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HOMESTEAD, Fla. -- El campeon!Daniel Suarez won the Xfinity Series season finale and title at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Saturday, becoming the first foreign champion in a NASCAR national series.The 24-year-old Mexican bested fellow championship contenders Elliott Sadler, Justin Allgaier and Erik Jones on a botched restart with three laps to go.Its very hard to put into words, Suarez said. Im speechless right now. Im just very proud of everyone and thankful to have the family that I have, my mom, my dad. They gave me all the tools to be here right now. They put me in a car even when we didnt have the support or the racing background. They supported me, and right now we are just living a dream.Suarez thanked fans and his native country in Spanish in victory lane. His win was the first of the weekend for Joe Gibbs Racing, which has two drivers -- Kyle Busch and Carl Edwards -- vying for the Sprint Cup championship Sunday.For us, after two years, to be where we are tonight is amazing, car owner Joe Gibbs said. This is going to be a big deal for our sport. Its huge.It was just Suarezs third career victory, but the most important for obvious reasons.Claiming the title at Homestead-Miami Speedway made the accomplishment all the more memorable for Suarez.To win here in Homestead and to have a lot of fans and people from Latin America, Mexicans, [people from] all over Latin America, its something great for me, Suarez said. And on the side of that, I have my mom, my dad, my family from Houston, my friends from Mexico [and] my friend Coco over there that I used to race cars with him when I was 13 years old. A lot of friends were here.More than 30 people were here just to have fun with me, to enjoy this weekend, and what a better way to finish [than] this way. Im just very proud of my team, very proud of everyone that has been helping me to be in this position, and its still hard to believe this. Its still hard to believe this. But we worked hard, and this team really deserves these results.?Sadler, who gambled by taking two tires on the final pit stop, finished third in the race and second in the standings. The former Cup driver and sentimental favorite remained without a championship at any national level in a career spanning more than two decades.This is by far the hardest because I feel like this is the best team Ive probably ever worked with, said Sadler, who drove with an interim crew chief because his usual one was suspended. We felt like we could come in here and compete, and we made a great pit call there at the end to get some clean air.Sadler asked Cole Whitt to give him the top lane on the restart, but?Whitt?declined.Allgaier finished sixth and Jones ninth. Both got stuck behind Whitt, the leader,?on the final restart, and when Whitt spun his worn-out tires, Allgaier and Jones fell way behind Suarez.Its really frustrating, Jones said. I dont mean to bag on the guy so much, but its like, Hey, were up here racing for the championship. And maybe we dont even win it if he pits and lets us move up, but at least we would have had a fair shot at it. I feel like we kind of got robbed of at least our chance to race for it. Yeah, its just unfortunate. It just wasnt a great situation altogether.The chaos definitely benefited Suarez, who passed Sadler low and pulled away from the field. Suarez led 133 of the 200 laps in the race.Suarez was last years top rookie in the second-tier series. He began racing karts in Mexico and moved to North Carolina as a teenager to pursue a career at NASCARs national level. He had to teach himself English by watching cartoons on American television, and Suarez moved through NASCARs Drive for Diversity program to land a job with JGR.Suarez is the first D4D driver to win a championship.Suarez has soared in his second season with Gibbs. As Jones struggled down the stretch, Suarez upped his performance. He won at Dover to move through the Round of 12 and was runner-up at Kentucky and third at Charlotte. Then, Suarez registered finishes of third (Kansas), fifth (Texas) and fifth (Phoenix) to set up his championship-clinching victory at Homestead while working with crew chief Scott Graves.I feel like Scott and I, we have come a long ways, Suarez said. In the first half of the year, we were good, and in the second half of the year, we were great. Thats something really good.Im really looking forward for our future, but for now, I think Im just very proud of the performance that Scott and the guys and Joe Gibbs Racing, they brought to this race. They brought my favorite car, and thats the car that I won Michigan with. Thats just my baby, and weve got it here, and we won a championship.?The championship surely make him an even bigger star back home. On a return trip to Mexico with NASCAR officials last month, Suarez was celebrated as if he was Dale Earnhardt Jr.After Suarez won in Homestead, Earnhardt Jr. congratulated the new champion via Twitter.For Gibbs, it is his second driver championship in the Xfinity Series but first since Busch won in 2009.The Gibbs organization also celebrated its fifth owners championship in the Xfinity Series.The Associated Press contributed to this report.Wholesale Cardinals Jerseys . -- The Missouri Tigers might not have a roster full of superstars. Ramon Urias Cardinals Jersey . 