Gibbs and Domit (son of Carlos Slim, Forbes‘ richest man in the world) – and has the right attitude.

“I can’t wait to learn from all these guys,” he said Tuesday.

O’Donnell, who has made several visits to Mexico, is among those who have been impressed.

“I certainly think he’s got the talent on track to make a huge impact and has a great career ahead of him,” O’Donnell said. “But just as important, he’s just a great kid. He’s humble, he wants to do well, he’s a family guy and I think the passion he has for racing is what our sport is all about. I think as fans get to know him more, he’s going to be a fan favorite.”â??

Follow Gluck on Twitter @jeff_gluck

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