NASCAR CUP SERIES
CIRCUIT OF THE AMERICAS
ECHOPARK AUTOMOTIVE GRAND PRIX
TEAM CHEVY PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPT
MARCH 25, 2023
DANIEL SUAREZ, NO. 99 FREEWAY INSURANCE CAMARO ZL1, met with the media Saturday prior to NASCAR Cup Series qualifying at Circuit of The Americas. Press Conference Transcript:
THIS IS KIND OF A HOME RACE FOR YOU. HOW MUCH OF A HOMEFIELD ADVANTAGE IS COTA FOR YOU?
“It feels like quite a bit. My mom actually arrived last night. She drove from my hometown along with a close friend of mine and my sister. So yeah, it definitely feels like home. I’m very happy to be here in Austin. COTA is an amazing racetrack. I have my family here. Today is Justin Marks’ birthday so we have a Birthday Boss this weekend. We have fast cars, too, so everything is looking great. We have a lot of reasons to be happy and grateful. We’re looking forward to get rolling here shortly for qualifying.”
HOW SPECIAL WOULD IT BE TO DELIVER YOUR BIRTHDAY BOSS A WIN?
“Winning is always great. We can always find reasons why winning is so amazing. This weekend obviously we have Justin’s birthday, mom is here – I haven’t seen her in several months – and my sister is here – I haven’t seen her in almost a year. So yeah, it’s a good time to be here. And it’s a good time to be fast. I’m looking forward to seeing what we can do. So far we have had a pretty acceptable weekend so far.”
HAVE YOU BEEN ABLE TO GAUGE THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE ROAD COURSE/SHORT TRACK PACKAGE LAST YEAR AND WHAT YOU SAW YESTERDAY IN PRACTICE?
“A lot of things changed from last year to this year, and not just on the aero package. Also the racetrack is more bumpy, in my opinion. I don’t think that’s because of the downforce package. We have a different tire, and last year here at COTA was the first road course race for the Next-Gen car. We have learned so much since then. Yeah, we’re in a different spot but I don’t think that we are exactly comparing apples to apples because a lot of things have changed. All in all, it feels good. The fall-off at the end of the day, that was the main thing NASCAR was looking for, is bigger so that’s a positive. I feel like that is going to open the doors to different strategies now that we don’t have to stop for stage breaks. It should be fun. I’m really looking forward to the race.”
MORE ON DIFFERENCES BETWEEN LAST YEAR’S CAR AND THIS YEAR.
“Last year, I truly feel like I had the best car. This time around, I feel like we have a fast car. Right now, I don’t feel like we have the best car but I feel like we can have one of the best cars. And that’s all I can ask for. I don’t feel like I need to have the fastest car to be able to win the race. I feel that if I can have something similar to the fast guys then we can make it happen as a team. Above it all, I personally think that we are going to see a very fun race just because of the fall-off and the stage breaks is going to open the door for different strategies, and I’m very excited for that. We have made a couple of adjustments overnight. Hopefully those are the things I’m looking for. We’ll see what we can do today. I’m happy where we’re at.”
YOU (AND ROSS CHASTAIN) WERE BOTH VERY FAST LAST YEAR AND NOW YOU HAVE KIMI (RAIKKONEN). WHAT ADVICE HAVE YOU GIVEN HIM AND VICE VERSA?
“We’ve been talking a lot about balance, about feelings. We spent a little bit of time a couple days ago at the simulator. Kimi is very natural. He mentioned it a few minutes ago. The only thing he is lacking is time. He’s very natural. If he had a full season in NASCAR, he would be right there with us. The reason we are very fast is that we are in a rhythm. We are driving these cars every single weekend. It doesn’t matter if it’s an oval or a road course. We know the cars in and out. We know the limits, we know what’s good, what’s bad, everything. It’s not easy. You can bring the best of the best in the world. It’s not easy just to jump like that into a series this competitive and be there. It’s not easy. But I think he is going to do very well. He’s getting up to speed more and more. I think today we are going to see another step in the right direction and for sure tomorrow we are going to see another huge step in the right direction for the 91.”
HOW DO YOU MAINTAIN FOCUS AND COGNITIVE FOCUS DURING A RACE? IS THERE A PARTICULAR STRATEGY YOU USE?
“No, I wish I had some. I try to just stay calm and try to remind myself why I’m here. I’m here because I love racing. I’m here because I love to compete and I like to win. Everything else comes as a consequence. I feel grateful to be here. When you’re in a rhythm, like I was talking about not long ago, it’s easy to take it for granted what we do every single weekend. We are very lucky individuals that we get to do every single weekend what we love to do – drive racecars and compete. Every single driver here is very, very competitive. It’s something we just love. Just because of that we are very fortunate to be in this position. I try to remind myself all these things – to know that I’m in a very good position and go out there and have fun… prepare myself as good as possible mentally and physically and go out there and compete at the highest level that I could possibly do.”
HOW WILL THE WEATHER IMPACT THE RACE TOMORROW AND BEING IN AUSTIN.
“I think I have to change my weather app because I didn’t think it was going to rain (during the track walk). I think today is going to be a little less grip than yesterday just because it’s going to be hotter. I think we will continue to be fast but the fall-off is going to be bigger. Overall, it’s going to be the same for everyone so we have to adapt and try to adapt as good as possible and see how it goes. I think our car is going to do well. We are making some good adjustments, I believe, for today and I think that we’re going to be on the good side of it when it comes to the new day. We’ll see what we can do. I’m happy where we are.”
DIFFERENT STRATEGIES WITH NO STAGE BREAKS.
“You guys know this, in the past we were coming into a road-course race with two mentalities – either you’re going to fight for the win or you’re going to fight for points. You couldn’t do both. It was impossible to do both. I was in both situations last year. It was fun but when you were going for points, it was almost like you already knew you weren’t going to win the race or it was going to be a longshot to win the race. If you were going for the race (win) and something was happening, you gave up a lot of points. It was almost like we put ourselves in a box every time. Now I feel like it’s going to open the options a lot and the strategies and lot of things for the teams. I was talking to my team last night about all the different options – the fall-off that we have, the different strategy options and all that kind of stuff. It’s going to be dependent on a little bit of luck. When the caution depends on where you are in your pit cycle. I’m excited for that. I’m excited to bring back the smarter engineers and put them back to work!”
About Chevrolet
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