NASCAR Cup Series
World Wide Technology Raceway
Team Chevy Driver Quotes
September 12, 2026
Daniel Suarez, driver of the No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet, met with the media in advance of the NASCAR Cup Series practice and qualifying session at World Wide Technology Raceway.
Media Availability Quotes:
After the race last week, you told me about the sense of frustration, maybe from an execution standpoint. Now that you’ve had time to sit back and look at it, what is it that you felt like you were missing?
“I mean, obviously we didn’t have practice, right? We didn’t have qualifying. We did our normal work during the week; simulator a couple times a week, and for some reason, we missed something in the process. Obviously, you know, we started the race up front. I mean, we’re leading lap one, and we didn’t have the balance or the speed to fire up. And obviously without practice, it was a little bit more difficult to get it right. But that’s not an excuse. There were other teams that hit it a little bit better than us. So there was a little bit of frustration there, that for some reason, we missed it a little bit.
And also, we had a lot of issues with radios. We had issues with brakes. We had issues with the engine. And when you’re having all these kind of situations and you can’t communicate; it’s already hard enough for me, you know, with my broken English, so when the radio is not working very good, it doesn’t make it any more fun. So there were just some execution issues because of lack of communication from the radios. And then just to put the cherry on top of the cake, the last pit stop. My guys did an amazing job all night, and the very last one was a 30-second pit stop or something like that. It wasn’t good. We just didn’t execute well enough. It wasn’t a Chase performance, in my mind, so we just need to do better. That’s it. You know, we learn from a few mistakes, and we are ready to give it another shot.”
To that point, you’ve driven for a lot of organizations that are, I would argue, more buttoned up, certainly, than the Jeff Dickerson model, whether it’s Coach (Joe Gibbs) or Justin (Marks). How different is the culture and atmosphere, for good, bad or indifferent, racing for Jeff compared to other places you’ve been?
“Yeah, you know, Jeff (Dickerson), he’s a racer. You know, he loves racing. He’s always talking about dirt racing, midgets, trucks or the O’Reilly’s Series. He’s a racer. He’s a racer that happens to be an owner. So he’s just very driven, you know? He’s very, very driven. It’s a little bit different, you know, the dynamic. But he’s very passionate. He’s very loyal to his people. He has his way of doing things, and I respect that. And obviously, you know, he has made this organization successful to this point.
Obviously, we still have a long ways to go. We have to continue to grow, and that’s what we’re aiming for. This is the conversation that I have had with some people, is that everything that has been happening is just a distraction, you know? Like, right now, I should be answering questions about how we’re going to be faster, how we’re going to beat the Toyota’s, how we’re going to beat the Penske cars. And here we are talking about these two guys, you know, messing each other up. It’s part of it. To me, it’s just a distraction that shouldn’t be happening.”
Daniel, a stat came out this week that you are the top average finisher for Chevrolet at 14.69. What does that mean to you in your first year with this team, when you’re going against drivers such as Hendrick Motorsports and all that, who also have the Bowtie banner?
“Not too bad for a guy that didn’t have a ride last year. I guess I just remember how to drive now (laughs).
But no, it’s good. I mean, obviously the team has been doing a good job. I’m very, very proud of all the men and women that Spire Motorsports for the way that we have executed things. We haven’t had the fastest cars, you know, every single week, but we have had good speed; good enough to win a race and good enough to be on the front row several times. But we keep pushing. We keep pushing to get better and better. Having an average of 14.69, that’s not the goal. To be able to win the championship, it’s going to have to be better than that. So that’s what we’re aiming for, and that’s where my mind is at. You know, how can we make this organization better? Are we good? Yes, we are good. But good, to me, is not good enough. You know, we want to be better. And for that, we have to button up a few things. We have to have everyone pulling the train in the same direction, which I believe that we are, with a few distractions here and there, obviously. But I believe that we are pulling in the same direction.”
Now that we’re in the Chase, does the anxiety and stress diminish for you now that elimination rounds have been eliminated?
“You know, that’s a great question. I think it does a little bit, just because you’re not thinking about short-term results. You’re thinking about 10 weeks, you know? The champion is going to be determined by who can do the best job – not here, not next week, not last week – but the best average running and finish in the next 10 weeks. So, yeah, I feel like it relaxes a little bit of things. But, with that being said, once we get to, I would say halfway, the urgency is going to start picking up for several teams. So, we just have to be smart. In my mind, we have to just control what we can control, execute to the best of our abilities and try to maximize our potential. You know, that’s the main goal. It’s not a secret that the Toyota’s are very fast right now, and we’re working very hard to try to catch them. But we also know that that’s not going to happen overnight, just by clicking on something. We have to work together. We have to get better. We have to improve our simulation, our processes and everything that we’re doing. We have work to do, but we’re up for the challenge.”
Looking at your execution this week, leaving Darlington, you’re over a race for the points behind the points leader. Do you all have a certain set number of points that you all are trying to chase leaving this weekend to feel like you all have a shot moving forward?
“The thing is that — man, we can talk about points a lot. We can talk about what we need to do points-wise. And that’s good. I’m okay with that. But at the end of the day, you have to control what you can control, and I can only control one car out there. You know, I cannot control the 11, I cannot control the 12, whoever is up front. I can only control one car, and my job is to maximize the potential of the 7 car. And if that means finishing fifth, that’s fine. And if that means finishing first, that’s amazing. But my job is that. So I have to continue to focus on what I can control and try to let the points take care of themselves, you know, because at the end of the day, the points is a consequence, the way I see it. The points are a consequence of the results that you have on the track. And if we do our job on the track, execute and have the speed, the points are going to take care of themselves. Hopefully that’s good enough for us to have a shot by the end of October, beginning of November.”
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