NASCAR CUP SERIES
PHOENIX RACEWAY
INSTACART 500
TEAM CHEVY PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPT
MARCH 11, 2021
DANIEL SUAREZ, NO. 99 COMMSCOPE CAMARO ZL1 1LE, Teleconference Transcript:
WHAT HAS BEEN THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN YOUR CURRENT PIT CREW AND THE ONES YOU’VE HAD IN THE PAST WITH OTHER TEAMS?
“I’ve been working with these guys only for a few weeks. And they have a lot of potential. They are inconsistent, but they are fast, which is good. I always thought it’s much easier to be fast than trying to work on inconsistency than being consistent and slow and trying to work on speed. I have had good people in the past. In 2017 and ’28 I had more loose wheels in those two years. So, it’s been difficult. Don’t get me wrong. All these guys work extremely hard and for what they do and how they push themselves but sometimes it’s a combination of many things. And it’s been a little bit difficult for me on pit road in the last several years. I was very excited to see I gained like four positions. I haven’t done that in years. So, I’m very excited to see the potential in this pit crew. There are a lot of things we have to get better at but the potential is there. The talent is there. So, I’m happy to see that.”
SINCE THIS IS A NEW TEAM, THERE ARE GROWING PAINS. BUT IN FOUR DIFFERENCES THUS FAR, HAVE THERE BEEN SOME CHALLENGES THAT MAYBE SURPRISED YOU?
“Yeah, I think just like any other new group, we have a lot of potential. We have shown that. But at the same time there are a lot of things that we have to work on and be better. I’m the kind of person that I always try to focus on the things that are bad instead of the things that are good. I see that things are good, and I say okay, that’s good. Now let’s work on the things that are not so good. I’ve been working very hard with my whole group in different areas to try to be better in communication with the spotter and the whole group, because it’s a brand-new group. I feel the potential is there, but there are a lot of little things that we’re going to have to clean up to be able to be consistently in the Top 10 and Top 15 and eventually hopefully be knocking on the door to race for wins.”
YOU’RE GOING TO PHOENIX THIS WEEKEND, WHERE THERE IS A BIG HISPANIC COMMUNITY AND A PLACE WHERE YOU HAVE A BIG FAN BASE. COVID-19 HAS REALLY IMPACTED LATINOS AND COMMUNITIES HEAVILY. DO YOU HEAR FROM FANS ABOUT THE COVID IMPACT ON THEM?
“I feel like COVID has impacted the Spanish, African Americans, Americans, all kinds of different people. Sometimes I just feel that different people have risks because of the different jobs that they have to do. Some of us are very fortunate that we can do our jobs through a screen like we are doing right now. But there are a lot of people out there, and lot of Hispanics out there, that they have to go to work; because if they don’t, they can provide for their families. So yeah, I see a lot of people and fans through social media that struggling and stuff like that. I know a lot of people from Mexico, they have come to Texas to get the vaccine because they are struggling in many other places, even from Mexico. I just hope that we continue to do our job to be better. Right now, we can see the light at the end of the tunnel and hopefully we can get there safe and healthy.”
A FEW WEEKS AGO, YOU TWEETED THAT YOU GOT SICK IN THE RACE CAR. WHAT HAPPENED? AND, HAS THAT EVER HAPPENED TO YOU BEFORE?
“That has never happened to me before. Well, actually it did one time, but it was probably the second time ever. I was just 11. And the reason why that happened was because I was having lunch and my father rushed me to go to practice and I was eating my hamburger and then everything went out. Anyway, this situation in Daytona was completely different because I was fine. I had lunch. I’m very particular when it comes to food. I eat very, very well. I eat healthy. But at the same time, my stomach for many years has been a little delicate when it comes to food and stuff like that. So, this had never happened to me in the race car, but it has happened to me outside of the race car. I was feeling perfect at the start of the race. In the middle of the race, I started feeling bad and it just started to escalate. It was getting worse and worse and before I puke, I was so dizzy and so weak I couldn’t even; I remember getting ready for a re-start and I couldn’t see my switches, my switches on my blowers or my tires, I couldn’t reach them because I was so dizzy. And then that lap was the one that I started throwing up. Once it happened, I was perfectly fine. Very dirty, but perfectly fine. So, whatever I ate for lunch, it was actually white rice and grilled chicken, something was bad. We thought it was the chicken that maybe just got different temperatures at one point or, you never know in the motorhome sometimes if you run out of electricity and you don’t even know it. It happens.”
