Toyota Racing – Daniel Suárez
Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (MENCS)
NASCAR Media Tour, Charlotte – January 24, 2018
Joe Gibbs Racing driver Daniel Suárez was made available to the media in Charlotte:
DANIEL SUÁREZ, No. 19 ARRIS Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
How do you feel your rookie season went?
“We have done some homework, and even if we keep the consistency that we have the last couple months of racing, I feel like we’re pretty competitive to make it. But that’s not the plan. We want to be able to win races and to be competitive in the top 5. That’s like all of the team. I feel like the team is capable of doing that. We have done some adjustments from last year to this year, and everyone seems to be really comfortable and seems to be going in the same direction, and I’m very happy to see that. I really can’t wait to get into the first few weeks of racing.”
When you say you guys have made some adjustments, what are you talking about, like what?
“Well, last year in the last two months of racing, we had to change my number one engineer. We had to change my number two engineer. In the off‑season we changed the car chief. Maybe that’s the biggest change that we’ve done. A couple other things that overall we feel more comfortable. Everything that we had last year was just for last year for many, many different reasons, and I feel like now having all the people together, all the people that we know are going to be together the entire year or even more than that, that’s ‑‑ that just gives you more confidence and more ‑‑ puts you in a more comfortable spot to know that you are going to have the commitment of everyone, and everyone is super excited to be working together. Everyone knows the challenge that we have, and everyone knows all that we have. I really like that.”
Where do you feel like you made the biggest gains personally last year?
“I feel like the biggest gains was to learn how to race in the Cup Series. That’s a big difference versus XFINITY Series, to learn that. As well, to learn how to get better every weekend. We had several weekends where we were good, but good is not enough in the Cup Series. You have to be great. And to push those limits with your team, I think that that’s something that I learned, as well, last year, and to be patient. So many different races we had the opportunity to have a good day, and for one or another reason we didn’t, and I feel like that’s something, as well, that we learned last year to apply this year.”
How do you push those limits without going over the limit, wrecking late in races, that kind of thing? Is there kind of a line there that you can’t cross?
“Yeah, I think there is always a risk. Looking to my numbers, I’m not a driver that wrecks a lot. Most of the time we made it back to the shop with two race cars, so that was a good thing. We competed almost 96 percent of the laps last year, so that was another good thing. As a rookie, that’s not something normal. But that was a good year in that side. But there is a lot more ways that I believe there is improvement, in my race team side as well as on my side, and I feel like we are moving in the right direction so far in January. Hopefully we can keep moving in the same direction in February, March and all these months to hopefully be a team to talk about every weekend and a team that is going to be contending for wins.”
What’s the secret to avoiding crashes? How do you do that?
“I think the biggest secret is to be patient. If you think about it, that is very important to be patient, to be in the front at the end of the races. Most of the drivers are very aggressive the entire race. Some other drivers are aggressive in the first half of the race, and I believe that staying in the top 15, top 10 is the place where you can stay out of trouble most of the time because those guys most of the time have more experience and they have more patience, as well. I feel like staying there and knowing what you have, knowing what you’re going to do with the car that you have that weekend, I think that helps a lot.”
Any particular tracks, when you say trying to stay out of trouble, trying to avoid crashes, that for you have to focus on saying, this is a track I need to be a bit more cautious?
“Well, any track. Any track is a track where you can get in trouble. We are going very fast, and you can get in trouble any time. But I think that sometimes ‑‑ you can’t hide. You are out there the entire time, like Bristol (Motor Speedway), Dover (International Speedway), all those places that you have no brakes. The intensity level is always very, very high. Doesn’t matter if you are fighting with a car for a position or to put a car a lap down. I feel like there is any track where you have to go with the main sight of trying to be competitive, trying to win the race, go in the front. But at the end of the day, if you wreck in the first half of the race, you will have a lot to apply for the next time that you go to that race because you have a lot of ‑‑ you didn’t have a lot of race. So I think that is always very, very important for me to finish races and to spend time with your team to improve your race cars instead of fixing your race cars.”
You talked about being comfortable. Now that you’re going to be in this Cup ride, how is that mindset different?
