DANIEL SUAREZ, No. 35 Arris Toyota Tundra, WinTron Racing
How was practice today and what is your outlook for Talladega?
“Thank you. Hello to everyone. To be honest, I didn’t really know exactly what to expect. A new race track, a new truck and so I went there and tried to learn with everything. First, a single run truck and then we tried to draft a little bit to see how the truck feels. The guys asked me, ‘Hey, how does the truck feel?’ But, I really didn’t know what to say because it was everything new. I feel like the air moved the truck a little bit, but nothing special. So, we made some small changes but everything else was pretty good. I feel like we have a pretty good Toyota No. 35 Arris truck, so let’s see what happens in the race. Try to learn to be patient and I think we can avoid problems. I think we’re going to be good.”
How important is it for you to get some seat time at a restrictor-plate race track in preparation for next season?
“Definitely it’s important. For us, it’s going to be interesting to open with the right foot next year in 2015 so all we have been doing this year — Richmond, Chicago, Kentucky — all of these races have been to prepare myself in the national series for the next year. So, definitely this is an important step. We’re going to open next year with a superspeedway with a restrictor-plate race so I’m really looking forward to learn about this to try to be open-minded because I really know that in the practice is one thing, but tomorrow is going to be definitely a total different thing. So, looking forward to that and see what happens. The goal is to finish the race and I believe that we finish the race with a clean truck we’re going to finish good, so that is a priority for tomorrow.”
How much of a factor was the Rev Racing ‘Drive for Diversity’ program in moving forward in your career?
“Definitely, I believe that the NASCAR ‘Drive for Diversity’ program was one of the biggest steps of my career. Definitely that program helped me a lot to learn about the K&N Series, to learn about short track racing, to learn about the rules and everything here in this great sport. I believe that one year before that we were learning about everything, but I feel like we were kind of stuck a little bit. So, as soon as we got into that program we started getting a lot of support from NASCAR for the program and I believe that the result came to us. So, that was pretty good. In the second part of the season we closed the season super strong — I’m talking about 2013. We opened this season — 2014 — the same way, winning races. So, definitely a great program, a great opportunity and I’m really looking forward to see more drivers from the Mexican Series trying to do the same thing in the ‘Drive for Diversity’ program.”
Do you remember the first time you became aware of Talladega and all of its history?
“Actually a couple days ago I was talking with some friends in Mexico. I talk very often with them and they ask me where is going to be my race this weekend and I told them Mexico and Talladega and they told me, ‘Hey, Talladega like the movie?’ So, definitely there is a lot of history in this race track. Definitely it’s a big step for me in my career, so I’m looking forward — like I said, this is one of the biggest steps in my career as a race car driver so I’m looking forward to finish the race and I’m pretty sure that if we finish the race with a clean truck we’re going to finish decent.”
Is there anything more nerve-racking as a driver than making your first Talladega start?
“Well, definitely in the last week I’ve been thinking on the first practice and the moment of the start of the first practice because I watched some videos, I watched some races with superspeedways with the truck and with the Nationwide car and stuff, but nothing is similar as being in the truck or car by yourself or in traffic. Everything is different and the sensation that you have is pretty cool. So, definitely I was looking forward for this race. Like I said before, the most important thing for now for me is to learn about everything. Every little thing is going to be important for next year, so I’m looking forward to learn, to finish the race and try to be decent competitive and see what happen. Definitely super excited to be in my first time in a superspeedway here in Talladega.”
Were you able to get any advice about superspeedway racing from your teammates at Joe Gibbs Racing?
“Well, I did and all of them told me the same thing — patience. So, it was kind of difficult to put everything together because the only word they say is, ‘Be patient and you’re going to finish good.’ So, I’m really looking forward to try to be patient. Many people say that everyone is thinking about patience in the first couple laps and then everyone got crazy and the driver who got the patience in the race until the end of the race is normally finished decent or even with a shot to win the race. So, I’m really looking forward to that. My spotter Chris Osborne has been helping out a lot. He normally spots with Matt Kenseth in the Cup side, so definitely that is going to be important. After the first practice I asked him, ‘Hey, any advice?’ And, he said the same thing, ‘Patience. Stay low, try to be patient, follow the other trucks and you’re going to be okay.’ So, I’m looking forward to that for tomorrow.”