SO, YOU THINK IT WAS FOOD-RELATED?
“Yeah, it was for sure because as soon as I threw up, I was completely fine. I raced for an hour and a half feeling very bad, and the last 50 laps of the race, around 30 minutes, I was all nasty, but I was perfectly fine. So yeah, it was definitely food-related.”
HOW DID YOU GET THROUGH IT?
“I’m the kind of person that will never give up on my team. And the way I see myself, if I give up on my team, I’m giving them an opportunity to give up in the future. And I don’t want that. I will do everything in my power to try to do my best to complete a race and to finish. Whatever it takes. To be very honest with you, I was feeling very bad; but I never even thought about stopping the car. It was not an option.”
LOOKING AHEAD TO ATLANTA, CAN YOU DESCRIBE THE FEELING WHEN THAT TRACK CHEWS UP YOUR TIRES AND THE BUMPS YOU GO THROUGH AND HANGING ON AND MAKING SURE IT IS LIKE IT’S SUPPOSED TO BE FOR THE WHOLE RACE?
“Atlanta is a lot of fun. I can’t even remember exactly what happened the last time we were there, but I love that place. It has a lot of character. It’s very difficult. It has a lot of bumps. It’s very rough on tires. Every driver is going to be screaming for grip and for downforce. But it’s a fun place. I really enjoy it a lot and I’m looking forward to going back.”
LOOKING AHEAD TO THE BRISTOL DIRT RACE. IRACING CAME OUT WITH THE DIRT TRACK RECENTLY. HOW MUCH PREP WILL RELY ON IRACING IN ADVANCE OF THAT RACE WEEKEND?
“That’s a tough question. It always helps. It’s better than nothing. But in real life, it’s different. Maybe you can get sideways and maybe you can get a feeling, but the weight of the car you drive in a video game versus real life is completely different. Yeah, we’re going to have fun and we can practice a little bit there, but at the end of the day it’s going to be very different. Nobody knows what to expect. If somebody tells you what to expect I think they’re lying because nobody has been there, and nobody has had a stock car on dirt. It’s going to be interesting. It is going to be interesting to see how things work out. Everyone is getting experience the way that they can. Some drivers in Late Models and some in dirt cars and some in iRacing and simulators. But the real test is going to come when we get to the race track. Well find out how things go.”
DID YOU EVER RACE A TRUCK AT ELDORA?
“I have never been on dirt in my life. The last time I was on dirt, I was on a motorcycle.”
IT SEEMS LIKE THE BIG TEST WHEN IT COMES TO DRIVING THESE CARS SEEMS TO BE THROTTLE CONTROL. IS THAT WHAT YOU EXPECT?
“Yeah, and I think it’s going to be almost like racing in the rain. Like, you have way too much power. I was actually joking with my crew chief that probably the Bristol Dirt Race is probably going to be the only race of the year that I’m going to ask for less horsepower (laughs); because we’re going to have too much. We’re not going to be able to use it. We’ll see how things go. It’s going to be everything about patience, car control, and to survive because a lot of guys are going to be hitting each other. So, these cars are going to be very messed up by the end of the race.”
FROM THE START OF THE SEASON UNTIL NOW, IS THE SPEED IN THE CAR ABOUT WHAT YOU THOUGHT IT WOULD BE AT THIS POINT, OR IS THERE SOMETHING MORE YOU NEED IN THE CAR TO HELP MOVING FORWARD?
“Daytona was better than I what I thought we were going to have. In Miami, it was a little bit better than what I thought we were going to have. In Vegas, it was a little bit more than what I thought we were going to have. But listen, we’re still a new team. We have a lot of new people. We’re still gambling in many different areas trying to understand what we need and how to communicate and how hard should we push the splitter. At this point of the season, I wish we were having at least a couple of practices. That would be golden for our team right now because right now, the whole thing is brand new and we get to practice on the simulator, put that set-up on the real car, go to the race track and hope for the best. If for some reason the simulator was off, we’re going to be off the rest of the day in the race. And that’s exactly what happened in Las Vegas. In Las Vegas, we were making some big adjustments in the car, we’re going to be competitive like we were in Miami. But we have the chance to do that. We could change shocks or heights or stuff like that. It’s one of those things that we’re just still learning. We are building our notebook and we’re learning from each other and I feel like my team has a lot of potential. But we’re in the learning process at this point.”
Team Chevy high-resolution racing photos are available for editorial use.
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