“It is different for sure. Last year at this point we had everything together already, but as we went into the season, a lot of things changed, crew chief, car chief, engineers, a lot of things changed, and I felt like that was the reason of having everything a rush in the beginning. But that’s not the rookie season that everyone wants, but sometimes that’s what makes you tougher, and I feel like that teach me a lot of things last year to prepare myself better for this year, and I feel like we are going to show that on the racetrack.”
How different are you today compared to when you were talking to us just a year ago just as far as ‑‑ are you less nervous? Are you much more comfortable? Just kind of where are you mentally and emotionally?
“Yeah, for sure I’m more relaxed. I won’t use the word nervous because I feel like I’m very calm. I don’t get nervous very often. But for sure more relaxed. Last year I had a lot of things in my mind, and everything was happening so fast that the only thing I wanted was to go to the racetrack and drive, and right now everything has been more smooth, everything has been happening more normal, and I believe that will help everyone to have a good start of the season.”
You still have obviously Denny that you can go talk to, you can go talk to Kyle. Does the change with Matt not being there, was he somebody that you talked to about how he maybe ran a particular track or setups or anything like that? Will it make any difference him not being there for you?
“Yeah, for sure. I think Matt (Kenseth) is a great driver, a lot of experience, and very smart, very patient, as well. He’s not one of those drivers that he’s going to talk to you just like that. You have to go to him to ask him whatever you want. But he was very helpful. But at the same time, like you mentioned, we still have Kyle (Busch) and Denny (Hamlin) and Erik (Jones)and myself as young drivers, and Erik has done a very, very good job. He has speed all the time, and he’s going to bring a lot to the table. I feel like I’m going to be in the same spot, and having the two veteran guys in the same house is going to be, as well, very important. I think we are going to be fine. I think we are going to have a lot of information, and I feel like we are going to have a good start of the season.”
I think on the media tour last year you were telling us about how you had been calling Kyle all the time before you got to Cup. Did your relationship with him change at all once you were seeing him every week? Did you still lean on him for information a lot?
“Yeah, I was still leaning on him for information a lot, but now ‑‑ I guess not as much as I used to in the XFINITY Series because now that there is some stuff I start to learn and I start to know by myself. I still ask questions about the track, about the car, what he’s doing with that setup and stuff, but more technical questions. Before that, I had more basic questions like Texas, hey, what do you think about Texas, in the long runs, in the short runs, should I be a little tighter, a little looser, all that kind of stuff. And that kind of stuff, honestly, I can’t remember the last time I asked him a question like that because now we talk more ‑‑ now we talk more about the car, about technical stuff. It’s still advice, still questions, but they are not more basic questions about, hey, what should I do in Texas, what should I do in Phoenix, and I feel like that’s ‑‑ that takes time. It’s a process. But now we can trade information. Now I can try some things, and those things can be helpful to him, as well. So overall I feel more comfortable sharing information and putting my little bit on the table.”
What surprised you the most about your rookie season and how it went?
“I feel like my rookie season was okay. I felt like in the beginning of the season, I didn’t know anything. I didn’t know what to expect. But later on, I felt like we had top 10s and good results pretty early into the season, and then we started having changes and adjustments to the team and things out of our control, and that never really helps in the beginning. And I felt like later on in the year, we kept having things to change and stuff that didn’t help us. But at the end of the day, I felt like that helped us a lot to learn and to make the right team for this year and to put the right group of people for this year. I feel like if I would have to do it again, I wish I don’t have to change anything. That would make a better rookie season for myself or for any other rookie driver in numbers, in paper. But as a driver, as a person, I feel like I learned more the way that I had my rookie season because we are going to show that we are stronger for this year.”
What’s your relationship like with Erik, and you guys both being kind of the young drivers at JGR, kind of at a similar position in your careers, do you think there will be any sort of friendly rivalry between you two this year?