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Jonathan Drouin also scored and had three assists while Zachary Fucale made 17 saves for the Mooseheads (16-8-0), who led 6-1 after two periods.NEW YORK -- Mark McGwire is getting another swing at the Hall of Fame.The former slugger who admitted using steroids joins Bud Selig, George Steinbrenner and seven others on the Todays Game Era ballot to be considered for election to Cooperstown in December.The announcement was made Monday by the Baseball Hall of Fame. The ballot is part of changes to the election process announced by the Halls board of directors in July. The ballot is comprised of five players, three executives and two managers who made their biggest impact from 1988 on.Its flattering. Its fantastic. I mean, thank you, McGwire told The Associated Press in a phone interview. Its very flattering to have another opportunity to possibly get into the Hall of Fame. Its exciting.McGwire said hed heard of the committee, but didnt think his name would come up for a long time.I didnt know it was going to be this year, considering last year was my last year on the (writers) ballot. Its very flattering.Harold Baines, Albert Belle, Will Clark, Orel Hershiser, Davey Johnson, Lou Piniella and John Schuerholz round out the class of 2017 candidates on the new ballot.All are alive except for Steinbrenner, the bombastic and successful owner of the New York Yankees from 1973 until his death in 2010.Selig served as baseballs acting commissioner from September 1992 to July 1998 and then as commissioner until January 2015. He oversaw an era of immense change that included expansion, wild cards and interleague play.It is Seligs first appearance on a Hall of Fame ballot, and the third for Steinbrenner. He fell short on 2010 and 2013 Expansion Era ballots.Voting is Dec. 5 during the winter meetings in Maryland. To be enshrined, candidates must receive votes on at least 75 percent of the ballots cast by the 16-member Todays Game Era Committee.Those voters, appointed by the Hall of Fame board, will be announced this fall.McGwire ranks 11th on the career list with 583 home runs. Tainted by performmance-enhancing drugs, however, he never came close to getting elected by the Baseball Writers Association of America and dropped off that ballot this year after his 10th and final chance.ddddddddddddNumbers-wise, what Ive done, I truly believe they are Hall of Fame-worthy. For what I did hitting home runs, 583, Im the only guy in history averaging one in every 10 at-bats, he said. If you look at how many games and at-bats I did it in, it was a lot less than most guys in the Hall of Fame. Im proud of that. I truly believe I was born a home run hitter.Yet McGwire, who spent this past season as bench coach for the San Diego Padres, never received more than 23.7 percent of the vote from the BBWAA -- far short of the 75 percent required for election. He garnered 12.3 percent in his last appearance.He was asked whether he thinks his steroids admission and subsequent apology will sway this particular committee.Its obviously up to them. Theyre obviously up to speed with that. The writers felt the way they did. I truly respect how they felt. I did admit to it, and you know, theres nothing else I can say. I did what I did and I apologized for doing what I did, McGwire said.The process of the Todays Game Era Committee provides an avenue for Hall of Fame consideration to managers, umpires and executives, as well as players retired for more than 15 seasons -- like McGwire. Todays Game Era was one of four eras committees outlined in July when the Hall detailed its latest set of election changes.Finalists on the ballot revealed Monday were selected by the Historical Overview Committee appointed by the BBWAA, made up of 11 veteran historians.Any candidates elected Dec. 5 would be inducted into the Hall of Fame on July 30 next year along with any players voted in by the BBWAA. Those results will be announced Jan. 18, 2017. ' ' '