DANIEL SUAREZ, No. 51 ARRIS Toyota Tundra, Kyle Busch Motorsports
How have you been able to adapt to so many new race tracks this season?
“First of all I want to say thank you to Kyle Busch Motorsports because to be honest they’ve been super helpful to me through all this learning process that I’ve been through so far in 2015 with them – with three races. There’s been a lot of things to learn and to improve and to work on. They’ve been super helpful to me and helped me with a lot of key points and helping me to be competitive at every race track. That’s very important and thanks to that we’ve been able to be up running strong in the top-10 and sometimes strong in the top-five. That’s a good thing. This is the second mile-and-a-half in 2015 and I’m really looking forward to the race tomorrow.”
How much has the NASCAR Mexico Series helped transition drivers to the three national NASCAR series?
“Definitely something very important because without that series, we don’t have the platform to try to make the step to the United States. A lot of people in Mexico came from road course racing, like myself and for us it’s more normal to race open wheel or go-kart racing or something like that and not NASCAR. Right now, thanks to all the support from NASCAR to the NASCAR Mexico Series – we have one more option. To be honest, right now it’s the best option. It’s something that a lot of people are looking at and a lot of people are looking at as the best option including myself. I believe some years ago people were thinking that it’s a good option and now that a lot of teams, drivers and a lot of my friends in Mexico, they can see us as a good example and we are doing something in the national series of NASCAR in the United States, I think we are kind of opening the doors for a lot of new up and coming drivers from Mexico and maybe even other countries. I feel like that is definitely a good step because we were able to learn the basics of NASCAR thanks to that series, even when I stepped from the NASCAR Mexico Series to the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series – it’s huge. I feel like the better step is to go to the K&N Series. Pretty much in NASCAR Mexico, what we race is a limited late model. I feel like we were able to learn all the basics with rules and pit stops and stuff, but still a long way to go when you move to the states and you try to do something else in the national series. To answer your question, I feel like definitely it’s a good series to start and to learn everything about NASCAR.”
How will you deal with learning Kansas Speedway if you can’t get practice laps due to weather?
“I was actually thinking about that an hour ago. To be honest, I feel like I’m a very lucky driver to be with race teams like Kyle Busch Motorsports and Joe Gibbs Racing. I’m very confident that I’m going to have a fast truck in this case. The worry will be on me to adapt to the race track and to the truck. Definitely, it’s going to be a challenge, but I don’t feel like we are going to be super horrible if we don’t have practice. To be honest, I feel like that chemistry and that communication has been getting better and better with my crew chief and my engineers in the 51 Tundra. I’m a little worried about that, but I feel like if we don’t have practice, nobody will have practice then. We’re going to be in good shape anyway.”
Have Kyle Busch and the team told you what you expect at Kansas Speedway?
“The team definitely has been helping me a lot with some information, lap tracker, videos and a lot of stuff about the race track. Definitely, when you get into the race track, you learn more in a few laps than all the homework you can do in Charlotte. I feel like we did that homework, but the real deal is here in practice. Kyle (Busch, team owner), he was able to help me a lot as well with some advice and with some tips about this race track. I think that’s good. I feel like we have some information to put on the table for today if we get to practice or for tomorrow for qualifying and the race.”
Do you hope your name recognition brings people to the race track?
“Definitely, I hope all the people can come here to see us and take the chance to see what we are doing right now. I feel lucky to be racing on this level in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series and the NASCAR XFINITY Series and being able to race with a great organization and to represent my country of Mexico. At the end of the day we just want to learn and be competitive.”
Do you feel all the eyes of Mexico are on you?
“Maybe a little. This is kind of good pressure, I like it actually. I got some similar questions a few weeks ago and I answered that right now I don’t feel pressure. I felt pressure when I was 16 years old and I was looking for a sponsor and I had to win a race to keep racing. Right now we don’t have that issue anymore thanks to a lot of sponsors and a lot of friends and people with a lot of confidence in my racing career. There is some pressure, but it’s more good pressure and I feel we can handle that and we can have fun with that pressure and try to do well. I feel like we’re in a very good position right now with a very good organization and when somebody is in this kind of a position then we can learn fast and we can improve fast and we can get a good shot to be competitive and right now to win races.”
What does it mean to you that NASCAR Next drivers see you as paving the way into the national series?
“Definitely means a lot to me because I feel like we all are doing something new and it’s something that a lot of drivers have tried in the past and for one or another reason it didn’t work out. I feel like we learned a lot about mistakes from other drivers and I feel like we are moving forward. We’re moving forward for ourselves and we’re moving forward to open doors for new, upcoming drivers like Ruben (Garcia) and new, young drivers that are doing well in Mexico as well. That’s a good thing. I felt like five years ago, six years ago we didn’t have that door open 100 percent. It was there, but wasn’t 100 percent open. Feel like maybe we didn’t know how to use it or which way to take and I feel like right now we’re moving forward in the right track. I have a lot of friends that are drivers in Mexico who are doing well in the Mexican Series and they can follow those steps and try to make it.”
What did the NASCAR Next program do for you?
“Actually it helped me a lot. I spent several years in the NASCAR Nine program and then the NASCAR Next program because we were more than nine. It was good. We learned a lot about how to talk to people, about the sport, the rules and NASCAR helped me a lot and allowed the drivers to be involved in the sport more with the top level drivers. I remember that we went a few times to Chicago to the presentation of the Chase with all the Chase drivers and that was a huge opportunity for us to get to meet all these big drivers and say hi to them, have a few minutes conversation with them – it was huge. That’s something that without the support of NASCAR is impossible to do. It’s a huge support and a good opportunity and I’m pretty sure Ruben will do well with that opportunity that he’s having right now.”
Who were your racing heroes when you were growing up?
“I started racing ovals when I was 16 or 17 years old – that was five or six years ago, not very long ago. Before that, I didn’t know a lot about racing in general. My family doesn’t come from racing and when I was 15 years old, my plan was to go to college and maybe make a company. I didn’t know it was possible to be a race car driver. Right now I see a lot of great drivers and feel like this sport is super competitive. It’s very hard to choose one driver because I feel like right now it’s not enough just to have talent, you have to be smart, you have to be with a good organization on your side and you have to know how to drive. I feel like a lot of drivers right now have that combination of things to win championships and races. That’s really cool and I really hope we can learn about them and we can compete with them in the top series.”
What would it mean to you and the people of Mexico to have another NASCAR national series race in the country?
“That is going to be huge. That will definitely be a huge step for us. In the last few years, we have been in a big change in racing in Mexico. In the last few years, five years ago we didn’t have a Formula 1 Mexican driver and right now we have one and a lot of people in Mexico are going crazy about that. Right now Formula 1 is coming to Mexico this year and a lot of people are making noise about what’s going on because there is one Mexican driver there. I saw all the process in the last four years and I’m pretty sure that if we do the right job, we’re going to do exactly the same thing with NASCAR. I saw the people get into the sport of racing because of one driver and I really think all those people getting into the sport for one driver will do the same thing in NASCAR. I’m super excited about that and I really feel lucky to represent a different country and represent a lot of people in Mexico. It’s just a cool opportunity. I really feel it’s a good opportunity and I hope we can do well with that challenge.”