“Yeah, Erik and I, we get along very well, but we know that we are competing with each other. We get along very well. But we know that there is that racing attitude all the time, and that is going to be there all the time. We are going to have that hopefully for a lot of years, hopefully for 20 years. We get along well outside of the racetrack. We do some things actually together sometimes with cars, with old cars and stuff. But once we are racing, we are going. If we have a problem, I talk to him, and the same both ways. I think that’s normal. Really both of us, we are kind of new in this level of racing, but both of us, we know what we want. We know what we need to do. And we know that we help each other a little, we are going to move forward a little bit quicker.”
With a lot of Dale Jr. fans looking for the next driver to get behind, what would you tell the fans about why they should get behind you?
“Well, Dale, I don’t think nobody is going to replace Dale. Before I had the opportunity to meet Dale, I didn’t know exactly what to expect, and then once I moved into the Cup Series, I had the opportunity to spend more time with Cup drivers and with him. We’d ride bicycles together. He’s a great guy. He’s maybe one of the most humble drivers I know, and that’s an example of how nice you have to be with people, how nice you have to treat people. He’s not the most popular driver for anything else but because he’s a very nice person with everyone. I was talking with Tyler, my PR guy, like he used to be his PR guy, and he told me Dale used to give hats to everyone. Every hat he used to give away, and that’s a very nice person. And I feel like there is a lot of good drivers out there, as well, with the same ‑‑ with similar personality, not the same. It will never be the same. But with similar personalities that I’m sure those fans will find similar personalities to Dale to support.”
During last year, did you get a good sense of how much your rookie season was being followed back home and whether more people were starting to follow you as the year went on?
“Yeah, yeah, for sure. You know, it feels very good. I spent a month in Mexico and Brazil, and it feels very good to meet people that have been following you for a long time or even just last year in the Cup Series. It just feels very good to know that there are people all over the world supporting you and following your racing. I feel like NASCAR is doing a great job letting the world know what we are doing as a NASCAR family, and as well what I’m doing here in NASCAR. I feel very proud to be a small part of it, and hopefully we can keep letting fans know what we are doing and invite them to the racetrack and to have the life experience, because I have told so many different friends that one thing is to watch racing on TV, and another different level is to watch it in person. Once they have that experience in person, they become fans right away. I have had that experience not once, not twice, but several times, and it feels very good to change the perspective of looking to racing of so many people.”
Is it unrealistic for you to make it to the Final Four at Homestead in November?
“I think we can. I feel like right now it’s very early to say where we’re at because nobody really knows. But by the first half of the season I will let you know where we’re at. I can tell you something: We have the tools to do it. We have the team. We have the equipment. We have everything. We just have to work hard. That is not something new for us. Have fun, and achieve our goals. If we do that, we can do anything. We just have to go out there and do what we know how to do. Last year numbers‑wise wasn’t the year we were expecting, but we know that the changes and the adjustments that we’ve made are going to make a huge gain in our side.”
Do you think you flew under the radar a little bit towards the end of the season because your finishes were a lot more consistent and you had a lot more top 10s?
“I think we did. I think we did. But if you look at my results in the last month and a half, we were very inconsistent, as well. And part of that was for ‑‑ I had excuses. That’s not me. But part of that was for a lot of preparation and adjustments and changes that we were doing for this year. Like I said, I don’t feel like I had the rookie season that I was hoping I was going to have. It wasn’t horrible, wasn’t great, but I feel like as a driver and as a person I learned a lot, a ton. And that is ‑‑ at the end of the day, that’s what it’s all about, and I feel like that’s going to help me a lot for this coming year.”
Do you have any special like pre‑race rituals or superstitions that you do?
“Not really. The only thing I do is to have fun, to clean my mind, and to go out there and do what I love to do. I have worked pretty much my entire life to be in this position and to be racing every weekend, and I just try to do the best I can. Obviously I’m very, very fortunate to be in this position. There is a lot of drivers out there that they wish or they are working to get in one of these positions, and I’m one of those fortunate. Just very thankful for a lot of opportunities with a lot of people.”
You had a little accident in the snow with your car a couple weeks ago; is that the first time you’d driven in the snow?
“It wasn’t the first time, and it wasn’t an accident, I just spun out. But I was going very, very slow. It happened, but nothing really happened.”
